Guillermo del Toro to Bring ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ Back to Cannes in 4K, 20 Years After Its Record-Breaking Standing Ovation

The 2026 Cannes Classics lineup will open with a 4K restoration of Guillermo del Toro‘s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” set as the festival’s pre-opening screening on May 12 in the Debussy Theater – two decades after the fantasy film earned what remains the longest standing ovation in Cannes history, clocking in at 22 minutes. Del Toro, who personally supervised every stage of the new restoration from the original 35mm negative, will attend.

The full program, comprising 21 restored features, three short films, six documentaries and two contemporary works, will be dedicated to the memory of production designer Dean Tavoularis. Screenings will take place in the Buñuel Theater, the Agnès Varda Theater and at the Cinéma de la Plage.

Related Stories

'The Bear' Surprise: New Episode With Jon Bernthal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach Drops on Hulu

Among the most notable restored prints, Akira Kurosawa’s 1943 debut “Sugata Sanshiro,” presented by Toho in 4K, arrives with a newly reintegrated 12-minute sequence that had been missing from the film since its first release. Chen Kaige’s 1993 epic “Farewell My Concubine” returns in a new 4K version, with lead actor Gong Li attending. Jerzy Skolimowski will be present for the 4K restoration of his 1982 British film “Moonlighting,” while Dario Argento, who served as screenwriter on “Love Circle,” will represent Giuseppe Patroni Griffi’s 1968 Italian production. Ken Russell’s “The Devils” (1971) appears in a new 4K restoration drawn from the original camera negative by Warner Bros.

The restored lineup spans more than eight decades of world cinema. Andrzej Wajda’s 1981 Polish film “Man of Iron” is presented in 4K in its original 1:1.37 aspect ratio. Orson Welles’s 1945 thriller “The Stranger” returns in a restoration led jointly by the Cinémathèque française and the Library of Congress. André Malraux’s 1938 wartime drama “Sierra de Teruel” – known in France as “Espoir” – has been digitized in 4K from nitrate elements by the CNC and the Library of Congress. The collected short films of Armenian director Artavazd Pelechian, spanning 1966 to 1975, screen in a Coproduction Office presentation, with Pelechian himself attending.

Italian cinema features prominently among the restorations. Vittorio De Sica’s 1960 drama “Two Women” arrives from Titanus in 4K. Luchino Visconti’s 1976 feature “The Innocent,” his final film, has been restored by the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with StudioCanal and MFE-Mediaforeurope. Jean Delannoy’s 1946 French drama “Pastoral Symphony” screens in a new 4K restoration by Studiocanal, while Paula Delsol’s 1964 French film “The Drift” has been restored by the Cinémathèque française from original 35mm negatives.

The selection’s geographical reach extends across four continents. Film Heritage Foundation presents a 4K restoration of John Abraham’s 1986 Indian film “Amma Ariyan,” sourced from one of only two surviving prints. The Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute contributes a 2K restoration of Yang Li-Kuo’s 1989 film “The Dull-Ice Flower.” Idrissa Ouedraogo’s 1990 Burkinabé drama “Tilaï” appears in a new 4K version from Waka Films. Leopoldo Torre Nilsson’s 1957 Argentine feature “The House of Angel” is presented by Argentina Sono Film in 4K. The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project brings a restored print of Greek filmmaker Maria Plyta’s 1953 drama “Eva.” Roger Corman’s 1958 American gangster picture “Machine Gun Kelly” returns via a restoration from Film Masters. Belgian cinema is represented by the 1955 film “Seagulls Die in the Harbour,” co-directed by Roland Verhavert, Rik Kuypers and Ivo Michiels, presented by the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique – with actor Matthias Schoenaerts attending as the son of original cast member Julien Schoenaerts.

The documentary strand, whose titles will compete for the L’Œil d’Or award, features Mark Cousins charting the history of nonfiction filmmaking in the 1970s in his latest feature for Hopscotch Films, “The Story of Documentary Film (The 70s).” Director Mike Mendez’s “Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern,” built from more than 50 hours of conversation filmed over four years, receives its Cannes screening with both Bruce Dern and his daughter Laura Dern in attendance. Barnaby Thompson’s “Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean” features Cate Blanchett – who also produced – as narrator, with Kenneth Branagh voicing Lean; Blanchett will attend. Italian director Francesco Zippel’s “Vittorio De Sica – Staging Life” draws on rare archive material and new family access to profile the neorealist master. French documentary “My Coluche,” directed by Michel Denisot, Camille Bruere and Julie Lazare, examines the comedian through the long friendship between Coluche and journalist Denisot. Belgian director Brecht Debackere’s “Nostalgia for the Future,” an archival exploration of the life and work of Chris Marker, is guided by the narration of Charlotte Rampling.

The short film program brings together three recent works. Jia Zhangke‘s “Torino Shadow,” a 32-minute Italy-China co-production developed for the Torino Encounters initiative, will screen with lead actor Zhao Tao. Visual artist Dustin Yellin’s 15-minute “Goodnight Lamby” – produced by Darren Aronofsky and starring Paul Rudd – follows a three-year-old girl who ventures into her father’s large-scale sculptures in search of a missing stuffed toy. Iranian director Amirhossein Shojaei’s “Playground,” produced by Saeed Roustaee, rounds out the strand.

The section’s two contemporary feature selections are Béranger Thouin’s debut fiction “The Golden Age,” starring Souheila Yacoub, Vassili Schneider and Yile Yara Vianello in a portrait of a woman moving through 20th-century Europe and South America, and Jean-Gabriel Périot’s documentary “A Life, A Manifesto,” tracing the story of Michèle Firk, who spent eight years as a critic at Positif before turning to revolutionary activism. Both directors and their principal collaborators are expected in Cannes.