On May 12, the 2026 Cannes Film Festival officially began, running until May 23 and culminating in the presentation of the prestigious Palme d’Or award. This year’s program focuses on international auteur cinema, with arthouse films, festival favorites, and new names in cinema in the spotlight. At the same time, large-scale Hollywood blockbusters are almost absent from the current repertoire.
Peter Jackson received the honorary Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony for his contributions to the development of cinema.
The honor of grandly announcing the festival’s opening fell to the 88-year-old American actress Jane Fonda and the 60-year-old Chinese actress Gong Li. This is the first time such an acting duo has been invited to open the festival. Jane Fonda also drew attention to the fractured political and social landscape from the Cannes stage.
Traditionally, the festival opening introduced the members of the international jury, who will select the winners from among the 22 films presented in the Main Competition Program. This year’s president of the jury is South Korean director Park Chan-wook. The jury includes American actress Demi Moore, Irish actress Ruth Negga, Belgian director and screenwriter Laura Wandel, Oscar-winning Chinese director Chloe Zhao, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, Chilean director Diego Cespedes, French actor Isaac De Bankole, and British screenwriter Paul Laverty.
The opening film of this year’s festival was the historical comedy The Electric Kiss, directed by Pierre Salvadori. The main roles in the film were played by popular French actors: Pio Marmay, Anais Demoustier, Gilles Lellouche, Wimala Pons, and Gustave Kervern.
