The Cannes Film Festival begins this week on the French Riviera, bringing together filmmakers, actors and studios from around the world for 12 days of premieres, red carpets and international cinema, while four Bangladeshi documentary projects have also secured places at Cannes Docs 2026.
The festival officially opens on May 12 in Cannes, France, with some of the year’s most anticipated films set to debut across its competition and special screening sections.
Alongside the main festival, Bangladesh has secured representation at Cannes Docs 2026, one of the world’s leading documentary industry platforms.
Four Bangladeshi documentary projects have been selected for participation following a national open call and multi-stage jury process organised with support from Alliance Française Chittagong, Bisubo Art Organization and the French PICC grant programme.
The selected projects are ‘Opekkha’ by Kazi Arefin Ahmed, ‘Blue-Collars from the Frontline’ by Citto Aanondi, also known as Sumaiya Binte Selim, ‘In Search of Her’ produced by S M Kamrul Ahsan and ‘My Cousin’ by Sumon Delwar.
According to organisers, the projects were recognised for their artistic quality, unique storytelling approaches and international potential.
Opekkha follows an elderly grandmother living apart from her family after a visa rejection, while Blue-Collars from the Frontline explores generations of women affected by migration, conflict and economic survival in rural Bangladesh.
In Search of Her centres on two Dutch adoptees returning to Bangladesh to trace their origins and My Cousin tells the story of a migrant worker’s widow confronting social stigma after discovering she is HIV-positive.
South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook will preside over the main competition jury this year. The festival will also honour filmmaker Peter Jackson and singer-actress Barbra Streisand with honorary Palme d’Or awards.
Among the major titles drawing attention is ‘Hope’, a sci-fi thriller by South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin featuring an international cast including Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Hwang Jung-min.
James Gray’s ‘Paper Tiger’, starring Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson, has also emerged as one of the festival’s most anticipated American productions after being added to the competition lineup.
Other notable entries include Cristian Mungiu’s ‘Fjord’, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s French-language debut ‘All of a Sudden’, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s science-fiction drama ‘Sheep in the Box’, and Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Bitter Christmas’.
Steven Soderbergh’s documentary ‘John Lennon: The Last Interview’ will screen as a special presentation at the festival, while filmmakers such as Arthur Harari, Pawel Pawlikowski and Andrey Zvyagintsev are also returning to Cannes with new projects.
