2026

Romain André studied cinema at Paris 7 University and documentary filmmaking in Lussas, Ardèche. After making his first documentary film about the Mexico City metro, he participated in the production of collective works, notably with the Boris Barnet collective. In 2018, he directed À priori sauvage, a short film combining fiction and documentary footage of wild weasels. This was followed by two other short fiction films, Marée basse (2022) and Élancourt Mambo (2023). He is also a member of ACID and participates in the collective that runs the magazine Jef Klak.

Synopsis: Émilie, 50, a tough butch with a shaved head, works part-time as a sales assistant at “Vie Sauvage et Bien-Être” (Wild Life and Well-Being). She wants to build a more stable life for herself so she can take in Katell, her 18-year-old niece, whom she feels responsible for since her sister's death. A promotion to assistant manager and a new apartment give her the opportunity to look forward to a reassuring future. But then the building's sewage system backs up into her bathroom, just as a gigantic UFO lands off the coast of the Falkland Islands. While the whole world, torn between terror and fascination, is preoccupied with the alien spacecraft, Émilie finds herself alone with her water damage and her plans for the future.

Born in 1985, Ingrid Chikhaoui grew up among the chicory fields of northern France and the wild oyster beds of Loire-Atlantique. After studying fine arts and then cinema, her short film Trois grains de gros sel won numerous awards around the world, starting with Clermont-Ferrand in 2022. Her work revolves around the themes of resilience, marginality, and ambivalent feelings. She lives in Nantes, where she is preparing her first feature film while working as a casting director and teaching filmmaking. She spends her spare time experimenting with baking and botany, and eating lots of cheese. 

Synopsis: August 1999, on the Atlantic coast. Eleven-year-old Judith is eagerly preparing to survive the Y2K bug, as her father, who is away on a scientific mission, has taught her to do. When her mother Estelle turns their vacation on this magnificent coastline into a surprise installation, Judith tames an old fishing hut and turns it into a fortress, a refuge from the chaos of a world that is beginning to slip away from her. Faced with the unexpected disasters of winter, despite the unspoken words, wounds, and illusions, mother and daughter try, each in their own way, to rebuild their family.

Joséphine Darcy Hopkins began her career with a series of short films that were quickly spotted and selected for more than forty festivals. She followed this up with Nuage (2020), her first feature film, which won the Audience Award at the Étrange Festival before being broadcast on Canal+. With Les Dents du bonheur (2023), she confirmed her taste for a unique genre of cinema: the film enjoyed a very successful run, accumulating prestigious selections—including Clermont-Ferrand and Fantasia—and winning some twenty awards. She is currently developing Docile, her first feature film, produced by To Be Continued and Kazak Productions, continuing her personal and deeply engaging genre cinema.

Synopsis: Following the death of their mother, Madeleine and Eugénie, two sisters aged 8 and 12, spend the summer with their grandparents, whom they have never met. Their grandparents are funny and welcoming. The girls quickly feel at home and think they have found a family. But everything changes when Paul, their grandfather, gives Madeleine a hairless rat and makes her promise not to tell anyone. 

Coming from a theater background, Zoé Labasse studied at EHESS and then went on to complete a Master's degree in Screenwriting at Nanterre. Her graduation screenplay, Les Danseurs de Strasbourg, received praise from the jury chaired by Robin Campillo. Now produced by Caroline Bonmarchand (Avenue B) and Tristan Bergé (Kalpa Films), the project has received several grants and won the “Jury President's Favorite Award” at the 2023 Screenplay Awards. In parallel with this development, she has directed several short films, notably Pourquoi parlez-vous si bas ?, co-directed with Pauline Broulis and selected and awarded at several festivals.

Synopsis: 1518, Strasbourg. Hilde, a surgeon's assistant, is convinced that dissection is the future of medicine, but her status prevents her from studying anatomy. Strasbourg is then struck by a strange epidemic: women and men begin to dance day and night, unable to stop. Some succumb to exhaustion. Determined to find a cure, Hilde opens the bodies of the dead dancers. When she plunges her hands into the flesh, she is overcome by dizziness.

Born in Marseille in 1986, Romuald Rodrigues Andrade spent several years leading film workshops before becoming an assistant director. In 2018, he wrote and directed his first short film, Trace ta route, which won awards at festivals. Winner of the Cinétalents 1000 Visages award in 2019, he directed Enclos and then Le Jour de gloire in 2022. He is currently developing 1998, his first feature film, which will be presented at the Alpi Film Lab 2022. Winner of the CNC (Fonds Images de la Diversité) and Méditalents writing grants in 2024, he received CNC rewriting assistance in 2025. He is also a producer at Entourage Films.

Synopsis: June 1998, in Vitrolles as elsewhere, World Cup fever is in full swing. Except that here, a hot topic is dividing the town: the National Front has won the mayoral election. That summer, Cédric fails his high school exams and is looking for a job. He is black and is constantly reminded of his skin color. His little brother, Stanley, is enjoying his vacation more happily. As France wins match after match, flying the “black, white, Arab” flag high and loud, the FN turns their lives upside down forever. 

After studying political science and working in documentary production, Thomas Cailley joined the screenwriting department at La Fémis. In 2010, he directed Paris-Shanghai, a short film that won awards at several international festivals and for which he received the Audience Award at Premiers Plans. His first feature film, Les Combattants, was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in 2014 and won the Louis Deluc Prize for Best First Film and three César Awards: Best First Film, Best Actress for Adèle Haenel and Most Promising Actor for Kévin Azaïs. In 2018, Thomas Cailley directed his first series, Ad Vitam, which was selected at the Toronto Film Festival and awarded the prize for Best French Series at Séries Mania. In 2023, he directed Le Règne animal, which opened the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film was a huge success, winning the Louis Deluc Prize for Best French Film, as well as eleven nominations and five awards at the Césars. Thomas Cailley also won the Lumière Award for Best Director.

Marine Atlan is a director of photography and filmmaker. She has worked on films by, among others, Alexis Langlois, Iris Kaltenbäch, Simon Rieth and Louise Hémon. Her first film, Les Amours vertes, won the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and a special mention from the jury at Premiers Plans in 2016. Daniel fait face, her second film, was selected for Berlin in 2018 and Premiers Plans the following year. She is currently editing La Gradiva, her first feature film.

A graduate of the École Normale Supérieure and holder of an agrégation in philosophy, Nathalie Hertzberg went on to train in editing at La Fémis. While still studying, she worked as an assistant director at the Comédie-Française, where she had the opportunity to write and direct a staged reading at the Studio Théâtre. Her first screenplay to be filmed was a series called Scalp, broadcast by Canal Plus, co-written with director Xavier Durringer. She has since worked regularly as a scriptwriter for television (the series Kaiser Karl on Disney +, and the one-off Adieu de Gaulle on Canal Plus) and cinema. Recently she co-wrote Le Procès Goldman with director Cédric Kahn, the opening film of the 2023 Directors’ Fortnight. In parallel to her work as a screenwriter, she occasionally teaches philosophy, notably at La Fémis, the Théâtre National de Bretagne in Rennes and Sciences Po Paris.

After growing up between the mainland and the village, like many children from the Corsican diaspora, Julie Allione entered the Paris VII university in 1998, where the first gender studies were taught. In 2001, she missed Corsica and left Paris to become a casting director in Bastia. As a casting director, she has worked with Thierry de Peretti, Rebecca Zlotowski, Rachel Lang, Louis Garrel, Stéphane Demoustier, Catherine Corsini, Samuel Theis and Maïwenn, among others.

After studying at La Fémis, Lilian Corbeille worked as an editor on several short films while also serving as an assistant editor, before getting the chance in 2013 to work on his first feature film, Thomas Cailley’s Les Combattants, for which he was nominated for a César. This led to work with various directors such as Leyla Bouzid, Saïd Hamich, Hubert Charuel, Thomas Lilti, Manuel Shapira, Antoine Chevrollier and, most recently, Alice Winocour. He enjoys working with the same filmmakers (Le Règne animal by Thomas Cailley) as much as meeting new ones, and he has also edited series including Engrenages, Baron noir, Vernon Subutex and Oussekine.

Michel Petrossian is a composer of concert music and film scores. A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse in composition, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Grand Prize and the Grand Prix Lycéen des Compositeurs, he has written an opera, a ballet, three concertos and numerous vocal and instrumental works. He has composed the music for three films by Robert Guédiguian, Gloria mundi, Et la fête continue ! and La Pie voleuse, as well as En fanfare by Emmanuel Courcol, for which he was also the musical advisor. Fully committed to these two creative pursuits, he is currently working on Robert Guédiguian’s Une femme aujourd'hui, as well as a new opera in collaboration with Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt.

Composer and violinist Carla Pallone is currently working with Pierre Menahem on his feature film Demande à la montagne (Ask the Mountain) and with Émilie Rousset on her play Affaires familiales (Family Affairs). In 2024, she completed the soundtrack for Grand ciel, a feature film by Akihiro Hata, which premiered this year at Premiers Plans, as well as Phèdre, directed by Matthieu Cruciani. She also composed the music for the podcast series The Retrievals (Serial & The New York Times), which won a Peabody Award.