Competition Lineup, Special Screenings

Key Points:

• The 2026 Cannes Film Festival lineup features notable filmmakers including Ira Sachs with "The Man I Love," a musical fantasia about 1980s New York and the AIDS crisis, and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi with "Parallel Stories," his first feature since 2021.
• Jane Schoenbrun returns with "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma," produced by Plan B, starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, while John Travolta makes his directorial debut with "Propeller One-Way," screening in the Premiere Selection.
• The festival includes a strong Spanish presence with Pedro Almodóvar's "Bitter Christmas," Javier Bardem starring in "The Beloved," and Penélope Cruz appearing in "La bola negra"; five women directors are debuting films in Competition, marking a new record.
• Other highlights include Nicolas Winding Refn's "Her Private Hell," Steven Soderbergh's "John Lennon: The Last Interview," Ron Howard's "Avedon," and Pierre Salvadori’s opening film "The Electric Kiss," set in early 20th-century Paris.
• Cannes 2026 will run from May 12 to 23, featuring 2,541 submitted feature films, a significant increase from a decade ago, with a diverse slate across Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, and Special Screenings sections.