The Cannes Film Festival's 79th edition poster pays tribute to Ridley Scott's film Thelma & Louise, according to multiple reports. The poster, a photograph by Roland Neveu, shows Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis on top of a Ford Thunderbird Convertible. Thelma & Louise premiered in Cannes on 20 May 1991. Festival organizers praised the film for breaking gender roles and challenging film conventions, stating that the two unforgettable fighters turned the tables and shattered a few gender stereotypes, both societal and cinematic; they embodied absolute freedom and unwavering friendship; they showed the way to emancipation when it becomes vital. They added that remembering this today means celebrating the road already covered, without overlooking what still remains ahead. The film won Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.
The competition lineup leans toward world-cinema auteurs, according to major media reports. Pedro Almodóvar, Cristian Mungiu, and Asghar Farhadi are among the directors in competition, major media sources report. Almodóvar's film Bitter Christmas is about a woman left by her lover at Christmas. Farhadi's Parallel Tales is set in France and inspired by Krzysztof Kieslowski's Dekalog, featuring Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve. Mungiu's first English-language film Fjord is set in Norway and stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. Paweł Pawlikowski is in competition with his Thomas Mann biopic Fatherland, according to major media. Andrey Zvyagintsev's film Minotaur is about a Russian businessman racked with domestic anguish, major media report, though some interpretations see it as an allegory about the Russian upper middle class's moral decay and complicity in the Ukraine war. László Nemes's film Moulin is set in occupied France, according to major media. Hirokazu Kore-eda's film Sheep in the Box is a humanistic sci-fi drama about AI.
Out-of-competition highlights include Andy Garcia directing and starring in the crime drama Diamond. John Travolta directs Propeller One-Way Night Coach, based on his own novel. Steven Soderbergh's documentary John Lennon: The Last Interview uses AI to reconstruct visuals, according to major media.
Classic Hollywood stars will be scarce at the 80th Cannes festival, according to major media. Actors expected on the red carpet include Léa Seydoux, Sandra Hüller, Isabelle Huppert, Renate Reinsve, Sebastian Stan, Catherine Deneuve, Kristen Stewart, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Five female directors have films in competition: Marie Kreutzer, Valeska Grisebach, Léa Mysius, Jeanne Herry, and Charline Bourgeois-Taquet, though the festival has a preponderance of male directors over female, according to major media.
Season four of The White Lotus is filming at the Hotel Martinez during the festival, according to major media. The cast includes Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Coogan, Vincent Cassel, and Heather Graham.
No British directors have been announced for the competition, according to major media. The festival refuses to admit streamer-only movies, according to major media. The exact number of films in competition and the official stance on AI use in films at Cannes remain unclear.