Deauville Unveils 2026 Lineup: Zeller, Refn, Wilde Films Join Fraser and Hawke Honours
The Deauville American Film Festival has revealed its 2026 lineup, and the Normandy coast town is loading up for ten days of American cinema with a distinctly international accent. The 52nd edition runs September 4–13, with nearly 100 films screened across the festival's run Variety.
The competition slate runs to 13 films. Among them: Jordan Firstman's Club Kid, Casey Affleck's Company, and the Berlinale winner Everybody Digs Bill Evans. The rest of the competition field fills out with A Prayer for the Dying, Here I'm Alive, I'll Be Gone in June, If I Go Will They Miss Me, Mixed Block, Mouse, Party USA, Queen at Sea, Test, and The Liberation of Rita Cooper Variety.
Outside competition, the festival is showcasing a heavyweight roster of premieres. Florian Zeller's Bunker arrives fresh from its world premiere in Venice. Nicolas Winding Refn brings Her Private Hell, Olivia Wilde brings The Invitation, and David Lowery brings Mother Mary. The non-competition lineup also includes Andy Garcia's Diamond, Jane Schoenbrun's Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Kantemir Balagov's Butterfly Jam, and Ira Sachs' The Man I Love Variety.
On the honours front, two major acting careers take centre stage. Brendan Fraser, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2024 for The Whale, will receive the Deauville Talent Award. Ethan Hawke, a five-time Oscar nominee, receives the same prize Variety.
Faye Dunaway and Susan Sarandon will both receive Icon Awards. Dunaway's honour was formally announced on August 18 by the festival itself Festival de Deauville. Two names to watch: Sophie Thatcher and Patrick Schwarzenegger will each receive Rising Star awards Variety.
The festival has also named Roschdy Zem as the recipient of the INA Digital Distinction, awarded by the Institut national de l'audiovisuel. The announcement was published on August 20 Festival de Deauville.
Deauville was created to promote independent American cinema in France — a bridge, essentially, between Hollywood and European audiences. Each September, the festival turns a seaside resort town into a showcase for work that might otherwise travel slowly, if at all, across the Atlantic Festival de Deauville.
What makes the 2026 edition worth watching is the range behind the star power. A Casey Affleck-directed competition title shares the billing with a Berlinale winner. Refn and Wilde sit alongside Sachs and Schoenbrun. Fraser and Hawke — two actors with very different trajectories — get the same laurel. The festival has always been about discovery as much as recognition, and this year's slate keeps both threads pulling.
