Today, the Quinzaine des Cinéastes 2026 selection was presented by artistic director Julien Rejl. The strand has been around since 1969 and was formerly known as Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. The section runs parallel to the main festival and has typically been the place to find the best and most original works by directors who would later become famous. The strand has looked somewhat different since the changes made before the 2023 edition, one of which is that every film submitted must agree to distribution in French cinemas.
The 58th edition of the Directors’ Fortnight (The English name is still the same) presents 19 feature films and 9 short films. There are quite a few established directors, such as Kantemir Balagov, Lisandro Alonso, Radu Jude, and Alain Cavalier. The selectors boast about the ” notable contributions from a number of countries with little or no international exposure, such as Nigeria, Sudan, Guatemala, Venezuela and Cyprus.”
The selection is as follows:
FEATURE FILMS
BUTTERFLY JAM de Kantemir Balagov – opening film
9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN by Sompot Chidgasornpongse – first feature film
ATONEMENT (L’Apaisement) by Reed Van Dyk – first feature film
CARMEN, L’OISEAU REBELLE (Viva Carmen) by Sébastien Laudenbach – animation
CLARISSA by Arie Esiri & Chuko Esiri
DEATH HAS NO MASTER (La muerte no tiene dueño) by Jorge Thielen Armand
DORA by July Jung
DOUBLE FREEDOM (La libertad doble) by Lisandro Alonso
L’ESPÈCE EXPLOSIVE (Too Many Beasts) by Sarah Arnold – first feature film
GABIN by Maxence Voiseux – documentary – first feature film
I SEE BUILDINGS FALL LIKE LIGHTNING by Clio Barnard
LE JOURNAL D’UNE FEMME DE CHAMBRE (The Diary of a Chambermaid) by Radu Jude
LOW EXPECTATIONS (Lave Forventninger) by Eivind Landsvik – first feature film
MERCI D’ÊTRE VENU (Thanks for Coming) by Alain Cavalier – documentary
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM by William Greaves & David Greaves – documentary
LA PERRA by Dominga Sotomayor
SHANA by Lila Pinell
WE ARE ALIENS by Kohei Kadowaki – animation – first feature film
LE VERTIGE (Vertiginous) by Quentin Dupieux – animation – closing film
SHORT FILMS
À LA RECHERCHE DE L’OISEAU GRIS AUX RAYURES VERTES (In Search of the Grey Bird with Green Stripes) by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi – documentary
DAUGHTERS OF THE LATE COLONEL by Elizabeth Hobbs – animation
ERI by Yano Honami – animation
FREE ELIZA (NOTES ON AN ANATOMICAL IMPERFECTION) by Alexandra Matheou
THE JOYLESS ECONOMY by Marjorie Conrad – documentary
MADRUGADA by Sebastián Lojo
NOTHING HAPPENS AFTER YOUR ABSENCE (لا شيءَ يحدثُ بعدَ غيابِكَ) by Ibrahim Omar
OH BOYS by Antonio Donato
PITHEAD by Wannes Vanspauwen & Pol De Plecker
Comments on the Quinzaine des Cinéastes 2026
Kantemir Balagov’s controversial debut feature Closeness (Tesnota) premiered in the 2017 Un Certain Regard section. Incidentally, the same strand that housed Valeska Grisebach’s Western. Two years later, Beanpole (Dylda) appeared in the same section to wide acclaim. I was not among the most enthusiastic, but I will check out what the director has to offer with the English-language Butterfly Jam, which will be the section’s opening film. It is still notable that the director is not part of the official selection this year. There is a Norwegian first feature called Low Expectations, which mirrors the feeling I have whenever I approach a film from that country.
The highly prolific Radu Jude will present yet another version of Octave Mirbeau’s The Diary of a Chambermaid. That doesn’t sound exciting, but it will hopefully be less tedious than his Dracula film from last year. There is no mention of how much AI was used during the production. A new Lisandro Alonso film is always an event. There isn’t much info about Double Freedom right now, but it is definitely one to watch. Alain Cavalier’s Merci d’être venu is the final instalment of his filmed diary. The closing film is an animated one by Quentin Dupieux called Le Vertige. There is no information on whether it is a remake of Marcel L’Herbier’s film. It might not be.
This year’s edition of Quinzine des Cinéastes will run May 13-23.
