The 79th Cannes Film Festival jury began a secret conclave on Saturday, May 23, 2026, to choose the winner of the Palme d'Or from 22 competing films.
South Korean director Park Chan-wook leads the nine-member panel. They will select a successor to last year's winner, "Un simple accident" by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.
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The deliberations precede the awards ceremony scheduled for Saturday evening on the French Riviera.
Voting Process and Contenders
A former anonymous Cannes jury member described the internal voting process as intense but cooperative.
"Everyone has the same speaking time to express their point of view, and obviously, in the end, everyone says what they think," they recalled.
"There are adjustments and arrangements: so that this one passes, okay for that one... Anyway, it's not an exact science," the source added.
Critical favorites include "Minotaure" by exiled Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev, an anti-war film, and "La Bola negra," a queer historical epic by Spanish directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo.
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"It is important that a film like this is in competition with two gay directors, three gay protagonists played by three openly gay actors," the directors said.
Other contenders include Cristian Mungiu's "Fjord" starring Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan, and performances by Javier Bardem and Swann Arlaud.
Meanwhile, the festival faced tension over a petition targeting Vincent Bolloré, controlling shareholder of Canal+.
Canal+ president Maxime Saada said he would refuse to work with the 600 original signatories.
The collective Zapper Bolloré reported nearly 3,000 additional signatories, including Ken Loach.
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On Saturday, the Ligue des droits de l'Homme and CGT Spectacle filed a legal complaint against Canal+ for alleged discrimination.
