The 2025 Cannes Film Festival

From 13th - 24th May, 2025, the 78th Cannes Film Festival will be taking place. Arguably the premier event of its type, the festival will showcase the very best new films and attract journalists, movie stars and other celebrities from around the world. Last year’s was a roaring success, with Anora taking home the Palme d’Or and the Chinese film Black Dog winning the Un Certain Regard category.

While the general public aren’t allowed to attend the events, you can read all about them below.

One of the 'Big Five' film festivals (the others being Sundance, Toronto, Berlin and Venice) Cannes Film Festival is an event that previews upcoming movies from around the world. As the name suggests, it takes place in the town of Cannes in the Alpes-Maritime department in the south-east of France. Besides the film festival, the town is known for its luxurious establishments, gorgeous weather and thriving tourism industry.

There are three main competitions at the film festival. The Compétition Officielle is the most prestigious, and awards the famous Palme d’Or to the film that wins. There are usually around 20 competing films. You can see the 2025 contenders here.

The Palme d’Or was introduced in 1955, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, which was the highest prize in the film festival before that date. Previous films to win the Palme include La Dolce Vita, Apocalypse Now, Anatomy of a Fall and Parasite.

There is also an honorary Palme d’Or, given to a director or actor who hasn’t won the Palme d’Or before but who has contributed significantly to the world of cinema. Previous winners have included Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood and the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli. This year it will be awarded to Robert de Niro during the festival’s opening ceremony.

The Un Certain Regard category is awarded to innovative and experimental films. Its winners are often less established or even debut films by less well known directors from around the world. Some of the films in competition for this year’s Un Certain Regard include the Japanese film A Pale View of the Hills, the Italian film The Last One For the Road and the French film Meteors.

The Cinéfondation competition is for short and medium-length student films from film schools around the world. It has a first, second and third prize and is a way for producers to discover new cinematic talent.

Each year the festival is chaired by a well-known personality in the world of cinema. This year it is the actress Juliette Binoche. Previous presidents have included Fritz Lang, Greta Gerwig, Tim Burton, although only Jeanne Moreau has had the honour of being president twice.

Since 1998, the Un Certain Regard category has had its own jury and president. For 2025, the president will be the British filmmaker Molly Manning-Walker.