The 26th Cannes Film Festival took place from 10 to 25 May 1973. Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman served as jury president for the main competition.
The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, then the festival's main prize, was jointly awarded to American filmmaker Jerry Schatzberg for Scarecrow and British filmmaker Alan Bridges for The Hireling.
During this edition two new non-competitive sections were added: ÃÂtude et documents and Perspectives du Cinéma Français (which was started by the French Film Directors' Society and ran until 1991).
This edition was notorious for the controversy around Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain screening due to the film's depiction of extreme violence. While British documentary Swastika by Philippe Mora caused disturbance among the audience by showing Adolf Hitler's daily and social life.
The festival opened with Godspell by David Greene, and closed with Lady Sings the Blues by Sidney J. Furie.
The following feature films competed for the Grand Prix International du Festival:
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:
The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:
The following feature films were screened for the 12th International Critics' Week (12e Semaine de la Critique):
The following films were screened for the 1973 Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalizateurs):