After the Cannes Official Selection announced their first wave of titles last week, it’s now the turn of the première French film festival’s three sidebars: Director’s Fortnight, Critic’s Week and L’Acid. Since their inception these independent programming strands have helped launch the careers of some of the most exciting filmmakers around. (Long-time Cannes fans know that if you want to know who’s about to hit the big time, you should keep an eye on the sidebars.)
2026’s programming is no different, boasting a variety of familiar names and intriguing new ones. Beanpole director Kantemir Balagov is opening Director’s Fortnight with his English-language debut, Butterfly Jam, starring Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough and Harry Melling, while hot Sundance property Once Upon A Time in Harlem makes its French debut in the slot previously filled by the likes of Sorry, Baby and Good One. The film, shot by William Greaves and completed by his son David Greaves following his father’s passing in 2014, captures a 1972 party at Duke Ellington’s home, with many key figures of the Harlem Renaissance in attendance. Romanian provocateur Radu Jude returns to Cannes in Director’s Fortnight, 17 years after his debut The Happiest Girl in the World premiered in ACID, while Quentin Dupieux is on double duty this year – while Full Phil plays over in the Midnights selection, his animated film Le Vertige closes out the Quinzaine programme.
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Over in Critic’s Week – where an impressive 5 out of 7 films in competition come from female filmmakers – Yemeni-Scottish director Sara Ishaq makes her feature fiction debut with Al Mahatta (The Station) about a woman who runs a woman-only petrol station in Yemen, while Critic’s Week Short Film alumni Zou Jing debuts her first feature, Wu ming nü hai (A Girl Unknown), focussing on a young Chinese women who grows up in three different families from the ages of 6 to 18.
Rounding out the Cannes sidebars is ACID (a collective of filmmakers who champion independent cinema and conversations between directors and audiences) who were among the first to champion filmmakers including Justine Triet and Kaouther Ben Hania and were the talk of the 2025 edition with Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk. With nine films in their 2026 programme, we’ll be paying special attention to their offering this year. Already on our radar are Iranian filmmaker Karim Lakzadeh’s Living Twice, Dying Thrice about a trio of miners who fake their deaths to allow their families to claim compensation, and Guillaume Massart’s documentary La Détention, which explores the French penal system through the eyes of young recruits at a prison officer academy.
Check out the full line-up for all three sidebars below.
Quinzaine des cinéastes (Directors’ Fortnight)
Butterfly Jam, by Kantemir Balagov (Opening Night Film)
Once Upon a Time in Harlem, by William Greaves & David Greaves
Femme De Chambre (The Diary of a Chambermaid), by Radu Jude
Dora, by July Jung
Gabin, by Maxence Voiseux
Clarissa, by Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri
L’espèce Explosive (Too Many Beasts), Sarah Arnold
Low Expectations, by Eivind Landsvik
Double Freedom, by Lisandro Alonso
We Are Aliens, by Kohei Kadowaki
Merci D’être Venu (Thanks for Coming), by Alain Cavalier
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, by Clio Barnard
Atonement, by Reed Van Dyk
Shana, by De Lila Pinell
Death Has No Master, by Jorge Thielen Armand
Carmen, L’oiseau Rebelle, by Sébastien Laudenbach
9 Temples to Heaven, by Sompot Chidgasornpongse
Le Vertige, by Quentin Dupieux (Closing Night Film)
La Semaine de la Critique (Critics’ Week)
Al Mahatta (The Station), by Sara Ishaq
Dua, by Blerta Basholli
La Gradiva, by Marine Atlan
Wu ming nü hai (A Girl Unknown), by Zou Jing
Six Months in the Pink Building, by Bruno Santamaría Razo
Tin Castle, by Alexander Murphy
Viva (Alive), by Aina Clotet
Adieu monde cruel, by Félix de Givry (Special Screening, Closing Film)
In Waves, by Phuong Mai Nguyen (Special Screening, Opening Film)
La Frappé (Stonewall), by Julien Gaspar-Oliveri (Special Screening)
Du Fioul dans les artères (Flesh and Fuel), by Pierre Le Gall (Special Screening)
ACID
Barça Zou, by Paul Nouhet
Blaise Un Film, by Jean-paul Guigue Et Dimitri Planchon
Cœur Secret, by Film De Tom Fontenille
Dans La Gueule De L’ogre, by De Mahsa Karampour
La Détention, by Guillaume Massart
Living Twice, Dying Thrice, by Karim Lakzadeh
Mauvaise Étoile, by Lola Cambourieu Et Yann Berlier
Promised Spaces, by De Ivan Marković
Virages, by Céline Carridroit Et Aline Suter
The Cannes Film Festival 2026 takes place from May 13 until May 24.
