08/10/2026 - A host of prestigious guests will present the films at the 18th edition of the world’s biggest event dedicated to heritage cinema, taking place in Lyon from 10-18 October

Directors Joel and Ethan Coen will receive this year's Lumière Award (© Lumière Festival)

Boasting a new Cinema Village (which will notably house the market) at the Cité Métropole in Lyon, the Lumière Festival is now putting the finishing touches to its 18th edition (10-18 October). A huge, well-oiled machine is about to start revving its engines: the event managed by Thierry Frémaux's team is the largest international gathering centred on heritage cinema, combining massive popular success (with around 185,000 festivalgoers), a celebration of past classics and a thirst for today’s stars, who are more than happy to share in this event steeped in passionate cinephilia and timeless solidarity.

Headlining this year are US filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, who will be honoured with a 16-title retrospective, will receive the Lumière Award and will give a master class on 16 October. The other retrospectives will spotlight Ettore Scola, Norman Jewison, Louis Daquin, "The Golden Age of Greek Cinema" (attended by filmmaker Panos H Koutras) and the "Permanent History of Women Filmmakers" programme.

Standing out among the festival’s guests are the USA's Todd Haynes (accompanied by his producer Christine Vachon, with five films on the bill and a master class on 13 October), his fellow countryman Robert Eggers, Hong Kong virtuoso Tsui Hark, France's own Agnès Jaoui, Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki, Germany's Wim Wenders (with his new documentary From Inside Out – The Architecture of Peter Zumthor), and duo Bérénice Bejo and Irène Jacob (with the series Alice), as well as Abel Ferrara, Claude Lelouch, Radu Mihaileanu, Laurent Heynemann, Costa-Gavras, Cameroonian filmmaker Daniel Kamwa, Taiwanese cinematographer Chen Kun-hou, his US counterpart Caleb Deschanel and Spanish star Javier Bardem.

Numerous premieres are also on the cards (with the filmmakers in attendance) - notably, the Cannes highlights Minotaur by Andrey Zvyagintsev, La bola negra by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, Coward by Lukas Dhont, Moulin by László Nemes (who will be joined on site by Gilles Lellouche), Congo Boy by Rafiki Fariala, Orange Flavoured Wedding by Christophe Honoré, When the Night Falls by Daniel Auteuil, Karma by Guillaume Canet (joined by Marion Cotillard and Denis Ménochet), The Golden Age by Bérenger Thouin and A Life, A Manifesto by Jean-Gabriel Périot (presented by the director and Alice Diop). And that's not to mention the animated flick Ray Gunn by Brad Bird and Possible Love by South Korean maestro Lee Chang-dong.

Jean-Paul Salomé, Marina Foïs, Catherine Corsini, Régis Wargnier, Danièle Thompson, Christian Carion, Gilles Marchand and Gian Luca Farinelli will also be on hand, among the many other presenters of the numerous heritage films on the programme, including the finest recent restorations bearing the Lumière Classics label. There will also be sections dubbed "Treasures and Curiosities", "Sublime Moments of Silent Film", "Big Films for the Big Screen" and "Moments from Cinema History".

Also worth noting, unspooling from 13-16 October, is the 14th edition of the International Classic Film Market, the world’s only market dedicated to heritage films. On the menu are Greece as country of honour (in collaboration with the Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center), a Focus on Taiwan, fascinating conversations (with Charlotte Barker, of Paramount, India’s Shivendra Singh Dungarpu and Paolo Moretti), guests of honour Sophie and Jérôme Seydoux (Pathé), round-tables (featuring, among other speakers, producer Saïd Ben Saïd, plus representatives of Warner, Gaumont, Gutek Film, Minerva Pictures, the Berlinale and so on), The Re>Birth programme (films that have planned restorations in the works), a meeting of cataloguists, the Innovation pitches and an address by Gaëtan Bruel (president of the CNC).

(Translated from French)