Cannes 2026 welcomes back its familiar masters of cinema
The 2026 Cannes Film Festival will see several celebrated filmmakers return to the Croisette, reinforcing the festival’s long-standing ties with international cinema’s biggest names.
As the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival prepares to open on the French Riviera, several celebrated directors are once again returning to the Croisette, underlining their enduring ties to the world’s most prestigious film festival.
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Among the best-known returning names is Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, who is competing for the Palme d’Or with Sheep in the Box.
It marks his eleventh appearance at Cannes, where he previously won the Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters.
Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar also returns for an eleventh participation with Amarga Navidad, continuing a long relationship with Cannes that began in the late 1990s and included awards for All About My Mother and Volver.Veteran German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff, who first attended the festival in 1966, makes a notable comeback with Le Bois de Klara.
The director won the Palme d’Or in 1979 for The Tin Drum and returns nearly five decades later with a film exploring key moments in German history.
American director James Gray is back in competition with Paper Tiger, a mafia drama starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller.
Completing the list of returning auteurs is Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, whose latest feature Le Château d'Ariokawill screen in the Cannes Première section.
The festival runs from 12 to 23 May and once again brings together some of the most influential names in international cinema.