Overview
- Following Thursday’s program reveal in Paris, Italy is absent from competition and all announced sections, a gap not seen since 2017.
- Festival leadership said the roster is roughly 95% complete and that a few additional films will be announced next week.
- South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook will preside over the main jury for the edition running May 12–23.
- Pierre Salvadori’s La Vénus électrique will open the festival out of competition, and Peter Jackson and Barbra Streisand will receive honorary Palme d’Ors.
- The slate leans toward European and Asian auteurs, with only one U.S. director (Ira Sachs) in competition and Italian participation limited to co-productions and casts such as Fatherland and Midnight entry Roma elastica.