ACID, the independent-minded parallel section at the Cannes Film Festival, has announced its 2026 lineup — nine titles selected by filmmakers for filmmakers, continuing a tradition that has championed early work by directors like Justine Triet, Kaouther Ben Hania, and Radu Jude.
The section will open with *Under A Bad Star* (*Mauvaise Étoile*), a French fiction feature that marks the directorial debut of Lola Cambourieu and Yann Berlier. Set over a sweltering 24-hour stretch in a nondescript suburb in the South of France, the film follows a young woman named Kiki living under the control of a violent partner. "The film takes the risk of showing us something in a rather atypical way: the issue of control… but without ever offering any potentially explanatory commentary on it," said Pauline Ginot, director of the association that oversees the section, as reported by Deadline.
The lineup blends fiction, documentary, and hybrid forms from across the globe. Paul Nouhet's *Rewind Barcelona* tracks a group of 18-year-olds on their first parent-free vacation, then revisits them a decade later. Iranian director Karim Lakzadeh's *Living Twice, Dying Thrice*, shot clandestinely, follows three miners who fake their own deaths after surviving a collapse so their families can collect compensation — only to discover that pretending to be dead creates its own crises.
Swiss directors Céline Carridroit and Aline Suter contribute the hybrid Geneva-set work *Summer Drift*, while Serbian director Ivan Marković presents *Promised Spaces*, a Cambodia-set drama exploring the stark divide between construction workers and the luxury-home tenants they build for. Three documentaries round out the selection.
Only two of the nine films have already secured both local and international distribution, underscoring one of ACID's core missions: helping independent work find its audience. Urban Sales has picked up international rights for the opening film, with Tandem handling French distribution.
