The 79th Festival de Cannes celebrated the pinnacle of adventurous, singular filmmaking as the Un Certain Regard jury announced its highly anticipated winners list.
Known as the festival’s dedicated platform for formal experimentation, cinematic discovery, and towering auteur visions, this year’s selection brought together nineteen feature films.
Six of these projects were debut features competing concurrently for the coveted Caméra d’or.
The vibrant, diverse lineup kicked off with the bold opening feature, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.
This year’s prestigious jury was chaired by the acclaimed French actress Leïla Bekhti.
She was joined by a stellar, internationally diverse cohort of creative visionaries, including Senegalese producer Angèle Diabang, Lebanese composer Khaled Mouzanar, Italian director Laura Samani, and French filmmaker Thomas Cailley.
Together, they selected a roster of winners that spans across continents and underscores the festival’s enduring mission to champion daring, unconventional storytelling.
The top honor, the Un Certain Regard Prize, was awarded to Everytime, directed by Sandra Wollner.
Wollner’s third feature, a co-production between Austria and Germany, is a haunting, deeply psychological study of familial loss, guilt, and the complex journey of healing after tragedy.
The film’s formal precision, atmospheric imagery—shot beautifully by cinematographer Gregory Oke—and standout performances cemented Wollner’s status as one of Europe’s most provocative contemporary directors.
The Jury Prize was presented to the Nepalese feature Elephants in the Fog, directed by Abinash Bikram Shah.
Marking a massive triumph for South Asian independent cinema, this poetic, debut feature captured the jury’s attention with its lyrical realism and meditative pacing, bringing a powerful new global voice to the international stage.
The Special Jury Prize went to Iron Boy, an inventive work directed by Louis Clichy.
The film was highly praised for its unique narrative approach, bringing a distinctive aesthetic to the competitive lineup.
Acting honors highlighted the profound depth of human emotion shown across the selection.
The Best Actor award was bestowed upon Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset for his raw and deeply magnetic performance in Congo Boy, directed by Rafiki Fariala.
Dembeasset’s portrayal of resilience in contemporary Central Africa was widely celebrated as one of the breakout performances of the entire festival.
In an equally moving decision, the Best Actresses prize was shared by the phenomenal ensemble cast of Marina de Tavira, Daniela Marín Navarro, and Mariangel Villegas for their emotionally charged work in Siempre soy tu animal materno (Forever Your Maternal Animal), directed by Valentina Maurel.
The powerful chemistry and individual vulnerability of the three actresses anchored Maurel’s striking narrative.
As the Croisette winds down, the 2026 Un Certain Regard selection continues to serve as a vital reminder that the future of cinema belongs to those willing to push boundaries and capture the rawest, most complex fragments of our shared humanity.
Published By : May 22, 2026.
