The Official Selection of the Festival de Cannes 2006 will, as every year, be made up films presented in: the Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition screenings.
It offers both a shorts and film schools competition (Cinéfondation).
Cannes Classics concerns heritage films, shown principally in the Buñuel Theatre.

Finally, in addition to the theatres of the Palais (Lumière, Debussy, Buñuel, Bazin) now the Beach Cinema offers festival-goers and Cannes residents alike outdoors screenings.

- What are the criteria used for a film to be selected for Cannes?

That is the most important question... and the answer is the most difficult to formulate.Cannes remains faithful to its principles, and the philosophy which leads the selection equally remains the same: highlighting auteur cinema, the search for singular voices in different cultures, qualities of direction, the practice of cinema as art, a world which recognises itself through the films screened.To this must be added the relationship between the state of cinema and that of its audiences, as well as the massive presence of journalists and professionals.The Festival de Cannes, finally, derives alchemy of author's cinema, glamour, market and press.