All the Asian Films Premiering at the 78th Cannes Film Festival
From Arab cinematic excellence to Japanese powerhouse productions, the 78th Cannes Film Festival promises an impressive showcase of Asian films. Spanning genres from autobiographical dramas to high-octane action and horror, this year’s lineup highlights the diverse storytelling talents of filmmakers across the region. As the festival runs from May 13 through May 24, 2025, EnVi Media rounds up the must-watch, highly-anticipated Asian films debuting on the global stage.
La Petite Dernière (2025)
- Competing in: Un Certain Regard
- Director: Hafsia Herzi
- Cast: Mouna Soualem, Park Jimin
- Country: France, Germany
Based on Fatima Daas’s 2020 coming-of-age novel, La Petite Dernière follows 17-year-old Fatima, the youngest of her sisters, as she navigates university life in Paris. Caught between her emerging desires, her sexuality, and her loyalty to her French Algerian family, Fatima struggles to balance familial expectations with the pressures of the outside world. The film is Herzi’s third feature as a director, following the 2021 Cannes Un Certain Regard award winner, Good Mother.
A Simple Accident (2025)
- Competing in: Palme d’Or
- Director: Jafar Panahi
- Country: Iran
Described only by its mysterious logline, “What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences,” A Simple Accident will premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Parahi is celebrated as one of the greatest masters of his craft and has previously earned accolades at Cannes, Venice, and Berlin. His notable works include The Circle (2000), Offside (2006), Taxi (2015), and No Bears (2022). Panahi last appeared at Cannes in 2021 with his documentary, The Year of the Everlasting Storm (2021).
Eagles of the Republic (2025)
- Competing in: Palme d’Or
- Director: Tarik Saleh
- Cast: Fares Fares, Lyna Khoudri, Zineb Triki, Amr Waked, Cherien Dabis, Donia Massoud, Sherwan Haji
- Country: Egypt, Sweden, France, Denmark, Finland
Tarik Saleh concludes his Cairo trilogy with Eagles of the Republic, a political thriller competing for the prestigious Palme d’Or. Following the Cannes-winning Cairo Conspiracy (2022), this third installment stars Fares Fares and explores the dark side of Egypt’s film industry, where a rising star becomes entangled in deceit, corruption, and propaganda.
Renoir (2025)
- Competing in: Palme d’Or
- Director: Chie Hayakawa
- Cast: Yui Suzuki, Hikari Ishida, Lily Franky
- Country: Japan, France, SIngapore, Philippines, Indonesia
Told through the eyes of an 11-year-old girl, Fuki (Yui Suzuki), Renoir is a coming-of-age tale set in the 1980s. Fuki is coping with a terminally ill father and living with her constantly stressed mother (Hikari Ishida). Amid all of the adult turmoil surrounding her, she delves deeper into her own imagination. Renoir is directed by Chie Hayakawa who is previously known for Plan 75 (2022), which won the Special Mention award in the Caméra d’Or competition. This film is co-produced by nine film studios from Japan, France, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Homebound (2025)
- Competing in: Un Certain Regard
- Director: Neeraj Ghaywan
- Cast: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa
- Country: India
Acclaimed filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan returns to the Cannes Film Festival with Homebound, a drama featuring Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter, and Vishal Jethwa. While details about the film remain under wraps, it has been selected for the Un Certain Regard program, marking Ghaywan’s return to the category a decade after his debut film, Masaan (2015), was featured in the same category.
Promised Sky (2025)
- Competing in: Un Certain Regard
- Director: Erige Sehiri
- Cast: Aïssa Maïga, Laetitia Ky, Deborat Christelle Naney
- Country: Tunisia, France, Qatar
Set against a turbulent backdrop of rising hostility toward sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia, Promised Sky follows Marie, an Ivorian pastor whose home becomes a refuge for Naney, a young mother, and Jolie, an ambitious student. When an orphaned girl arrives, their solidarity is tested, revealing both their resilience and vulnerabilities. Sehiri draws a story inspired by real events, aiming to depict migrants as multifaceted and authentic individuals, shattering stereotypes.
Tôi Yamanamino Hikari (A Pale View of Hills) (2025)
- Competing in: Un Certain Regard
- Director: Kei Ishikawa
- Cast: Fumi Nikaidô, Suzu Hirose, Yō Yoshida, Camilla Aiko, Kouhei Matsushita, Tomokazu Miura
- Country: Japan, England
Adapted from Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name, A Pale View of Hills is a mystery drama, starring Hirose Suzu and Fumi Nikaido. The story follows Niki, a young writer from London with an estranged Japanese mother, Etsuko (Suzu Hirose), and British father. After her half-sister’s death, Niki reconnects with Etsuko. Unaware of her mother’s past as a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing, Niki uncovers a narrative spanning post-war Nagasaki in 1950s and 1980s England during the Cold War. The film will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and premiere in Japan in summer 2025.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away (2025)
- Competing in: Un Certain Regard
- Director: Morad Mostafa
- Cast: Buliana Simona, Ziad Zaza, Emad Ghoneim, Mamdouh Saleh
- Country: Egypt, France, Germany, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Sudan
Aisha is a 26-year-old Somali woman living in Ain-Shams, a Cairo neighborhood with a huge African migrant population. As violence and tensions rise, unchecked by authorities, sociopolitical control shifts to local gangs. When one gang offers Aisha protection in return for a personal favor, her life spirals out of control. Aisha Can’t Fly Away marks Morad Mostafa’s debut feature film after several acclaimed shorts, set to premiere at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
Once Upon a Time in Gaza (2025)
- Competing in: Un Certain Regard
- Director: Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser
- Cast: Naber Abd Alhay
- Country: Palestine
The Palestinian filmmaker duo, Tarzan and Arab Nasser continue their exploration of Gaza’s social and political realities through a fictional lens in Once Upon a Time in Gaza. The film centers on three characters: Yahia, a timid soul; Osama, the reckless one; and Sami, a sycophantic hypocrite. Blending friendship, revenge, and dark humor, the story delves into the fragmented nature of truth and how others, knowing only parts of it, construct their own narratives.
Feng Lin Huo Shan (Sons of the Neon Night) (2025)
- Midnight Screening (Out of Competition)
- Director: Juno Mak
- Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Sean Lau, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Louis Koo, Michelle Wai
- Country: Hong Kong
East Asian A-listers Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung, Sean Lau, and Louis Koo star in Feng Lin Huo Shan (Sons of the Neon Night), a high-octane, stylized crime thriller set in a reimagined Hong Kong. The film is directed by Juno Mak, a contemporary artist and music producer who gained acclaim as a film director following his feature debut, Rigor Mortis, which premiered at Venice and Toronto in 2013. Feng Lin Huo Shan opens with a gunfight in a snow-covered Causeway Bay. Kaneshiro plays the heir to a pharmaceutical empire, whose actions lead to his father’s murder, the company’s founder and a suspected drug lord. This sparks a war on drugs that descends into chaos, disrupting both the global order and the criminal underworld.
Exit 8 (2025)
- Midnight Screening (Out of Competition)
- Director: Genki Kawamura
- Cast: Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kôchi
- Country: Japan
If you’re a gamer, you definitely don’t want to miss out on Exit 8. Genki Kawamura, the author of the Japanese bestseller If Cats Disappeared from the World, originally launched Exit 8 as a horror game in 2023. In the film, the game places players in a Japanese metro station passageway, where they must spot inaccuracies to progress. If an anomaly is detected, the player turns back; if not, they move forward. However, a single mistake sends them back to the starting point. Can they ever escape the endless corridor?
With a rich and diverse selection, the 78th Cannes Film Festival is set to celebrate the brilliance of Asian cinema like never before.
Looking for show recommendations to watch while waiting for the Cannes Film Festival? Check out our first impressions of Your Friends & Neighbors here!
