WORLD - Regional filmmakers continue to make a strong mark at the Cannes Film Festival, with Arab cinema prominently featured across the festival’s main competition, Un Certain Regard, Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight, and La Cinef sections in 2026.

This year’s selection spans Morocco, Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, and France, highlighting both established voices and emerging talent. Egyptian-French filmmaker Arthur Harari is also competing in the main section with The Unknown.

Below is a look at the Arab films featured at Cannes 2026.

Strawberries

Director: Laila Marrakchi
Section: Un Certain Regard
Countries: Morocco / France / Spain / Belgium

Moroccan filmmaker Laila Marrakchi returns to Cannes with Strawberries (La Mas Dulce), selected for Un Certain Regard. The story follows two young Moroccan women who travel to southern Spain for seasonal agricultural work, only to confront exploitation and difficult working conditions.

Marrakchi last appeared at Cannes in 2005 with Marock, also in Un Certain Regard.

The Unknown

Director: Arthur Harari
Section: Competition
Countries: France / Italy

Egyptian-French director Arthur Harari competes in the main selection with The Unknown (L’Inconnue). The film centers on a photographer who unexpectedly finds herself inhabiting the identity of an unfamiliar woman after a night out.

Harari previously co-won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Anatomy of a Fall, which premiered at Cannes in 2023.

Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep

Director: Rakan Mayasi
Section: Un Certain Regard
Countries: Palestine / Lebanon / Belgium / Qatar / Saudi Arabia

Palestinian filmmaker Rakan Mayasi presents his feature debut in Un Certain Regard. Set in a Bedouin community in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, the film unfolds around the disappearance of a young woman, exposing long-standing tensions and cycles of revenge.

Mayasi is known for his award-winning short films, including Bonbone and Trumpets in the Sky.

TJ28

Director: Yasmin Najjar
Section: La Cinef
Institution: Aalto University, Finland

Palestinian filmmaker Yasmin Najjar is featured in La Cinef with this 24-minute short, created as part of her studies at Aalto University. The section highlights student work from film schools worldwide.

Somewhere I Belong

Director: Youssef Handouse
Section: La Cinef
Institution: ISAMM, Tunisia

Tunisian director Youssef Handouse presents a 21-minute student film produced at ISAMM. The selection places him among emerging voices showcased in Cannes’ student-focused category.

The Station

Director: Sara Ishaq
Section: Critics’ Week (Feature Competition)
Countries: Yemen / Jordan / France / Germany / Netherlands / Norway / Qatar

Yemeni filmmaker Sara Ishaq competes in Critics’ Week with The Station (Al Mahattah). The film follows a woman running a female-only petrol station that becomes a sanctuary amid conflict, until personal and social pressures begin to disrupt its fragile stability.

Ishaq is also known for her Oscar-nominated short documentary Karama Has No Walls.

Nafron

Director: Daood Alabdulaa
Section: Critics’ Week (Short Competition)
Countries: Syria / Germany

Syrian filmmaker Daood Alabdulaa presents Nafron, a short film about a woman navigating a devastated Damascus after years of war, struggling with memory loss in a city shaped by trauma and violence.

The Sentinel

Director: Ali Cherri
Section: Critics’ Week (Special Screening)
Countries: Lebanon / France

Lebanese filmmaker Ali Cherri returns with The Sentinel, a French–Arabic short centered on a soldier granted a brief night of freedom during Bastille Day. Cherri’s previous feature The Dam premiered at Directors’ Fortnight in 2022.

What Do the Maknines Dream Of

Director: Sarra Ryma
Section: Critics’ Week (Short Competition)
Countries: Algeria / France

Algerian filmmaker Sarra Ryma’s short follows two young people preparing to leave Algeria in search of a different life across the Mediterranean.

In Search of the Grey Bird With Green Stripes

Director: Said Hamich Benlarbi
Section: Directors’ Fortnight
Countries: Morocco / France

Franco-Moroccan filmmaker Said Hamich Benlarbi presents a 45-minute work tracing a journey through Morocco’s Atlas Mountains in pursuit of a symbolic bird, blending realism with allegory.

Nothing Happens After Your Absence

Director: Ibrahim Omar
Section: Directors’ Fortnight
Country: Sudan

Sudanese filmmaker Ibrahim Omar’s short follows a man returning to his village to screen films, only to find that war is reshaping everything around him, turning a simple act of storytelling into a matter of survival.

Arab cinema at Cannes 2026 reflects a wide emotional and geographic range, with stories shaped by migration, conflict, memory, and survival. The selection underscores both the growing visibility of Arab filmmakers on the global stage and the diversity of perspectives emerging from across the region.