Screen presents a selection of the buzziest projects from France available to international buyers at this year’s Cannes market.
All The Little Live Things
Dir. Carine Tardieu
Fresh off her 2026 César best film win for The Ties That Bind Us, Tardieu is prepping her sixth feature, which will star Benoît Magimel, Léa Drucker and Mélanie Thierry. Based on the 1967 US novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Wallace Stegner, the film is set in the 1970s and is about a couple who retreat to the Normandy countryside after losing their 25-year-old son in a surfing accident. There they meet a single mother and free-spirited young man who force them to confront their pain and embrace life again.
Contact: Indie Sales
The Bird Singers
Dir. Mathieu Robin
This nature-driven coming-of-age drama is based on the book of the same name by Jean Boucault and Johnny Rasse and follows two childhood friends who found their voice in the eccentric world of competitive bird-calling. Set in France’s Somme region, the real-life story stars Francois Damiens and Alexis Manenti, and is produced by the prolific French outfit Mandarin & Cie.
Contact: Ginger & Fed
The Conviction
Dir. Guillaume Nicloux
Nicloux follows May’s local release Mi Amor with his 21st feature, which is produced by Studio TF1-owned Felicita Films and prolific French production outfit Les Films du Kiosque. Vincent Lindon — Venice Volpi Cup winner in 2024 for The Quiet Son — plays a once-respected contractor struggling to rebuild his life who is lured into a tempting real-estate project by a charismatic property developer (played by Jonathan Cohen) and ends up trapped in a dangerous game. India Hair, Laure Marsac, Jean-Luc Vincent and Eloy Pohu round out the cast.
Contact: Studio TF1
Detective Kibbles
Dirs. Benoît Delépine, Antoine Robert, Frédéric Felder
This animal-centred animation is about the not-so-bright dog of the title who stumbles on an evil pet-food corporation and must save the animals of the city. Known for his longtime filmmaking partnership with Gustave Kervern on live-action projects including Delete History and Le Grand Soir, Delépine ventures into animation for the first time with this film, which counts Philippe Katerine, Estéban and Camille Lellouche among its French voice cast. The producer is produced by La Station Animation.
Contact: WTFilms
The Early Birds
Dir. Franck Dubosc
Coming off a César best screenplay win for How To Make A Killing, actor/filmmaker Dubosc directs and stars in this ensemble comedy as a bus driver who has reached breaking point and convinces his regular passengers to fake a hostage situation and split the ransom money. The cast includes Catherine Frot, Benoît Poelvoorde, Denis Podalydes, Emmanuelle Béart and Vincent Macaigne. Gaumont is producing as well as selling.
Contact: Gaumont
The Enraged
Dir. Emmanuelle Bercot
Marion Cotillard and Benoît Magimel star in the story of a tormented teen who escapes from a juvenile detention centre in 1934 and finds refuge with a kind nurse and her fisherman husband. Set and shot off the Brittany coast, the film is produced by Les Films du Worso and Pathé Films. It is the seventh feature from actress/director Bercot, whose credits include Peaceful, Standing Tall and Clement.
Contact: Pathé
Impunity
Dir. Felipe Galvez
This espionage thriller from the director of 2023 Un Certain Regard title The Settlers shot in Chile, the UK and Spain in English and Spanish, and stars Sebastian Stan and Ana de Armas alongside a Chilean cast. Set in 1998 following Augusto Pinochet’s arrest and legal case, an NGO mercenary and Chilean envoy are drawn into a labyrinth of conspiracy, betrayal and geopolitical scheming.
Contact: Pathé
The Man Who Vanished
Dir. Olivier Ducray
Yvan Attal and Charlotte Gainsbourg star in this film about a charismatic CEO presumed to be missing after his private jet crashes in the Pyrenees. His wife goes on a hunt for the truth when an investigation unearths secrets in their ostensibly perfect life. The race-against-the-clock thriller is based on Antoine Bello’s novel and produced by NAC Films.
Contact: Studio TF1
Mary Rose
Dir. Colm Bairéad
Bairéad returns after his Oscar and Bafta-nominated debut The Quiet Girl to explore the plight of women in 1950s Ireland through the story of twin sisters on diverging paths. One flees to England while the other leads a double life that sees her question her identity and the morality of the society that shaped her. Bairéad reteams with The Quiet Girl producer Inscéal in co-production with Belgium’s Lemming Film and the UK’s Gingerbread Pictures.
Contact: mk2 Films
Micro Star
Dir. Léopold Kraus
This debut feature is about a beauty influencer who wants to be an actor despite having no talent, and stars a rising French cast including Abraham Wapler, Félix Lefebvre and Raïka Hazanavicius. It is produced by French powerhouses Topshot Films (Leave One Day) and Les Films du Kiosque (Mascarade).
Contact: Cinéfrance Studios
My Notes On Mars
Dir. Lili Horvat
Mackenzie Davis and Rupert Friend star in Horvat’s first English-language feature about a brilliant young scientist who disappears mysteriously with her husband, but reappears days later completely transformed and without any memories other than her research on Mars. Horvat broke out with the romantic drama Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time, which premiered in Venice Days in 2020 and was Hungary’s 2021 international feature Oscar submission. UTA is handling North American sales.
Contact: Paradise City Sales
Oh, How Fun!
Dir. Argyris Papadimitropoulos
Greek filmmaker Papadimitropoulos (Monday, Suntan, Wasted Youth) arrives with his fifth feature, an English-language satire powered by a cast that includes Charlotte Gainsbourg, Edgar Ramirez, Lena Headey, Annabelle Wallis, Angeliki Papoulia and Makis Papadimitriou. The film is set to start shooting this autumn, and centres on a wealthy family and their guests enjoying a luxurious holiday in a pristine Greek island villa until a seemingly innocent prank goes horribly wrong. The producers are Greece’s Blonde Audiovisual Productions and Filmiki Productions, Canada’s La Boîte à Fanny — The FLM Box, and the UK’s Subculture.
Contact: Lucky Number
Quo Vadis, Aida? — The Missing Part
Dir. Jasmila Zbanic
The sequel to Zbanic’s Oscar and Bafta-nominated drama is set in the immediate aftermath of the first film, with Aida’s sons taken by Serbian forces in Srebrenica in 1995. She sets off on a desperate search to find them alongside thousands of displaced women in a refugee centre. Jasna Djuricic returns for the lead role. The multi-territory co-production is shooting now.
Contact: Indie Sales
Savagery
Dir. Miguel Gomes
This chronicle of a bloody war that took place in the late 19th century in the hostile and surreal landscape of Brazil’s northeast is based on Euclides da Cunha’s 1902 book Rebellion In The Backlands. Portugal’s Uma Pedra no Sapato lead produces the Brazil-France-Italy-Netherlands-China co-production. Gomes is best known for Berlinale 2012 prize-winner Tabu and Grand Tour, which won Cannes’ best director prize in 2024.
Contact: Luxbox
A Town In Nova Scotia
Dir. Babak Jalali
UK-Iranian director Jalali’s fifth feature is an offbeat story about friendship and small acts of defiance. Bill Nighy stars as a widowed Irish senior who rejects his daughter’s plea to join her in Nova Scotia and instead teams up with his neighbour and close friend (Makram J Khoury) to launch a crusade to make his ageing building in Liverpool safer. Producers are Paradise City Films and The Fold with financing from BBC Film, BFI, Liverpool Film Office, Calculus, Hoopsa Films and Desmar.
Contact: Paradise City Sales
No comments yet