ARRI Cameras Lead Cannes 2026 As ALEXA 35 Tops Line-Up

Over 11 days on the Croisette for the 79th Festival de Cannes, ARRI cameras, lenses and lighting featured across prize-winners and official selections, with ARRI Rental crews and technical teams supporting filmmakers behind the scenes. From Main Competition to parallel strands, ARRI systems were the prevailing choice, spanning digital ALEXA models and a notable resurgence of analog film.

Among the most prominent award winners captured with ARRI equipment were:
- Fjord — dir. Cristian Mungiu; DP Tudor Vladimir Panduru RSC. Shot with ALEXA 35 and ARRI Master Anamorphic lenses. (Palme d'Or)
- The Dreamed Adventure — dir. Valeska Grisebach; DP Bernhard Keller. Shot with ALEXA 35. (Jury Prize)
- Fatherland — dir. Paweł Pawlikowski; DP Łukasz Żal PSC. Shot with ALEXA 35. (Best Director — tie)
- The Black Ball — dir. Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi; DP Gris Jordana AEC. Shot with ARRICAM ST (3-perf). (Best Director — tie)
- Everytime — dir. Sandra Wollner; DP Gregory Oke. Shot with ALEXA 35. (Un Certain Regard — Best Film)
- Elephants in the Fog — dir. Abinash Bikram Shah; DP Noe Bach AFC. Shot with ALEXA Mini. (Un Certain Regard — Jury Prize)
- Ben Imana — dir. Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo; DP Mostafa El Kashef. Shot with ALEXA 35. (Camera d'Or)
- I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning — dir. Clio Barnard; DP Simon Tindall. Shot with ARRIFLEX 416. (Audience Award — Directors' Fortnight)

For the 15th time, ARRI sponsored Directors' Fortnight, the showcase dedicated to distinctive contemporary cinema running alongside the main festival. ARRI cameras and lights equipped official photocall and interview spaces at the JW Marriott and Quinzaine Beach, while the on‑site team hosted a producers' lunch, met with filmmakers and industry partners, and recorded craft interviews with cinematographers to be published in the coming weeks.

ALEXA 35 once again led the field, used on at least 35 festival titles and on 10 of the 22 Main Competition films. Those included: Bitter Christmas (DP Pau Esteve Birba, AEC), A Woman's Life (DP Noé Bach AFC), Coward (DP Frank van den Eeden SBC, NSC), The Dreamed Adventure (DP Bernhard Keller), The Unknown (DP Tom Harari), Another Day (DP Antoine Cormier), The Birthday Party (DP Paul Guilhaume AFC), Fatherland (DP Lukasz Zal PSC), The Beloved (DP Alejandro De Pablo) and the Palme d'Or winner, Fjord (DP Tudor Vladimir Panduru RSC).

Speaking on the eve of Fjord's Palme d'Or announcement, cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru RSC described how the ALEXA 35 managed challenging contrast between interior sources and bright window light:
The ALEXA 35 was a lifesaver; the dynamic range it holds is massive. There was a barn scene where the contrast was so high I was worried about clipping, but the sensor handled the highlights and the depth perfectly. I rated the entire film at 1600 ISO [EI] because I felt comfortable with how the camera managed the lower part of the curve while preserving the highlights.

Other ALEXA variants were also prominent. The ALEXA Mini and ALEXA Mini LF together shot more Cannes selections than any non‑ARRI camera. In Competition, the ALEXA Mini LF was chosen for Parallel Tales (DP Guillaume Deffontaines AFC) and Hope (DP Hong Kyung‑pyo), and for the festival's opening film, The Electric Kiss (DP Julien Poupard AFC).

Analog film had a strong showing too, with ARRICAM LT and ST cameras used on multiple Competition titles: The Black Ball (DP Gris Jordana AEC), Sheep in the Box (DP Kondo Ryuto), Moulin (DP Mátyás Erdély ASC, HCA), The Man I Love (DP Josée Deshaies AFC), Gentle Monster (DP Judith Kaufmann BVK) and Paper Tiger (DP Joaquín Baca‑Asay). The Beloved (DP Alejandro De Pablo) embraced a hybrid approach, combining ALEXA 35, ALEXA Mini LF and ALEXA Mini with ARRICAM LT, ARRIFLEX 765 and ARRIFLEX 416. The 16 mm ARRIFLEX 416 also featured on several projects, while ARRIFLEX 16SR 3 was employed for All the Lovers in the Night in Un Certain Regard.

Cannes 2026 ARRI camera snapshot:
- Main Competition: 18 of 22 films (10 shot with ALEXA 35)
- Un Certain Regard: 15 of 19 films (11 shot with ALEXA 35)
- Out of Competition: 6 of 6 films (all shot with ALEXA 35)
- Directors' Fortnight: 11 of 20 films
- Critics' Week: 4 of 7 films
- More than 35 films across the festival were shot with ALEXA 35

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