For the first time Italy will not compete at the Cannes Film Festival All the titles of the 79th edition

Let’s say it straight away: Italy didn’t make a great impression at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. And not because of what it presented, but because no title from the Bel Paese was considered at all, occupying neither a spot in the main competition nor in the Un Certain Regard section. It was from this very section that last year Le città di pianura emerged, the surprise film of 2025 written and directed by Francesco Sossai, which is now competing for as many as sixteen nominations at the David di Donatello Awards. Alongside it was also the revisited western Testa o croce? by Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis, while competing for the Palme d’Or was Mario Martone with his portrait of Goliarda Sapienza in the film Fuori, starring Valeria Golino, Matilda De Angelis, and Elodie.

A predicted defeat

It’s true that it may be too early to despair. Artistic director Thierry Frémaux announced that there will be further additions to the films presented during the press conference held on April 9, along with the still-awaited parallel sections that enrich the festival’s offering, the Semaine de la Critique and the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.

But not finding even a single title during the official presentation echoed loudly in a cultural landscape that, in recent times, has been struggling to (re)assert its quality and authority. A struggling cinema industry that, with its absence from the most important film festival in the world, confirms a climate of unease that is inevitably resulting in works that either are not strong enough to make it into competition or are not even ready to be evaluated by the event.

This absence has shaken the glass ceiling of the Italian film industry, in stark contrast to the enthusiastic and satisfied reaction of a prime minister like Pedro Sánchez, who congratulated on X the talent of directors Pedro Almodóvar, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, and Los Javis, who are bringing Spain to Cannes with three titles in competition. But this is not the only unusual absence in the 2026 lineup.

America also takes a step back

Also slightly sidelined is America, particularly the major studios, which are not entirely excluded but appear more marginal. This is a field now dominated by the Venice Film Festival, the ultimate showcase of glamour and English-language exports, which on the Croisette does not even appear with the power of well-known out-of-competition titles—just think of last year’s premiere dedicated to the latest chapter of the Mission: Impossible saga. Even in this case, last-minute surprises could still happen.

Among all, the most anticipated is undoubtedly the next film by Steven Spielberg, the sci-fi Disclosure Day, a title that does not seem to have a Cannes premiere planned. However, Frémaux, in a recent interview, did not seem entirely resigned to the idea of not seeing the American director and screenwriter walk the red carpet with his stars Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt.

So, what is in the program of the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival? And above all, what should we keep an eye on?

Coward by Lukas Dhont

Lukas Dhont is on his third film but already has a distinct signature. With a delicate touch and a harmony capable of telling even the most complex themes, the Belgian director this time recounts with Coward the life in the trenches during World War I and the doubts of its protagonist, torn between cowardice and heroism.

The Man I Love by Ira Sachs

Rami Malek has never quite shaken off his role as Freddie Mercury. Despite continuing his career after the Oscar, no role has made him truly relevant again. That moment might have arrived with the queer musical film The Man I Love by director Ira Sachs: a theater artist suffering from AIDS in the late 1980s tries to dedicate himself to his final great role.

Fjord by Cristian Mungiu

Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve play a couple confronting human and cultural differences in Fjord, an exploration of a Romanian family’s life in Norway, written and directed by Cristian Mungiu.

Amarga navidad by Pedro Almodóvar

Despite its earlier release in Spain before its Cannes debut, the latest work by master Pedro Almodóvar, titled Amarga navidad, is in competition. The film tells the intertwined lives of two individuals: on one side, a commercial director, and on the other, a screenwriter named Raúl who, years later, wants to tell his story.

Gentle Monster by Marie Kreutzer

Some may remember Marie Kreutzer for her Corsage. Now the director and screenwriter returns with the competition film Gentle Monster, the story of a pianist who, after moving to the countryside with her family, uncovers a shocking secret that shatters all her beliefs.

Hope by Na Hong-jin

With Hope by Na Hong-jin, we are taken to the outskirts of a town that discovers a mysterious finding threatening its safety. The cast of this thriller-sci-fi includes international stars Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell.

L’Inconnue by Arthur Harari

His name may not be widely known, but Arthur Harari contributed to the success of Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet as co-screenwriter alongside the director (and life partner) of the French film that won the Palme d’Or in 2023. This time, he returns to Cannes as a director with L’inconnue, the story of a photographer who, after a night at a party, wakes up in the body of a stranger.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma by Jane Schoenbrun

We now move to the Un Certain Regard section, opened by the new work of Jane Schoenbrun, who gained attention with the enigmatic I Saw the TV Glow. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma tells the story of a young director who decides to take control of the slasher saga Camp Miasma, but when she visits the original film’s protagonist, she is drawn with her into a spiral of delirium and desire. The film stars Hannah Einbinder from Hacks and Gillian Anderson.

Her Private Hell by Nicolas Winding Refn

Ten years after his last feature film, The Neon Demon, Nicolas Winding Refn returns with a special midnight screening of his new Her Private Hell, about a daughter searching for her missing father against the backdrop of a futuristic metropolis.

Fatherland by Paweł Pawlikowski

It’s the year of Sandra Hüller. After winning Best Performance for Rose at the Berlin Festival, the German actress now stars in a film by Paweł Pawlikowski, returning to directing after the poetic Cold War (2018). Set in 1949, Fatherland tells the story of writer Thomas Mann in exile, traveling to Germany with his daughter.

Club Kid by Jordan Firstman

Jordan Firstman, recently seen in I Love LA, makes his directorial debut with his first film, which he also wrote, starring Diego Calva from Babylon and model Cara Delevingne. Club Kid follows a declining underground party promoter whose life changes when he discovers he is a father. This title is also part of Un Certain Regard.

El ser querido by Rodrigo Sorogoyen

El ser querido by Rodrigo Sorogoyen may evoke a sense of déjà vu, as it follows a director father who wants to cast his daughter as the lead in his film, much like Sentimental Value presented at Cannes last year. Beyond this similarity, however, the two works are expected to differ, which is why we are eagerly awaiting the Spanish director’s new project.

Parallel Tales by Asghar Farhadi

In his second French-language film, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi creates a work about stories interconnected with the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. The cast includes Vincent Cassel, Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, and Catherine Deneuve.

La bola negra by Los Javis

Veneno is one of the most successful Spanish series in recent history. Now its two directors and screenwriters, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, known as Los Javis, arrive in competition at Cannes with La bola negra, an exploration of what it means to be homosexual across different eras, focusing on three lives connected through themes of desire and sexuality.

Sheep in the Box by Hirokazu Kore’eda

The tireless Hirokazu Kore’eda presents Sheep in the Box at Cannes 2026, a futuristic film in which a couple adopts a robot as their child.

Jim Queen by Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athanè

Another midnight title not to be missed is Jim Queen, an animated feature by directors Marco Nguyen & Nicolas Athanè, depicting a Paris where a disease has spread that turns all gay people straight. An influencer, with the help of a twink, sets out to find a cure.