All the Stars Are Arriving in Cannes for the 79th Annual Film Festival
It’s time for the most glamorous red carpet of the year
Reported by Harper's Bazaar.
The Côte d'Azur is doing what it does best: providing the backdrop for the most photographed red carpet on the planet. The 79th Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off May 12 — and if Day 1 is any indication, the next eleven days are going to be relentless. According to Harper's Bazaar, 22 films are competing for the Palme d'Or this year, with heavy hitters including Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson in Paper Tiger, Rami Malek in The Man I Love, Pedro Almodóvar's Bitter Christmas, and the French-language drama All of a Sudden starring Virginie Efira. Japanese cinema is also a marquee focus this year — a signal that Cannes is leaning harder into its identity as a truly global film event.
The jury tasked with handing out that gilded frond is, frankly, a mood. Park Chan-wook, Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Ruth Negga, and Stellan Skarsgård touched down and promptly took their place on the Palais des Festivals' iconic steps — the kind of group photo that makes the rest of us feel like we need to do more with our lives. The casting alone is a statement: prestige cinema, global representation, serious taste.
The Dress Code Is Strict. The Fashion Is Stricter.
Cannes is one of the last red carpets that actually enforces a dress code — and somehow that constraint produces more spectacle, not less. Ruth Negga arrived in Celine. Demi Moore stepped out carrying Gucci. The whole scene — sun-drenched, sea-glazed, unbearably chic — is Old Hollywood glamour operating at full wattage in a very 2026 key. There's no algorithm here, no airport-style casual sneaking in. Cannes demands commitment, and the stars are delivering.
The festival runs through May 23, which means nearly two weeks of red-carpet moments, competition premieres, and the kind of fashion that reminds you why cinema and style have always been inseparable. Watch this space — it's only going to escalate.
Cannes isn't just a film festival; it's the annual proof that dressing with full intention is still the most powerful statement anyone can make.
Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.
