WWII Films Dominate Cannes with De Gaulle Epic and Animation Surge

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival features a strong focus on World War II, with the out-of-competition premiere of 'La Bataille de Gaulle', the first part of a two-part saga about Charles de Gaulle directed by Antonin Baudry. The French superproduction stars Benoît Magimel, Mathieu Kassovitz, and Niels Schneider, with a budget exceeding €70 million. France 24 cinema critic Thomas Baurez, reporting from the Croisette, also highlights three competition films set during the same period: 'Moulin' by Hungarian director László Nemes, featuring Gilles Lellouche as a Resistance hero; 'Notre salut' by Emmanuel Marre, examining Vichy France; and 'La Troisième nuit' directed by and starring Daniel Auteuil, recounting the rescue of over a hundred Jewish children from the Vénissieux camp in 1942. Additionally, the festival showcases a strong presence of French animation, including 'Jim Queen', a delirious film about Parisian queer culture; 'In Waves'; and 'Le Vertige', Quentin Dupieux's first animated feature with Alain Chabat, Jonathan Cohen, and Anaïs Demoustier.