The official Cannes Film Festival feels a bit low-wattage in terms of star power this year, but the bold-faced names are turning out in force for the 58th edition of festival sidebar Directors’ Fortnight, which unveiled its 2026 lineup Tuesday.
Across its 19-feature selection, the Fortnight leans heavily into marquee names, including Barry Keoghan and Riley Keough, stars of opening night feature Butterfly Jam, the English-language debut of acclaimed Russian director Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole). The long-awaited feature, which some had tipped as a possible Cannes Competition entry, is a coming-of-age tale set inside New Jersey’s Circassian community.
Ayo Edebiri, David Oyelowo, and Sophie Okonedo star in Clarissa, a Nigeria-set reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s literary classic Mrs. Dalloway from director brothers Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri, also made the Fortnight cut, as did the star-studded Atonement, an Iraq war veteran drama from Dutch filmmaker Reed Van Dyk featuring Kenneth Branagh, Hiam Abbass and Boyd Holbrook.
Neon picked up U.S. rights to Clarissa earlier this year and is also handling international sales. Neon also pre-bought rights to William and David Greaves’ documentary Once Upon A Time In Harlem, which debuted in Sundance this year and will also screen in Fortnight.
Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant) returns to Cannes with her latest, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, a drama featuring Joe Cole, Anthony Boyle, Daryl McCormack, Jay Lycurgo, and Lola Petticrew. Also in the lineup are July Jung’s Dora, starring Japanese actress Sakura Ando (Shoplifters) and K-pop star Kim Do-yeon; and The Diary of a Chambermaid, the latest feature from Romanian director Radu Jude (Don’t Expect Too Much From the End of the World), starring Ana Dumitrascu Amélie Prevot, Vincent Macaigne, and Mélanie Thierry.
Despite the star-power, Directors’ Fortnight, under Artistic Director Julien Rejl and his team, retains its filmmaker focus, with new titles from established auteurs including Alain Cavalier (Thanks for Coming); Lisandro Alonso (Double Freedom); and Quentin Dupieux, whose Le Vertige will close the sidebar. Dupieux is also in official selection at the big festival this year, where his English-language feature Full Phil, starring Woody Harrelson and Kristen Stewart, grabbed a Midnight Screening slot.
There are plenty of debut features as well, including 9 Temples To Heaven, from Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse, a long-time collaborator of Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives) who was an assistant director on Weerasethakul’s Memoria and Cemetery of Splendour. Other debutants this year include Norwegian director Eivind Landsvik (Low Expectations), Swiss-Italian director Sarah Arnold (Too Many Beasts), Japanese filmmaker Kohei Kadowaki (the animated feature We Are Aliens), and France’s Maxence Voiseux, whose documentary Gabin made the final cut.
Iconic French director Claire Denis will receive the Fortnight’s Carrosse d’Or lifetime achievement honor this year. The 58th Director’s Fortnight runs from May 13 to 23.
Directors’ Fortnight 2026 Lineup
Feature Films
Opening Night Film: Butterfly Jam, director: Kantemir Balagov
9 Temples To Heaven, director: Sompot Chidgasornpongse
Atonement, director: Reed Van Dyk
Clarissa, director: Arie Esiri & Chuko Esiri
Death has no master, director: Jorge Thielen Armand
The Diary of a Chambermaid, director: Radu Jude
Dora, director: July Jung
Double Freedom, director: Lisandro Alonso
Gabin, director: Maxence Voiseux
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, director: Clio Barnard
Low Expectations, director: Eivind Landsvik
Once Upon A Time In Harlem, directors: William Greaves, David Greaves
La Perra, director: Domingo Sotomayor
Shana, director: Lila Pinell
Thanks for Coming, director: Alain Cavalier
Too Many Beasts, director: Sarah Arnold
Viva Carmen, director: Sebastian Laundenbach
We Are Aliens, director: Kohei Kadowaki
Le Vertige, director: Quentin Dupieux
Short and Medium-Length Films
The Joyless Economy, director: Marjorie Conrad
Oh Boys, director: Antonio Donato
Early Morning, director: Sebastián Lojo
Eri, director: Yano Honami
Pithead, directors: Wannes Vanspauwen & Pol De Plecker
The Daughters Of The Late Colonel, director: Elizabeth Hobbs
Nothing Happens After Your Absence, director: Ibrahim Omar
Free Eliza (Notes On An Anatomical Imperfection), director: Alexandra Matheou
In Search of the Green-striped Bird, director: Saïd Hamich Benlarb
