In the inaugural year of his mandate, Directors’ Fortnight (aka Quinzaine des cinéastes) Artistic Director Julien Rejl could point to Caméra d’Or Award winning Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell as his north star for his curation vision. While some critics noted a sense of status quo continuity in year two, he nonetheless curated a noteworthy handful of titles such as À son image, The Other Way Around, To a Land Unknown, Une langue universelle and the international premiere to Good One. As we look ahead, we envision Rejl once again tussling with programmer Christian Jeune (Un Certain Regard) to secure some high-profile auteur titles and hidden gems debuts or sophomore films—to round out the selection of just under two dozen feature films. Drawing from the past two editions, we once again anticipate a strong presence of American indie offerings (at least a trio) plus some French film items that will have played better at the basement of the JW Mariott Hotel over that of Salle Debussy. Stay tuned for the rest of the week for more predictions — now we present 23 feature film offerings that might drop here (or in other sections on the Croisette).
A. Rimbaud
Patrick Wang
Producers: Patrick Wang, Hardball Entertainment’s Daryl Freimark, Thin Stuff Productions’ Fritzi Adelman and Evan Johnson.
World Sales:
American micro indie filmmaker Patrick Wang got a taste for the Croisette when he premiered The Grief of Others in the ACID section back in 2015. A. Rimbaud follows the writer from his schoolboy days in Charleville to his final years in Africa. As Rimbaud explored and broke with traditional forms of poetry. Blake Draper toplines the drama which was filmed in Winnipeg in September of last year.
Dao
Alain Gomis
Producers: Les Films du Worso / Srab Films
World Sales: The Party Film Sales.
Filming wrapped in 2023 for French-Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis‘ sixth feature film – and it has yet to shore up at premium film fests including this year’s Berlinale. Filmed with cinematographer Céline Bozon (she teamed with Gomis on 2017’s Félicité), Dao is about Gloria (Béatrice Mendy), who attends her daughter’s wedding in Paris while reconciling with her father’s recent ancestral ceremony in Guinea Bissau, bridging past and present, life and death, and finding inner peace. The film explores the themes of reconciling with one’s personal history and finding a sense of place and peace.
Fantasy
Kukla Kesherovic
Producers: Barbara Daljavec
World Sales: TBD.
Inspired by her award-winning short film that preemed at the prestigious Clermont Film Festival, Kukla Kesherovic’s feature debut Fantasy is set in a fictional Slovenian industrial town. The story follows Sina, Mihrije, and Jasna, three best friends in their early twenties whose boyish lifestyles frequently bring them into clashes with the local boys, who see them as a challenge. Their lives take an unexpected turn when they encounter Fantasy, a young transgender woman who captivates them. Slowly drawn into her world, the friends find their lives shifting in new and unforeseen directions. Filmed in Ljubljana in December of 2023, the project that received support from the Cannes Cinéfondation Residence in 2022.
Gavagai
Ulrich Köhler
Producers: Sutor Kolonko, Good Fortune Films
World Sales: TBD.
There is word of a stronger German presence in Cannes this year and while we might be jumping the gun here, Ulrich Köhler could be indeed ready with his latest oeuvre which would have filmed sometime around the midway point last year. Shot in Berlin and Dakar, starring Maren Eggert, we don’t yet have a synopsis for Gavagai but it comes on the heals of two superb singular films in 2011’s Sleeping Sickness (Silver Bear for Best Director) and In My Room – which was selected for the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes 2018. This would be a major grab if included.
Hen
György Pálfi
Producers: Vasilis Tzanidis, Martin Hampel, Thanassis Karathanos, Effie Skrobola, Giorgos Kyriakos
World Sales: TBD.
It took quite some time for this project to get out of its cage, but Hungarian filmmaker György Pálfi managed to film Hen in late December of 2023 in Greece and in the Greek language with a cast that includes humans and you guessed it…a real hen. This follows the adventurous story of a hen desperate to raise a family, a terrible human tragedy unfolds in the background. Pálfi has been to Cannes on two occasions with Taxidermia — an Un Certain Regard selection in 2006 and Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen — a Cannes Classics 2012 selection (mashup of 451 clips from the most famous films in history).
Isabel
Gabe Klinger
Producers: RT Features’ Rodrigo Teixeira.
World Sales: Urban Sales
We might be getting ahead of ourselves as production on Isabel took place this past December in São Paulo, but Porto filmmaker Gabe Klinger‘s sophomore fiction feature feels like the type of film that would received with open arms by Quinzaine programmers. Starring Marina Person (who also co-writes), Ciao Horowicz and John Ortiz star in a tale about a sommelière in São Paulo’s contemporary fine dining scene. Isabel is ready to break free from her domineering chef boss and start something of her own: a wine bar where she decides what goes in the glass. Courting an investor, Isabel walks the line between calculated risk and reckless abandon as her passion and idealism collide with the pragmatic realities of running an independent business. In a world where success can turn sour as quickly as an uncorked bottle left out too long, Isabel takes her one and only chance to pour her future on her own terms.
L’affaire de l’esclave Furcy
Abd Al Malik
Producers: Jerico Films’ Éric Jehelmann and Philippe Rousselet, Arches Films’ Étienne Comar
World Sales: France tv distribution
Production on Abd Al Malik‘s sophomore feature took place back in January of last year with thesps Makita Samba, Romain Duris, Ana Girardot and Vincent Macaigne to boot. Based on Mohammed Aïssaoui’s novel of the same name, L’affaire de l’esclave Furcy is set in 1817 on Reunion Island. Following his mother’s death, slave Furcy discovers documents which could turn him into a free man. With the help of an abolitionist prosecutor, he launches himself into a legal battle to gain recognition of his rights. The filmmaker’s debut film May Allah Bless France played well in 2014 – being selected for TIFF and winning the FIPRESCI Discovery Prize.
L’aventura
Sophie Letourner
Producers: Sophie Letourneur, Atelier de production’s Mathieu Verhaeghe & Thomas Verhaeghe
World Sales: TBD.
We have to admire her scrappy, almost DIY approach to cinema which matches well with some of the program offerings of the past two years, so the idiosyncratic Sophie Letourneur continued with her Voyages en Italie (mis)adventures trilogy with part two having filmed in Sardinia and Corsica this past summer. L’aventura sees Philippe Katerine and Letourneur back in the fold for the misadventures of the couple Sophie and Jean-Philippe, this time accompanied on vacation by their two young children.
Lust
Ralitza Petrova
Producers: Poli Angelova, Nikolay Todorov, Ralitza Petrova, Eva Jakobsen, Anna Byvald.
World Sales: TBD
It’s been a moment since she landed onto the film seen with Godless – the Golden Leopard for Best Film at Locarno Film Festival (it won four awards) in 2016. Production on Bulgaria filmmaker Ralitza Petrova ‘s sophomore feature took place in early 2024 so it’ll surely drop from this point on in 2025. Lust tells the tale of forty-something Lilian, a daughter becomes the unwitting heir to her estranged father, all she wants is to refuse the heritage, and get back to her life. But a near-death experience changes everything.
Made in EU
Stephan Komandarev
Producers: Argo Films’ Katya Trichkova
World Sales:
Veteran Bulgaria filmmaker Stephan Komandarev‘s (most recently 2023’s Blaga’s Lessons) last visit to Cannes was for the Un Certain Regard selected Directions (2017). A project that was developed at the Cannes Film Festival’s L’Atelier in 2022, Made in EU follows Iva, a seamstress in a small town, who is forced to hide the fact that she’s ill in order to keep her job, but after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in town, all the blame for the infection falls on her and she will be demonized by the community. Gergana Pletnyova, Gerasim Georgiev-Gero, Ivaylo Hristov, Anastasia Ingilizova, Todor Kotzev and Ivan Barnev star.
La mort n’existe pas
Félix Dufour-Laperrière
Producers: Embuscade Films’ Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Nicolas Dufour-Laperrière
World Sales: Best Friend Forever
It’s always tricky to try to put a timeline on an animated feature, but Canadian filmmaker Félix Dufour-Laperrière‘s fourth feature – a 2D drama should be ready for a major film festival circa 2025. La mort n’existe pas looks at young activists after a failed armed attack to overthrow figures of the establishment in their sumptuous villa, Helen freezes and abandons her accomplices. Manon, another member of her group, returns to haunt her. Together, they’ll go through the surrounding forest and valley, where metamorphoses and great upheavals will soon disrupt the natural order of things. The Quebecois filmmaker has premiered his films in Rotterdam and the Venice Film Festival (Giornate degli Autori section).
My Father’s Scent
Mohamed Siam
Producers: Mohamed Siam
World Sales: TBD.
Winner of several post-production prizes at the Final Cut at the Venice Film Festival in 2024, Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Siam moved from a docu background into fiction with My Father’s Scent. This sees a father return home on the eve of the Big Feast after a long absence due to his sudden illness and treatment. His prodigal son is anxiously waiting for him, charged with anger, to have a postponed intense confrontation. Throughout a heated battle and a night stroll, their dysfunctional relationship and deep secrets from both sides finally come to the surface.
My Father’s Shadow
Akinola Davies Jr.
Producers: Element Pictures’ Rachel Dargavel, Fatherland Productions’ Funmbi Ogunbanwo
World Sales: The Match Factory
We might be completely off with the timing on this one (perhaps a fall date is more in the cards), but Akinola Davies Jr.’s feature debut is definitely in post and already received fanfare from the MUBI folks who picked it up in several territories. Starring Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, this is about two kid brothers Remi and Akin who get to spend a gift of a day with their estranged father Folarin. They go on a voyage into Lagos observing the colossal city for the first time and the hoops their father must deal with to provide. All this is happening in the backdrop of a huge 1993 presidential election result which calls into question his ability to get them home.
Que ma volonté soit faite
Julia Kowalski
Producers: Grande Ourse Films’ Estelle Robin You
World Sales: WTFilms
With production having taken place in November of last year we’re thinking this sophomore feature by Julia Kowalski might only be ready for Locarno and Venice playdates, however, she might be in race mode to come back to the Croisette as she previously shored up in the Quinzaine section with her 2023 medium short ‘J’ai vu le visage du diable’ (also winner of the prestigious of the Prix Jean Vigo award) and her feature debut Raging Rose was on the Croisette back in 2015 selected in the ACID section. Featuring Maria Wróbel, Roxane Mesquida, Jean-Baptiste Durand and Raphaël Thiéry, Que ma volonté soit faite revolves around Nawojka, a young woman wrestling with her monstruous desire who’s convinced that she’s under a strange hereditary curse and who tries to extricate herself from the shackles of her family by way of Sandra, her sultry neighbour who’s come home to the village.
Queens of the Dead
Tina Romero
Producers: Vanishing Angle’s Matthew Lee Miller and Natalie Metzger.
World Sales: TBD
The George A. Romero legacy remains very much alive with his daughter picking up the mantle this past summer. Landing Jaquel Spivey, Katy O’Brian, Margaret Cho, Brigette Lundy-Paine and Cheyenne Jackson, Queens of the Dead follows an eclectic group of drag queens, club kids, and frenemies who must put aside their personal dramas and use their unique skills to combat the brain-thirsty undead when a zombie apocalypse breaks out during their drag show in Brooklyn.
Rembrandt
Pierre Schoeller
Producers: Trésor Films’ Alain Attal
World Sales: Playtime.
After showing two of his first three feature in the Un Certain Regard section, perhaps Pierre Schoeller might stroll over to the Quinzaine section with his fourth feature film. After the UCR preemed Versailles (2008), The Minister (2011) he went to the Lido with One Nation, One King (2018). Filming took place all the way back in January of 2024 with the likes of Camille Cottin, Romain Duris alongside Celeste Brunnquell, Denis Podalydès and Bruno Podalydès. This follows Claire and Yves who are trained physicists and who have always worked in the nuclear field. During a visit to the National Gallery, Claire is blown away by three Rembrandt paintings and her encounter with these three masterpieces changes her forever.
Le Roi soleil
Vincent Maël Cardona
Producers: SRAB Films’ Christophe Barral and Toufik Ayadi, Easy Tiger’s Marc-Benoît Créancier.
World Sales: StudioCanal.
After premiering his feature debut Magnetic Beats in the Quinzaine back in 2021 (it was awarded the SACD Prize) Vincent Maël Cardona could very well come back to section with a sophomore project that lassoed Pio Marmaï, Lucie Zhang and Sofiane Zermani. Maria De Medeiros also has a role. Le Roi soleil takes us to a shabby OTB pub in the early hours of the morning where one of the regulars wins the lottery worth 244 million euros. Another customer holds up the shop after stealing a gun from a police officer. A shot is fired, leaving the winning ticket ownerless. The remaining customers see it as an opportunity and the curtains are drawn: they may as well make the most of the situation and come to an arrangement. Locked inside the bar, they pass the point of no return. Who will come out of it alive? Production took place in the 1st quarter of 2024.
Rose of Nevada
Mark Jenkin
Producers: Denzil Monk
World Sales: Protagonist Pictures
Secretly filmed last summer, West Cornwall based filmmaker Mark Jenkin could very well make a return to same section where he launched Enys Men back in 2022. Toplining time travel mystery-drama are George MacKay and Callum Turner. Rose of Nevada is set in a forgotten fishing village, a boat mysteriously appears in the old harbour. The Rose of Nevada, lost at sea with all hands 30 years ago, has returned. For the few who remember, it’s a sign. The Rose of Nevada must go out to sea again, maybe then the luck of the devastated village will turn. Nick (MacKay) takes a job aboard the boat in an attempt to provide for his young family. Alongside him, newly arrived Liam (Turner) joins the crew, desperate to escape his past. They head to sea and after a successful trip return to harbour. But something is amiss. They’ve slipped back in time and the villagers greet them as if they are the original crew.
The Scout
Paula González-Nasser
Producers: Ryan Martin Brown, Matthew Romanski, Paula Andrea González-Nasser
World Sales: TBD.
Paula Andrea González-Nasser‘s micro indie falls in our favorite genre of films: films about filmmaking but here, not from the usual angle. Starring Mimi Davila, this takes place over the course of one day, Sofia—a television location scout—hustles to find the right spaces for an upcoming shoot. In the process, she connects and interacts with a handful of strangers who let her into their homes. The Scout was selected as part of eight films in the 2024 American Film Festival – US In Progress programme.
Sleepless City
Guillermo García López
Producers: Damien Megherbi, Alexandre Lafuente, Marisa Fernández Armenteros
World Sales: Best Friend Forever
Madrid-born Guillermo García López moved quickly from his 2023 Cannes competition preemed short film ‘Aunque Es De Noche’ into his feature film debut. Shot in the outskirts of Madrid, in one of the largest illegal shanty towns in Europe, Ciudad Sin Sueño is about Tonino, a 15-year-old Roma boy, has always lived here with his family. With his best friend Bilal, they film the world around them using a mobile phone, inspired by the gypsy legends he hears at home. But everything falls apart when a notice of imminent eviction arrives at his home and he discovers that his best friend is leaving La Cañada for good. This debut was part of the Cannes Film Festival’s 2024 Résidence.
Strange River
Jaume Claret Muxart
Producers: ZuZú Cinema.
World Sales: TBD.
Production began back in June for Catalan filmmaker Jaume Claret Muxart‘s feature debut. Strange River tells the journey of a teenager on a family cycling holiday along the banks of the Danube River. Starring Nausicaa Bonnín and Jordi Oriol, the queer coming-of-age drama was filmed from the Danube to Black Forest through Bavaria to Austria on 16mm. His short have premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival and Rotterdam. The film recently won some post-production coin at the Les Arcs Film Festival Industry Village.
White Snail
Elsa Kremser & Levin Peter
Producers: Lixi Frank, David Bohun, Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter, Heino Deckert
World Sales: TBD.
Formerly titled “The Green Parrot,” White Snail marks Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter introduction to fiction after a pair of docus that premiered at the Berlinale (Space Dogs – read review) and Locarno. The Austrian tandem enlisted Maryia Imbro and Mikhail Senkov for the tale of Masha, a Belarusian model dreaming of a job in China, who crosses paths with Misha, a painter who works the night-shift at the morgue in Minsk. Despite seeming so different, a maelstrom of intimate friendship and mutual attraction unfolds between them. The tragic love story of two outsiders who need to meet each other to realize they are not alone. The project was backed by Torino Feature Lab and received a Berlinale Script Development award.
Y
Maria Popistașu & Alexandru Baciu
Producers: Anamaria Antoci
World Sales:
Thanks to his frequent collaborations with Radu Muntean, screenwriter Alexandru Baciu has become a familiar name at Cannes. However, it wasn’t until recently that he stepped behind the camera for his feature directorial debut, teaming up in a creative partnership with none other than his wife, acclaimed actress Maria Popistașu. Y sees Popistașu topline as Olga, who with her father and her two sisters have been living a carefree life thanks to the fortune of her grandmother, Ileana, a former lawyer. Her sudden death disturbs the family balance. The most affected is Olga, who bears the burden of a deathbed confession her grandmother made: the international adoption files she handled after the Romanian Revolution are riddled with shortcomings and not much is known about the fate of some children. In order to uncover proofs that could clear Ileana’s name and her own inner conscience, Olga is forced to dig up the past and make peace with it. Production took place in February of 2024.
