The 2026 selection brings together filmmakers working across different generations, backgrounds and cinematic traditions. From established auteurs with internationally recognised bodies of work to directors presenting new and distinctive voices, the competition reflects the breadth of contemporary filmmaking and the many ways in which cinema can approach the world around us.

The selected films move between intimate personal stories and wider social realities, exploring questions of identity, family, belonging, memory and human connection. Coming from a range of countries and production contexts, they offer audiences not only different stories, but also distinct visual languages, rhythms and approaches to filmmaking.

At the centre of the competition are the directors themselves — filmmakers with individual perspectives and a strong commitment to auteur cinema. Together, their works create a programme that invites audiences to encounter different ways of seeing, questioning and interpreting the world through film.