After nearly two weeks of cinematic brilliance, red carpet glamour, and late-night festivities along the French Riviera, the Cannes Film Festival is preparing for its grand finale—the announcement of this year’s Palme d’Or winner. The prestigious award will be decided by a nine-member jury led by acclaimed French actor Juliette Binoche, who will select the top film among 22 entries in competition. The final ceremony, set for Saturday night, will also see the announcement of other key accolades including the Grand Prix, Jury Prize, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay.
The Cannes awards can prove transformative for filmmakers and actors alike. Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve, who stars in Joachim Trier’s current competition entry Sentimental Value, previously won Best Actress in 2021 for The Worst Person in the World, a win she credits with changing the trajectory of her career. Trier’s latest film, which received a rapturous 15-minute standing ovation, is among the festival’s most buzzed-about titles and has been picked up by U.S. distributor Neon.
Neon, which has developed a reputation for acquiring future Palme d’Or winners, has three titles in its 2025 slate so far: Trier’s Sentimental Value, Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, and Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent. The distributor’s past success includes backing Anora, last year’s Palme d’Or winner, which went on to sweep five Oscars, including Best Picture.
Other strong contenders this year include Two Prosecutors, a politically charged drama set during Stalinist Russia, and Sound of Falling, a German intergenerational story by director Mascha Schilinski. These films have fared well on ScreenDaily’s annual jury grid, a popular predictor of jury outcomes.
Veteran auteurs are also in the running. French director Julia Ducournau, who won in 2021 with Titane, returns with Alpha, while Belgium’s Dardenne brothers—winners in both 1999 and 2005—are once again in competition. With only two past Palme d’Or winners among this year’s contenders, the field remains wide open.
The 78th edition of the festival began on May 13 with the French comedy Leave One Day and has since showcased a wide range of global cinema, confirming Cannes’ place as the industry’s most influential stage for new voices and established talents alike.
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