^{Credit: Carmen, The Rebel Bird, We Are Aliens, Quentin Dupieux, Daughters of the Late Colonel, Eri.}

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival just got even more stacked for animation. Three animated features have been announced for this year's edition of the Directors' Fortnight: Sébastien Laudenbach's Carmen, The Rebel Bird (Viva Carmen), Kohei Kadowaki's We Are Aliens, and Quentin Dupieux's Vertiginous (Le Vertige). The latter will be the section's closing night film. Directors' Fortnight will also include two animated shorts: Elizabeth Hobbs' Daughters of the Late Colonel and Yano Honami's Eri. 

^{Credit: Carmen, The Rebel Bird, We Are Aliens}

Sébastien Laudenbach previously brought us Chicken for Linda! and The Girl Without Hands. The synopsis for his latest film, Carmen, The Rebel Bird, reads as follows: "1820, Seville, a pulsating town of sailors and small-time crooks. Salvador, a young assistant to the gifted knife grinder Antonio, meets a captivating gypsy girl named Carmen. Her rapturous beauty and independent spirit is the talk of the town, but Antonio’s ability to glimpse the future foretells a tragic fate. With unwavering resolve, Salvador will muster an eclectic band of misfit kids, led by the spirited Belén, to protect Carmen against the unyielding threads of destiny, igniting the ancient city’s alleyways in a symphony of emotions."

^{Credit: We Are Aliens}

We Are Aliens is a Japanese/French co-production from Kohei Kadowaki in his feature directorial debut. The synopsis for the coming-of-age tale reads, "One summer in the third grade, a quiet boy named Tsubasa meets Kyotaro, a boy everyone in the class looked up to, and the two become close friends. Within their small world, they share irreplaceable moments—until a small incident suddenly tears them apart. Spanning more than thirty years, this gentle, contemplative story invites the audience to reflect on the meaning of life through the paths their lives take."

^{Credit: Daughters of the Late Colonel}

Daughters of the Late Colonel is from Elizabeth Hobbs, who previously made the Oscar shortlist with her 2022 short, The Debutante. The synopsis for Daughters of the Late Colonel reads, "After the death of their ill-tempered and controlling father, two middle-aged sisters find themselves at a loss. An unexpected visitor sparks the courage in them to begin their lives anew. A merry, rude, and lyrical, animated adaptation of the modernist short story of the same name, written by Katherine Mansfield in 1920." Yano Honami's Eri, meanwhile, reportedlly takes place "in a world where cows who do not bear calves cannot remain." The story centers on the titular Holstein cow, "who falls in love with another female."

^Credit: Eri

Quentin Dupieux's Vertiginous is the biggest question mark of these announcements. Dupieux has directed several live-action films, including Full Phil, which is also playing at Cannes this year. Little is currently known about Vertiginous, his animated feature debut, although it's apparently a comedy executed in 3D motion capture. This style complements the premise, which reads, "Jacques visits his friend Bruno to share some big news: humanity is actually living in a simulation…"

 

 

 

 

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Among the animated titles already announced for Cannes are Iron Boy (Le Corset), which is competing in the Un Certain Regard section, Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer, which will accompany the Midnight Screenings section, and In Waves, the first animated feature to kick off Critics’ Week. It was also recently announced that the animated film Blaise (Les Sauvages) would play during Cannes' ACID section. 

The 79th Cannes Film Festival will take place between 12 and 23 May 2026.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!