Cinema in One Take

Fjord Wins the Palme d’Or: Inside the Cannes 2026 Awards

Our final Cannes Film Festival wrap-up is here!
In this episode of Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones reports back from the Croisette after a whirlwind fortnight at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, while Kaleem Aftab joins to unpack the winners, surprises, controversies and biggest talking points from this year’s Palme d’Or race.
They discuss why Christian Mungiu’s Fjord emerged as the festival’s major winner, how films like Minotaur, Fatherland and La Bola Negra were also this year's big winners, and whether Cannes 2026 marked a shift away from easy ideological certainties in contemporary cinema.
The conversation also explores:
Why critics appeared divided over Fjord
The growing prominence of LGBTQ stories at Cannes
Why so many of this year’s prize winners were epic-length films
The emotional impact of Coward and A Man of His Time
The strongest discoveries from Un Certain Regard, including Every Time, Ben’Imana and Elephants in the Fog
Breakout cinema from Rwanda, Nepal and the Central African Republic, including Congo Boy
The British success of Clio Barnard’s I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
The devastating Iranian documentary Rehearsals for a Revolution
And why some of the festival’s most exciting films may have existed outside the main competition entirely
Plus: the Palm Dog winner La Perra, Cannes audience reactions, world cinema discoveries, and which films could now become major players in the Oscar conversation. 
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Cannes 2026: The Palme d’Or Race Is Wide Open

The Palme d’Or race at the Cannes Film Festival is becoming more unpredictable by the day as the festival enters its final stages. Emma Jones speaks to Kaleem Aftab from Cannes, to talk about the icy family drama Fjord starring Sebastian Stan, the politically charged Russian thriller Minotaur, and the visually stunning World War I love story Coward.
They also explore one of the festival’s biggest emerging themes: the remarkable number of LGBTQ+ stories this year, from Japanese romance dramas to queer wartime love stories and buzzy late-night festival title Jim Queen.
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The Mood at Cannes 2026: Monsters, Mafia and Missing Movie Stars

AI children. Korean monsters. Missing Hollywood stars. And Jacob Elordi as Bond?
In this Cannes dispatch, Emma Jones reports from the Film Festival as she and Kaleem Aftab break down some of the festival’s biggest premieres — from Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Sheep in the Box to Na Hong-jin’s bonkers sci-fi feature Hope, James Gray’s mafia thriller Paper Tiger, and Léa Seydoux’s acclaimed turn in Gentle Monster.
They also ask:
Is Cannes losing its Hollywood glamour?
Why are critics so split this year?
Are genre films now dominating competition?
The growing buzz around breakout title Club Kid
Plus: Javier Bardem in The Beloved, Scarlett Johansson’s absence hits Cannes hard, and Emma wonders if two French actors could walk away with major prizes.
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Is Cannes Less Glamorous? Plus Fatherland, Farhadi & Festival Fatigue

Emma Jones joins Kaleem Aftab from the Cannes Film Festival to unpack the films, politics, and glamour (as well as the growing exhaustion) at Cannes 2026.
They discuss the strong early reaction to Pavel Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, why critics are divided over Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales, Sandra Hüller’s latest performance, Isabelle Huppert in Parisian meta-fiction mode, and whether Cannes critics have become too impatient with slow films.
Plus: the death of the legendary Cannes villa party, shrinking festival budgets, Women in Film  events and why the festival feels less decadent — but perhaps more revealing — than ever before.”
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The First Days of Cannes, the Fight for Cinema Culture and Concert Films

Day one at Cannes and already the big question is: what kind of festival is Cannes becoming?
Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab break down an opening night dominated by Jane Fonda, nostalgia, political carefulness, and the idea that Hollywood studios no longer need the Cannes Croisette to launch a film.
They discuss the first Competition reactions, why subtler world cinema may be have a moment with Koji Fukada's Nagi Notes, and whether Cannes is finally getting better at telling stories about women over 50 in A Woman's Life.
Plus: Demi Moore on AI, Park Chan-wook as jury president, Billie Eilish concert films, and why Iron Maiden fans might understand modern cinema culture better than executives do.
From auteur cinema to heavy metal fandom — this is Cannes in One Take.
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AI Panic, Cannes Jury Predictions and a 'Sexy Film About Trees'

This week Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab discuss the growing controversy around AI in filmmaking as Kaleem’s produced feature 'Memory of Princess Mumbi', made with generative AI, begins its international release following an award-winning festival run.
From generative AI and visual effects to the Oscars’ new guidance on AI eligibility, they ask where the ethical lines around artificial intelligence in cinema now sit — and whether the industry is reacting to the technology itself, or the fear surrounding it.
Plus: the Cannes Film Festival jury takes shape under president Park Chan-wook, but apparently without actor Jacob Elordi. Emma and Kaleem predict what kinds of films this year’s jury could reward.
And, could the The Odyssey face a box office challenge from the 2026 FIFA World Cup — and why is Emma recommending a “sexy film about trees,” otherwise known as Silent Friend, the hypnotic new film from Ildikó Enyedi.
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What The Devil Wears Prada 2 Gets Right About Journalism Now

In this episode of Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab use The Devil Wears Prada 2 to ask what’s happened to journalism in the age of clicks, algorithms, and tech power?
Arguing the film is often more about journalism than fashion, they explore how cultural journalism is being reshaped, from shrinking editorial budgets to influencers and platform-driven taste.
Plus why style still matters on screen, from the original The Devil Wears Prada to La Dolce Vita (and even Zoolander.) 
And as they prepare for the Cannes Film Festival, they also reflect on access, embargoes, and the realities of covering global cinema today.
 

'Michael': Critics Hate It. Fans Love It — And We Get Why

Critics hate it. Fans seem set to love it.
Michael, the biopic of Michael Jackson, has been met with some of the harshest reviews in recent memory, but it could still become one of the biggest musical biopics ever made.
In this episode of Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab are joined by journalist and critic Patrick Heidmann, to ask a simple question: if the reviews are so negative… why did they enjoy watching it?
From tightly controlled press access to the film’s controversial omissions, they explore the gap between critics and audiences, and examine whether unconscious bias plays a role in the reception of films about Black artists, especially one who reshaped global pop culture.
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Cinemas Have an Ads Problem — And Will Cannes Have a Star Problem?

Are cinemas putting audiences off before the film even begins?
This week on Cinema in One Take, Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab respond to Sony’s Tom Rothman, who has urged cinemas to shorten the bloated pre-show of ads and trailers before films start, and ask whether the pre-cinema experience itself is part of the problem of getting audiences in?
Then it’s to Cannes 2026, where the line up for other sidebars, Director's Fortnight and Critic's Week have been unveiled: can world cinema stars really replace Hollywood at this year's festival, and what does a less “sellable” lineup mean for film buzz and journalists on the ground? Especially when CinemaCon in the USA is generating headlines from Spielberg's Disclosure Day, Nolan's The Odyssey and Toy Story 5 - films that might have been at the festival.
Plus, a lively debate over Christan Petzold's Miroirs No. 3, and Sundance winner  The New West, also known as East of Wall, a striking docu-fiction set on an American horse ranch.
Connected to that story - watch the trailer for Riley Keough and Gina Gammell's War Pony 
Our Substack on Cannes 2026 not chasing studio spectacle is here
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Cannes 2026: Less Hollywood, More War — What’s Changed?

The Cannes Film Festival 2026 line-up is here, and it feels like something is shifting. Fewer Hollywood titles, a surge in war stories, and a Competition shaped by global auteurs, with Japanese and Spanish films featuring prominently this year.
Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab unpack the key themes, including a growing global crossover between Europe and Asia, both in casting and direction, and a notable contingent of emerging female directors in Competition.
Plus early Palme d’Or contenders, and what this year’s selection says about where cinema is heading.
From Almodóvar to Zvyagintsev, this your guide to films at Cannes.
Full line-up: Festival de Cannes official website
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