Cannes Film Festival 2026: John Lennon and other controversial releases; Alia Bhatt, Kristen Stewart and more to attend

Cannes Film Festival 2026: The prestigious Cannes Film Festival is all set to return on Tuesday, promising two weeks of world premieres, big red carpet debuts, glamour and celebrities from across the globe. Wondering what this year's lineup is at the festival? Take a look as Cannes Film Festival 2026 brings a mix of much-anticipated screenings, controversial documentaries, big celebrity appearances and new filmmakers.

Cannes 2026 film line up

This year 22 films will compete with each other for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top honour, which will be announced on 23 May.

The festival will open with The Electric Kiss, directed by Pierre Salvadori.

Renowned directors like Pedro Almodóvar, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Cristian Mungiu are the major contenders of the season. They will be running against new talents like Lukas Dhont from Belgium and Léa Mysius from France.

Among the much-talked-about releases, South Korean director Na Hong-jin's Hope has grabbed a lot of attention. Another highly anticipated project is Sheep in the Box, an AI-themed film by Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Meet the jury

The nine-member jury of the year will be headed by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. Demi Moore is also a part of the jury.

Other jury members are Ruth Negga, Laura Wandel, Chloé Zhao, Diego Céspedes, Isaach De Bankolé, Paul Laverty and Stellan Skarsgård.

Interestingly, this year's festival will see no major Hollywood blockbuster in the list. Previously, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, and many more big releases were launched at Cannes.

Industry experts believe the change might be linked to cost-cutting. Studios moving to social media-focused promotions, and concerns over critical reviews from Cannes critics, might also be some other reasons behind the move.

Celebs to attend

Talking about celebrity appearances at Cannes, Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez are likely to attend a special 25th anniversary screening of the first chapter of The Fast and the Furious.

Veteran John Travolta will mark his directorial debut with Propeller One-Way Night Coach.

The red carpet will also see several global celebrities who will be attending different screenings. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver will promote the upcoming thriller Paper Tiger, helmed by James Gray. Rami Malek will attend for The Man I Love by Ira Sachs.

More celebrities who are expected to showcase their star power at the annual festival are Javier Bardem, Renate Reinsve, Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson. Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett are likely to join the festival too.

At Cannes, Barbra Streisand and filmmaker Peter Jackson will be honoured with the lifetime achievement title.

Bollywood at Cannes

From India, several popular faces will be walking the Cannes red carpet, including Alia Bhatt. Aishwarya Rai and Aditi Rao Hydari are also expected to join, representing L'Oréal Paris.

Reportedly, Jacqueline Fernandez, Tara Sutaria, Mouni Roy, Pooja Batra, and Manish Malhotra will attend the event. Karan Johar and Ashutosh Gowariker will also mark their presence.

Controversial releases at Cannes Film Festival

Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev will make a return to Cannes with Minotaur, focusing on Russia’s upper class dealing with military conscription during the Ukraine war.

Another controversial film at the festival will be director Steven Soderbergh’s documentary, John Lennon: The Last Interview. The project is based on an audio-only interview with John Lennon. Reportedly, it was recorded hours before his murder. The film features AI-generated visuals of Lennon. It has already sparked debate even before its premiere.

Football will get a chance at the festival this year. British documentary Cantona will focus on football icon Eric Cantona, while Argentine film The Match will revisit the controversial 1986 FIFA World Cup clash between England and Argentina.

The politically themed films at Cannes include Rehearsals for a Revolution by Iranian filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani, exploring political repression in Iran.

Nigerian cinema will also return to the spotlight as twin filmmakers Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri's Clarissa.

Hollywood actor Andy Garcia will also unveil his passion project, Diamond, From France, two major war-themed productions will make their space at the festival. While one is based on former French leader Charles de Gaulle , another is on Resistance hero Jean Moulin.

French actress Eye Haïdara will host the opening and closing ceremonies.