Cannes 2026 #1, with Jonathan Romney and Beatrice Loayza

Cannes 2026 has arrived, and the Film Comment crew is on the ground, ready to cut through the noise with dispatches, interviews, Podcasts, a special Cannes Critics’ Grid, and much more. This year's edition is packed with highly anticipated premieres from Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Valeska Grisebach, James Gray, Paweł Pawlikowski, and many more acclaimed filmmakers.

To kick off our daily Podcasts from the Croisette, critics and Film Comment contributing editors Jonathan Romney and Beatrice Loayza join FC editor Devika Girish to discuss the highs and lows of the festival's first few days. The group begins by debating Pierre Salvadori's The Electric Venus (4:30), the festival's opening night film, and Kantemir Balagov's Butterfly Jam (9:58), the opening selection of the Directors' Fortnight section. Next, they share their responses to Jane Schoenbrun's Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (22:15) and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet's A Woman's Life (33:45) before discussing the films they are most looking forward to seeing at this year's edition.

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