Quote from Alex bobby on April 23, 2025, 5:39 AM

Cannes 2025 Poster Tribute Sparks Reflection on the Festival’s Most Iconic Designs

The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled not one, but two official posters for its 78th edition, marking the first time in the festival’s storied history that a dual-image design has been chosen. The posters pay tribute to the late Claude Lelouch’s 1966 romantic classic Un homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman), beautifully capturing a dual embrace between Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The images serve not only as a nostalgic homage to the film’s enduring legacy but also as a symbolic message of unity in a time increasingly defined by division.

“Because it is undoubtedly the 7th Art’s most famous embrace… because you can’t separate a man and a woman who love each other… the Festival de Cannes has chosen for the first time in its history to present a double official poster,” the festival declared. The duality of the design mirrors the enduring love story at the heart of Lelouch’s film—a tender gesture towards the power of connection through cinema.

The original Un homme et une femme—which depicted a widow and widower drawn together by fate and complicated memories—won the Cannes Grand Prix (shared with The Birds, The Bees and The Italians), two Golden Globes, and two Oscars. Its stars remained tied to the project for decades, appearing in two sequels, the most recent of which (The Best Years of a Life) was released in 2019. The film's leading man, Trintignant, passed away in 2022, and Aimée followed in 2023, adding a poignant layer to the 2025 tribute.

This tender homage got us thinking: what have been the most striking Cannes posters over the past two decades? The festival has long treated its official imagery with reverence, often opting for icons, cult film references, and emotional snapshots. Here are our picks for the best Cannes posters of the last 20 years:

2006 – In the Mood for Love
Gabriel Guedj’s moody composition from Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love set the tone for an emotionally rich edition. Taken from Wing Shya’s iconic photography, it was an apt tribute in the year Wong served as jury president.

2008 – The Lynchian Dreamscape
Pierre Collier used a David Lynch photograph of a Le Crazy Horse performer to produce one of the most seductive and enigmatic designs in the festival’s history. It remains a fan favourite for its sultry elegance and subtle noir vibes.

2010 – Juliette Binoche Glows
The poster for the 63rd edition featured Binoche barefoot, beaming, and wielding a light-brush—a metaphor for cinema’s luminous power. It remains one of the most elegant, ethereal posters Cannes has ever released, capturing both femininity and creative energy.

2012 – Monroe in Monochrome
For the 65th anniversary, Cannes chose a timeless image of Marilyn Monroe blowing out a birthday candle. Simple, evocative, and classic, it offered a wistful nod to Hollywood’s golden age.

2013 – Newman and Woodward’s Kiss
One of the festival’s most romantic designs, this image from A New Kind of Love featured real-life couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in a candid, cinematic embrace. A minimalist background gave full focus to the passion in the frame.

2017 – Cardinale’s Joy
A candid image of Claudia Cardinale dancing on a Roman rooftop in 1959 became the celebratory face of the 70th edition. The photograph, infused with a splash of red, perfectly captured the exuberance of film and life.

2018 – Godard’s Kiss
Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le Fou provided the second Cannes “kiss” image, with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina locked in a vivid embrace. The poster’s saturated tones made it feel both vintage and vividly alive—a reflection on love, loss, and cinematic rebellion.

2019 – Agnès Varda on Set
Perhaps the most emotionally powerful poster of recent years, 2019’s design featured a 26-year-old Agnès Varda on the shoulders of a technician, directing her first film, La Pointe Courte. It was a poignant tribute following her death and a celebration of her lifelong defiance of gendered expectations in filmmaking.

2024 – A Dreamlike Tribute to Kurosawa
The 2024 poster honoured Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa. With soft colours and a theater-like composition, it evoked the communal wonder of cinema. Designed by Hartland Villa, it served as a gentle reminder of film’s power to unite audiences in shared stories.

2025 – Embracing Eternity
The newly unveiled 2025 posters might just be among the most poetic yet. With their mirrored depiction of Un homme et une femme, they embody love, memory, and the eternal dance between man and woman, art and life. As the festival eloquently put it: “To encourage freedom and portray movement in order to perpetuate it; to embody the whirlwind of life to celebrate it, again and again.”

In a world so often divided, Cannes’ poster choices—especially this year’s—serve as cinematic love letters, reminding us of the emotional truths and shared humanity found in the dark of a theater. Here's too many more years of beautiful posters—and the unforgettable films they represent.