Adding their 20th feature film to the 2026 edition, the Directors’ Fortnight have extended a special to master filmmaker Bruno Dumont. His shot under-the-radar Les roches rouges (aka Red Rocks) will receive its world premiere plus the filmmaker will give a special masterclass (which will trace thirty years of his filmmaking, exploring a body of work that is both free and deeply singular..). Set in the French Riviera, the movie follows the story of Gèo, a seven year old child, boss of his peer gang that spend the summer through raids and reckless challenges on the cliffs over the sea. The arrival of a rival group coming from the capitol and the meeting with the mysterious Eve will give rise to a ruthless duel, where innocence and cruelty merge in a summer that will forever mark the characters. Here is the press release and first still:
Born at the Fortnight in 1997 with The Life of Jesus, which was awarded a special mention for the Caméra d’Or, Bruno Dumont has created an ever-changing body of work, shaped by a wide range of experiments. Initially rooted in the North of France, his directing style has gradually opened up to other landscapes, from California to the Middle East, from Paris to Avignon, while occasionally returning to his stomping ground. His work process with actors, long guided by the Bressonian model, has gradually come to embrace accidents and improvisation. From crime film to war drama, from comedy to sci-fi, Bruno Dumont now seems to move toward a form of purification: a search for simplicity, almost a bareness, in both style and writing.
Red Rocks marks a new turn in his filmography. Shot in the French Riviera, with very young children, the film adopts a documentary-like approach, led by the deliberate use of wide-angle lenses. Once again, Dumont explores the grace that can emerge from cinema.