Cannes Film Festival 2026: Veteran director returns.

The 79th Cannes Film Festival (France) will take place from May 12-23, 2026. Director Park Chan Wook will serve as the President of the main competition jury.

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival lacked the Hollywood blockbusters of last year but attracted attention with the return of many veteran directors who had achieved success in previous seasons. This year, 22 films were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or, with European films making up the overwhelming majority. Seven of these films were also nominated in the Queer Palm category (an award for films with content related to the LGBTQIA+ community). In addition, the Palme d'Or race included five female directors: Jeanne Herry, Léa Mysius, Valeska Grisebach, Marie Kreutzer, and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet.

Directors Pawel Pawlikowski, Cristian Mungiu, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Hirokazu Kore-eda (from left to right)

Photo: AFP

One of the notable names in the Palme d'Or category is Paweł Pawlikowski (the Polish filmmaker who won Best Director at the 2018 festival with Cold War ). He returns with Fatherland , starring veteran actor Hanns Zischler and actress Sandra Hüller. Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu (who won the Palme d'Or in 2007 with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days ) is also in the race with his new film Fjord, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. Meanwhile, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (who was honored at Cannes for The Salesman and A Hero ) is competing for Parallel Tales, the most important award at this year's festival.

Notably, Japanese cinema features a series of new works by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Koji Fukada competing for the top prize. Director Hirokazu Kore-eda (who won the Palme d'Or in 2018 with Shoplifters ) is drawing attention with his return with Sheep in the Box . Filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi (whose Drive My Car won Best Screenplay at Cannes and then the 2022 Oscar for Best International Film) brings his first French-language film, All of a Sudden , to Cannes 2026. And Koji Fukada (who won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard category at the 2016 Harmonium with Harmonium ) is participating with Nagi Notes , a film he has been developing for many years.

Nguyen Thien An's short film, "Dreams Are Like Snails," is competing in the short film category.

Photo: Manufacturer

South Korean cinema has Hope , an action-fantasy film by Na Hong Jin, competing in the most intense race at this year's film festival.

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival will only have two American films competing for the Palme d'Or: The Man I Love (written and directed by Ira Sachs, starring Rami Malek and Tom Sturridge) and Paper Tiger (written and directed by James Gray, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson).

Notably, Vietnamese cinema is represented by "The Dream Is a Snail," directed by Nguyen Thien An. This film is among the 10 films directly competing for the Palme d'Or in the short film category, selected from 3,184 entries from hundreds of countries and territories worldwide . "The Dream Is a Snail" tells the story of an extra, expanding to explore the inner journey of young people trapped between ordinary life and unattainable artistic aspirations.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lhp-cannes-2026-dao-dien-ky-cuu-tro-lai-185260511200448699.htm