Words By Corinia Williams

The Côte d’Azur came alive for the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival as BMW returned as the event’s official mobility partner with a shuttle fleet of more than 150 vehicles. The lineup included the fully electric BMW i7 and BMW iX, alongside the high-performance BMW XM plug-in hybrid, bringing a distinctly modern vision of luxury mobility to the streets of Cannes.

One of the festival’s major highlights was the latest BMW 7 Series. The seventh-generation luxury sedan serves as the marque’s flagship model and a showcase for the next evolution of BMW technology. Presented to European audiences during Cannes, the new 7 Series introduces elements of BMW’s forthcoming Neue Klasse innovations into the current range, signaling the beginning of a broader technological rollout that will extend across future BMW models and powertrain platforms.

Beyond its engineering ambitions, the BMW 7 Series has built a lasting relationship with cinema itself, appearing in productions such as Stranger Things, Mission: Impossible, and Red Sparrow. At Cannes, BMW celebrated this cinematic legacy with a special exhibition featuring vehicles made famous on screen, including the E38 BMW 7 Series driven in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies.

In addition to its presence at Cannes, BMW continues to support major international cultural events including the Marrakech International Film Festival and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The company’s cultural engagement spans more than five decades and includes hundreds of initiatives worldwide, from global partnerships to programs such as BMW Shorties, which supports emerging filmmakers in Malaysia.