The 78th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2025. French actress Juliette Binoche served as jury president for the main competition. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the thriller film It Was Just an Accident.
Hartland Villa designed the official double poster for the festival featuring actress Anouk Aimée and actor Jean-Louis Trintignant in the movie A Man and a Woman (1966) by Claude Lelouch, winner of the Palme d'Or at the 19th Cannes Film Festival. French actor Laurent Lafitte served as host for the opening and closing ceremonies.
During the festival, two Honorary Palme d'Ors were awarded: the first was awarded to Robert De Niro during the festival's opening ceremony, and the second was awarded on short notice to Denzel Washington before the world premiere of Highest 2 Lowest.
One day after the announcement of the ACID official selection, Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, one of the main subjects of the documentary film Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk by Sepideh Farsi, was killed along with ten members of her family in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Gaza City on 16 April 2025. The festival released an official statement expressing condolences and criticising the ongoing war and violence in Gaza. On the festival's opening day, more than 350 directors, actors and producers including, Jonathan Glazer, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Víctor Erice, Hafsia Herzi, Aki Kaurismäki, Nadav Lapid, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Pedro Almodóvar, David Cronenberg and Ruben Östlund signed a letter condemning the killing of Hassouna and denounced the ongoing genocide in Gaza, stating: "We cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza".
On the festival's final day, 24 May 2025, a power outage caused by arson disrupted the morning screenings sessions.
The festival opened with the French comedy film Leave One Day by Amélie Bonnin.
Juries
Main Competition Juliette Binoche, French actress – Jury President Halle Berry, American actress and filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi, Congolese filmmaker and producer Hong Sang-soo, South Korean filmmaker Payal Kapadia, Indian filmmaker Carlos Reygadas, Mexican filmmaker Alba Rohrwacher, Italian actress Leïla Slimani, Moroccan writer Jeremy Strong, American actor
Un Certain Regard Molly Manning Walker, British filmmaker and cinematographer — Jury President Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Argentine actor Louise Courvoisier, French filmmaker Vanja Kaluđerčić, Croatian film programmer and Festival Director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam Roberto Minervini, Italian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter
Cinéfondation and Short Films Competition Maren Ade, German filmmaker and producer — Jury President José Maria Prado Garcia, Spanish producer and former director of Filmoteca Española Reinaldo Marcus Green, American filmmaker and producer Camélia Jordana, French actress, singer and songwriter Nebojša Slijepčević, Croatian filmmaker
Caméra d'Or Alice Rohrwacher, Italian filmmaker – Jury President , Algerian-French filmmaker and actor Frédéric Mercier, French film critic Géraldine Nakache, French filmmaker and actress Tommaso Vergallo, CEO Noir Luimere
Immersive Competition Luc Jacquet, French filmmaker – Jury President Laurie Anderson, American artist and musician Tania de Montaigne, French writer Martha Fiennes, British filmmaker and producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Japanese video game creator
L'Œil d'Or Julie Gayet, French actress and producer – Jury President Carmen Castillo, Chilean filmmaker Frédéric Maire, Swiss director of the Cinémathèque suisse Juliette Favreul Renaud, French producer Marc Zinga, Congolese-Belgian actor
Critics' Week Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spanish filmmaker – Jury President Yulia Evina Bhara, Indonesian producer Jihane Bougrine, Moroccan journalist Josée Deshaies, French-Canadian cinematographer Daniel Kaluuya, British actor and filmmaker
Queer Palm Christophe Honoré, French filmmaker – Jury President Marcelo Caetano, Brazilian filmmaker Faridah Gbadamosi, American film programmer Léonie Pernet, French composer and singer Timé Zoppé, French journalist
Official Selection
In Competition The following films were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country Alpha (QP) Julia DucournauFrance, Belgium Case 137 Dominik MollFrance Die My Love Lynne RamsayUnited States Eagles of the Republic Tarik SalehSweden, France, Denmark, Finland Eddington Ari AsterUnited States Fuori Mario MartoneItaly, France The History of Sound (QP) Oliver HermanusUnited Kingdom, United States It Was Just an Accident Jafar PanahiIran, France, Luxembourg The Little Sister (QP) Hafsia HerziFrance, Germany The Mastermind Kelly ReichardtUnited States, United Kingdom Nouvelle Vague Richard LinklaterFrance The Phoenician Scheme Wes AndersonUnited States, Germany Renoir Chie HayakawaJapan, Australia, France, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia Resurrection Bi GanChina, France Romería Carla SimónSpain, Belgium, Germany The Secret Agent Kleber Mendonça FilhoBrazil, France, Germany, Netherlands Sentimental Value Joachim TrierNorway, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom Sirāt Oliver LaxeSpain, FranceSound of Falling Mascha Schilinski Germany Two ProsecutorsSergei LoznitsaLatvia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Lithuania Woman and Childزن و بچه Saeed RoustayiIran, France, Germany Young Mothers Jean-Pierre and Luc DardenneBelgium, France
(QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.
Un Certain Regard The following films were selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section: {| class="wikitable" !scope="col" style="width:25%;"| English Title !scope="col" style="width:25%;"| Original Title !scope="col" style="width:25%;"| Director(s) !scope="col" style="width:25%;"| Production Country |- | Aisha Can't Fly Away (CdO) ||| Morad Mostafa ||Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar |- |Caravan (CdO) |Karavan |Zuzana Kirchnerová |Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy |- | colspan="2" | The Chronology of Water (CdO)|| Kristen Stewart||France, Latvia, United Kingdom, United States |- | colspan="2" | Eleanor the Great (CdO)|| Scarlett Johansson||United States |- |The Great Arch | |Stéphane Demoustier |France |- |Heads or Tails? | |Matteo Zoppis and Alessio Rigo de Righi |Italy, United States |- | colspan="2" |Homebound |Neeraj Ghaywan |India |- |I Only Rest in the Storm (QP) | |Pedro Pinho |Portugal, Brazil, France, Romania |- |The Last One for the Road | |Francesco Sossai |Italy |- | colspan="2" |Love Me Tender (QP) |Anna Cazenave Cambet | rowspan="2" |France |- | Meteors ||| Hubert Charuel |- | colspan="2" | My Father's Shadow (CdO)|| Akinola Davies Jr.||United Kingdom, Ireland, Nigeria |-style="background:#FFDEAD;" | The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (CdO, QP)|| || Diego Céspedes|| Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium|- | colspan="2" | Once Upon a Time in Gaza|| Tarzan and Arab Nasser ||Palestine, France, Portugal |- |A Pale View of Hills | |Kei Ishikawa |Japan, United Kingdom, Poland |- | colspan="2" | Pillion (CdO) (QP)|| Harry Lighton || United Kingdom, Ireland |- | colspan="2" |The Plague (CdO) |Charlie Polinger |Romania, United States |- |Promised Sky (opening film) | |Erige Sehiri |Tunisia, France, Netherlands, Qatar |- |A Poet | |Simón Mesa Soto |Colombia, Germany, Sweden |- | colspan="2" | Urchin (CdO)|| Harris Dickinson||United Kingdom
(CdO) indicates film eligible for the Caméra d'Or as a feature directorial debut. (QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.
Out of Competition The following films were selected to be screened out of competition: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 13 Days, 13 Nights Martin Bourboulon Belgium, France Colours of Time Cédric KlapischFrance Highest 2 Lowest Spike LeeUnited States, Japan Leave One Day (opening film) (CdO) Amélie BonninFrance Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Christopher McQuarrieUnited StatesA Private LifeRebecca ZlotowskiFranceThe Richest Woman in the World (QP)Thierry KlifaFrance, BelgiumMidnight ScreeningsExit 8Genki KawamuraJapanHoney Don't!Ethan CoenUnited States, United KingdomNo One Will KnowVincent Maël CardonaFranceThe ResidenceDallowayYann GozlanFrance, BelgiumSons of the Neon NightJuno MakHong Kong
(CdO) indicates film eligible for the Caméra d'Or as a feature directorial debut. (QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.
Cannes Premiere The following films were selected to be screened in the Cannes Premiere section: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country Amrum Fatih AkinGermany Connemara Alex LutzFrance The Disappearance of Josef Mengele Kirill SerebrennikovGermany, France, United Kingdom, SpainLove on TrialKoji FukadaJapan, FranceThe Love That RemainsHlynur PálmasonIceland, Denmark, France, Finland, SwedenMagellanLav DiazPortugal, Spain, Philippines, France Orwell: 2+2=5 (ŒdO) Raoul PeckFrance, United States Splitsville Michael Angelo CovinoUnited States Summer Beats Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret France The Wave (QP) Sebastián LelioChile, United States
(ŒdO) indicates film eligible for the as documentary. (QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.
Special Screenings The following films were selected to be screened in the Special Screenings section: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production CountryArco (CdO)Ugo BienvenuFrance Bono: Stories of Surrender (ŒdO) Andrew DominikAustralia, United StatesLittle Amélie or the Character of Rain (CdO)Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho HanFrance A Magnificent Life Sylvain ChometFrance, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, United StatesMama (CdO)Or SinaiIsrael, Poland, ItalyThe Six Billion Dollar Man (ŒdO)Eugene JareckiUnited States, Germany, FranceTell Her That I Love HerRomane BohringerFranceThe Wonderers (CdO)Joséphine JapyTribute to Pierre RichardThe Man Who Saw The BearPierre RichardFrance
(CdO) indicates film eligible for the as a feature directorial debut. (ŒdO) indicates film eligible for the as documentary.
Short Films Competition Selected from 4,781 films, 9 are fiction short films and 2 animated short films. The following short films were selected to compete for the Short Film Palme d'Or: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production CountryAgapitoArvin Belarmino and Kyla Danelle RomeroPhilippinesAliAdnan Al RajeevBangladesh, PhilippinesArguments in Favor of LoveGabriel AbrantesPortugalDammenGrégoire GraesslinFranceFille de l’EauSandra DesmazièresI'm Glad You're Dead NowTawfeek BarhomPalestine, France, GreeceHypersensitiveMartine FroissardCanadaLiliZhaoguang Luo and Shuhan LiaoChinaThe Loneliness of LizardsInês NunesPortugal, SpainThe SpectacleBálint KenyeresHungary, FranceVulturesDian WeysSouth Africa, France
Cinéfondation The Cinéfondation (or ) section focuses on films made by students at film schools. The Cannes Film Festival allocates a €15,000 grant for the winner of the First Prize, €11,250 for the winner of the Second Prize and €7,500 for the winner of the Third Prize. 13 live-action and 3 animated films from 2,700 submitted by film schools all over the world were selected: