79th edition ^,from May 12 to 23, 2026

Following in the footsteps of British filmmaker Molly Manning Walker, Leïla Bekhti will preside over the Un Certain Regard Jury at the 79th ^Cannes Film Festival. Surrounded by four jurors / producer Angèle Diabang from Senegal, composer Khaled Mouzanar from Lebanon, director Laura Samani from Italy, and director Thomas Cailley from France. They will be tasked with selecting the winners for this program that celebrates emerging, auteur, and new cinema.

Last year, Chilean director Diego Céspedes won the Un Certain Regard Prize with his highly acclaimed debut film, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo .

From left to right: Leïla Bekhti © Virgile Texier / Khaled Mouzanar © DR / Angèle Diabang © Mbar Diop / Laura Samani © Gianmarco Chieregato / Thomas Cailley © 2023 Nord-Ouest Films – Studiocanal – France 2 Cinéma – Artémis Productions – Ivan Mathié

“For the first time as Jury President, I will be in this unique position: watching, listening, sharing, celebrating. Filmmaking has taught me that films are places of encounter – with others, with oneself, with the world. Discovering them alongside a jury, living this timeless experience, is both a responsibility and a joy. I look forward to these shared perspectives, these dialogues, and also these doubts, which enrich this living art. And, ultimately, I will be there in the most precious place: that of the audience.”

Leïla Bekhti, President of the Un Certain Regard Jury

French actress Leïla Bekhti, President of the Un Certain Regard Jury

First brought to the public’s attention in Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet (2009), winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, Leïla Bekhti quickly established herself as an actress of rare intensity. Awarded the César for Most Promising Actress in 2011 for Tout ce qui brille by Hervé Mimran and Géraldine Nakache (2010), she has since pursued a free and audacious career, moving seamlessly between genres with talent.

Faithful to the Cannes Film Festival, she has accompanied landmark works such as Paris, je t’aime (2006), The Source of Women by Radu Mihaileanu (2011), Sink or Swim by Gilles Lellouche (2018) or The Restless by Joachim Lafosse (2021).

Angèle Diabang

Senegal – Producer and director

Blending comedy, drama, and thriller, she portrays profoundly human characters, as seen in Kheiron’s Nous trois ou rien (2015), Lucie Borleteau’s Chanson douce (2019), Jeanne Herry ‘s Je verrai toujours vos visages (2023), and Ken Scott’s Ma mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan (2025). She will soon be seen in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Changer l’eau des fleurs .

A major figure in the African cultural and audiovisual sector through her institutional commitments, Angèle Diabang is a Senegalese producer and director. For over 20 years, she has been developing a body of work focused on social issues, women’s trajectories, and human rights, with her production company Karoninka, founded in 2006. As a director, she is known for her socially conscious documentaries, including Congo, a Doctor to Save Women, about Denis Mukwege, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Her short film A Kora Melody won the Bronze Stallion at FESPACO 2019, where she also received the ECOWAS Award for Best Director. In 2025, she directed So Long a Letter, an adaptation of Mariama Bâ’s novel, which achieved historic success in West Africa, setting an unprecedented box office record.

Laura Samani

Italy – Director and screenwriter

Acclaimed for her debut feature film Piccolo Corpo , selected for Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2021 and winner of the David di Donatello Award for Best First Feature and the European Film Awards Discovery Award, Laura Samani is an Italian director and screenwriter. She made her debut at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation in 2016 with her short film The Sleeping Saint , which won awards at several international festivals. Her latest film, An Italian Year , loosely based on the novel by Giani Stuparich, was in Competition in the Orizzonti section at Venice in 2025, where her lead actor won the Best Actor Award. Her work explores female characters who assert their identity, independence, and personal freedom while challenging social norms.

Thomas Cailley

France – Director and screenwriter

A graduate of La Fémis film school, Thomas Cailley made his mark with Love at First Fight (Les Combattants ). Presented at Cannes, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize, the film received the César Award for Best First Film in 2015, along with numerous other awards in France and internationally. His second film, Ad Vitam (2018), a well-received science fiction series, confronts young people with a world dreaming of immortality. In 2023, his film Animal Kingdom (Le Règne animal ) opened the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. With this fantasy drama, the director explores our capacity to embrace otherness and rethink our relationship with nature. Acclaimed by critics and a box-office success in France with over a million admissions, the film won five César Awards in 2024. He is currently co-writing Michel Hazanavicius’s next film and developing his third feature.

Khaled Mouzanar

Lebanon – Composer

Haled Mouzanar has established himself as a major figure in the Lebanese art scene since the 2000s. After his first album, “Les Champs arides” (2007), he composed the soundtrack for Nadine Labaki’s film *Caramel * (2007), and then wrote the music for her film * Et maintenant on va où?* , which was presented in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Their collaboration achieved international acclaim with *Capharnaüm* (2018), which he co-wrote, produced, and scored. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes, the film was nominated for César, Golden Globe, and Oscar awards. Alongside his classical compositions, he develops hybrid artistic projects, including * Le monde va à la guerre et moi j’en reviens* , presented at the Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale. In 2025, he created 18:08 – When Gravity Was No More , an immersive installation blending documentary and poetic abstraction as a tribute to the port of Beirut after its explosion.

Copyright: Cannes Film Festival – www.festival-cannes.com/ – 79th ^edition , May 12-23, 2026

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