Deadline: 3-Nov-22

La Fabrique Cinéma has been created by the Institut français, in partnership with France Médias Monde, the SACEM (French society of authors, composers and publishers of music) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie to support new talented filmmakers from Southern and emerging countries on the international market.

This programme has been developed in close association with the Festival de Cannes and the Marché du Film. Ten projects in development (1st or 2nd feature film) are selected and invited to Cannes. The aim is to create concrete opportunities for these projects by providing access to different activities and personalized support through one-to-one and group meetings with key players in the film industry.

The call for applications is international and limited to 110 projects which are examined by a selection committee made up of professionals in the sector (screenwriters, directors, editors, consultants, programmers, committee members and cultural and/or cinematographic institutions, national and international). Alongside the selection made through the call for applications, the selection committee reserves the right to choose projects through partnerships and/or among former participants who have applied. They will be identified as such.

The program will be held during the Cannes Film Festival in person, and part of the program will be held online from mid-April. The local director and producer of the selected project will be hosted in Cannes for a period of 7 to 10 days.

Participants will benefit from an extensive program and personalized support. This program aims to concretely advance projects and their financing, with individual and collective meetings with the profession, in partnership with the Cannes Film Festival and parallel sections. It also provides for rich exchanges with the godfather or godmother of La Fabrique Cinéma de l’Institut français as well as an agenda of meetings with French and international producers for their project.

Selection Criteria

• The project must be a cinematographic work (fiction, documentary or animation). It cannot be a project or a film for television.
• The project must be a first or second feature film in development (fiction, documentary or animation)
• The director must be from the list of eligible countries (nationality of the country or living and working in the country for more than 5 years).
• The producer must be from the list of eligible countries (nationality of the country or living and working in the country for more than 5 years) and have already produced a short film or a feature film in the last five years.
• The producer must own a production company.
• The projected budget of the film must be less than 3 million euros.
• Each director and each producer can present only one project.
• The La Fabrique Cinéma program promotes the search for French, European and international co-producers. It is not necessary to already have a co-producer to register.
• Projects that already have co-producers can also be submitted. If co-producers are associated with the project, they must be mentioned in the online form when applying.
• If co-producers are associated with the project after the application has been submitted, applicants must inform the French institute. Any selected project that does not respect this rule may see its selection called into question
• The local producer of the project accompanies the director.
• Co-producers must have signed a co-production agreement or a memo-deal to be considered as such. They are not supported and are not invited to participate in the program.
• Due to the international context of the Cannes Festival Film Market, many appointments and meetings are held in English. It is imperative that the director and his/her producer speak English.
• Special attention will be paid by the selection committee to gender parity in the selection of La Fabrique Cinéma participants.

For more information, visit https://zw.ambafrance.org/La-Fabrique-Cinema-Institut-francais-Call-for-entries-2023