The Official Selection for the 79th edition was announced on 9 April 2026, by the festival's President
Iris Knobloch and General Delegate/Artistic Director
Thierry Frémaux at a press conference held at the Pathé Palace in
Paris. Frémaux noted that 2,541 feature films were submitted for consideration, with the initial main competition lineup featuring 21 films from three continents and five female directors.
Pedro Almodóvar's
Bitter Christmas is the only selected film that had its world premiere before the festival. At the press conference after the announcement, Frémaux stated that he hoped to add
James Gray's
Paper Tiger to the lineup at a later stage; the film's premiere at the festival was confirmed later that month.
In Competition The following films were selected to compete for the
Palme d'Or: :
(QP) indicates film in competition for the
Queer Palm.
Out of Competition The following films were selected to be screened out of competition: :
(CdO) indicates film eligible for the ''
Caméra d'Or'' as a feature directorial debut. :
(QP) indicates film in competition for the
Queer Palm.
Un Certain Regard Jane Schoenbrun's slasher film
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma will serve as the section's opening film.
Laetitia Masson's comedy-drama film
Ulysse will be the section's closing film. The following films were selected to compete in the
Un Certain Regard section: :
(CdO) indicates film eligible for the ''
Caméra d'Or'' as a feature directorial debut. :
(ŒdO) indicates film eligible for the ''
L'Œil d'or'' as documentary. :
(QP) indicates film in competition for the
Queer Palm.
Special Screenings The following films were selected to be screened in the Special Screenings section:
Cinéfondation For its 29th edition
Cinéfondation (or
La Cinéf) has selected 14 live-action and 5 animated shorts from among the 2,750 films sent by film schools all over the world. Directed by 12 women and 9 men, they represent fifteen countries and four continents. Two of the schools are invited for the first time:
Hongik University (South Korea) and ISAMM (Tunisia). The festival allocates a
€15,000 grant for the winner of the First Prize, €11,250 for the winner of the Second Prize and €7,500 for the winner of the Third Prize. The following films were selected for the
La Cinéf competition: The line-up also includes new 4K restorations from past
Palme d'Or winners:
Man of Iron (1981) and
Farewell My Concubine (1993). Alongside the restoration of five silent short films by Soviet-Armenian filmmaker
Artavazd Peleshyan, titled "
Peleshyan Project". The following films were selected to be screened: :
(ŒdO) indicates film eligible for the ''
L'Œil d'or'' as documentary. :
(QP) indicates film in competition for the
Queer Palm.
Cinéma de la Plage The section line-up includes classic films, commemorations, and world premieres of new productions at the Cannes'
Plage Macé. The following films were selected to be screened:
Immersive Competition For the 3rd
Immersive Competition, nine immersive works from eight countries were selected for the competition. The productions will be screened at the Carlton Hotel from 12 to 22 May 2026. This year, the section will feature a new technical setup enabling collective experiences for up to 200 participants. The following immersive films were selected to be screened: == Parallel sections ==