For 12 days this week, the Cannes Film Festival will spotlight international filmmakers and diverse storytelling as Hollywood studios remain largely absent, underscoring a shift in how cinema reaches audiences and whose stories get told on the world's most prestigious film stage.
The Côte d'Azur event will begin 2 days from now and host some of the most anticipated movies of the year in a constant parade of red carpets and premieres. Hollywood studios are mostly on the sidelines this year, but Cannes has for more than 78 years been a showcase for some of the best in cinema.
A Platform for Global Voices
South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook is presiding over the jury deciding the Palme d'Or this year. At the opening ceremony Tuesday, Cannes will also bestow an honorary Palme d'Or on Peter Jackson, and later Barbra Streisand will get one, too.
Last year's festival included Oscar nominees such as "Sentimental Value," "The Secret Agent" and "It Was Just an Accident." In recent years, movies like "Parasite" and "Anora" have launched at Cannes and gone on to win best picture at the Academy Awards, demonstrating the festival's role in elevating international cinema and stories outside traditional Hollywood narratives.
Films Addressing Grief, Identity and Social Crisis
Among the films expected to stir Cannes are "Hope," a long-gestating sci-fi thriller from Na Hong-jin that Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux said "constantly changes genres," with Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Taylor Russell in the cast.
"Paper Tiger," James Gray's Queens-set drama about two brothers, played by Adam Driver and Miles Teller, who become mixed up with the Russian mafia, with Scarlett Johansson co-starring, explores working-class vulnerability to organized crime.
"Fjord," Cristian Mungiu's latest, stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as a Romanian-Norwegian couple who move to the wife's remote Norwegian hometown, examining cross-cultural displacement and rural isolation.
"Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma," by Jane Schoenbrun, starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson and playing in the Un Certain Regard section, explores the making of a slasher film.
"Fatherland," by Pawel Pawlikowski, stars Hanns Zischler as the German author Thomas Mann on a road trip following World War II, with Sandra Hüller as his daughter, addressing postwar displacement and exile.
Stories of Loss and Care
"All of a Sudden," the French-language debut of Ryusuke Hamaguchi, stars Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto as a nursing home director and a terminally ill Japanese playwright, centering caregivers and end-of-life experiences often marginalized in mainstream cinema.
"Sheep in the Box," by Hirokazu Kore-eda, examines a couple grieving the loss of their son who adopt an infant humanoid robot, exploring how technology intersects with human grief and family bonds.
"The Man I Love," by Ira Sachs, stars Rami Malek as an actor with a life-threatening illness in 1980s New York preparing for what could be his final performance, set during a period when healthcare access and institutional support for people with terminal illnesses were severely limited.
Experimental and Documentary Works
"The Unknown," by Arthur Harari, follows a photographer who, after photographing a woman at a party and then following her, wakes up in her body, starring Léa Seydoux.
"Minotaur," by Andrey Zvyagintsev, centers on a business executive in crisis in rural Russia after a near-death experience during the pandemic, addressing the psychological toll of economic and health crises on workers.
"John Lennon: The Last Interview," Steven Soderbergh's documentary about John Lennon's final interview, granted at the Dakota in New York just before he was killed, drew headlines after Soderbergh acknowledged using artificial intelligence to illustrate some of Lennon's more philosophical musings, raising questions about technology's role in preserving and interpreting cultural memory.
"Bitter Christmas," Pedro Almodovar's multilayered melodrama about filmmaking, grief and aging, returns to his native Spain after making his English-language debut with "The Room Next Door."
The HBO series "The White Lotus" has come to the Croisette to shoot its fourth season.
Why This Matters:
The 2026 Cannes lineup reflects a critical moment for global cinema as Hollywood studios retreat from the festival, creating space for international filmmakers to address themes of grief, caregiving, displacement, and economic precarity that resonate across borders. Films like "All of a Sudden" center healthcare workers and end-of-life care, while "The Man I Love" examines terminal illness during an era of limited institutional support. "Minotaur" explores pandemic trauma's impact on workers, and "Fatherland" addresses postwar displacement. The festival's platform has historically elevated diverse voices—"Parasite" and "Anora" both won best picture after Cannes debuts—demonstrating how international cinema can challenge dominant narratives. With Park Chan-wook presiding over the jury, the festival continues its more than 78-year tradition of showcasing stories often excluded from mainstream Hollywood, while Soderbergh's AI-assisted documentary raises urgent questions about how technology shapes cultural preservation and whose voices get amplified in the process.