Six faces. Six countries. Six projects. Meltse Van Coillie, Diana Cam Van Nguyen, Zhao Hao, Gessica Généus, Andréa Slaviček and Asmae El Moudir are the young filmmakers who have joined the Résidence du Festival de Cannes for its autumn session. Over a period of four and a half months, the Festival will support them in the writing of the screenplay for their first or second feature film.
A number of artists have preceded them at this “Villa Médicis” of cinema since its creation in 2000, and some of them today make up the landscape of global cinema: Lucrecia Martel, Nadav Lapid, Nadine Labaki, Michel Franco, László Nemes and Lukas Dhont, to name but a few.
In the historic 9th arrondissement of Paris, new residents will benefit from personalised support for their script and a collective programme of meetings with directors, professionals and representatives from cinema institutions.
During the Festival, the participants from the year’s two sessions (from 1 October to 15 February and from 15 March to 31 July), 12 directors in all, will be invited to Cannes to present their screenplay to industry professionals and thus to have the best chances to see their projects come to pass.
IN RÉSIDENCE AT THE FESTIVAL from 1 October to 15 February
MELTSE VAN COILLIE
BELGIUM
“I hope to find some focus during the residency while enjoying the collective energy of all these talented filmmakers who find themselves in a similar stage in their careers. I am especially looking forward to discuss different practices of filmmaking with them, whilst slowly building my own cinematic universe.”
Meltse Van Coillie, born in 1992, is a Belgian director with a background in documentary filmmaking. In 2018 she graduated from KASK, School of Arts in Ghent with the hybrid film Elephantfish. The film screened at numerous international film festivals and received a Wildcard from the Flemish Film Fund. The awarded production budget resulted in a second short, Zonder Meer, which had its international premiere at Berlinale in 2021. Afterwards, it travelled the international festival circuit and received many awards, including the Grand Prix at Encounters. In co-direction with Harm Dens, she made a third short in 2022 called Nocturnus, which was shot during the polar night in Greenland. Set in the same area, she is currently writing her first feature film: Torpor.
DIANA CAM VAN NGUYEN
CZECH REPUBLIC / VIETNAM
“Being selected at the Residence is for me so fulfilling and unbelievable at the same time. I feel inspired from other residents and it gives me even more motivation to workon my feature film. I cannot be more grateful for this opportunity.”
Diana Cam Van Nguyen is a Czech-Vietnamese director, born in 1993 in Czech Republic. Based in Prague, she’s graduated from FAMU – Department of Animated Films. Her short films have been selected at festivals like Locarno, Toronto, Rotterdam, Annecy or IDFA. Apart (2018) was a finalist in BAFTA Student Film Award 2019. Her latest short Love, Dad (2021) was nominated for Best Short Film in European Film Awards 2022 and won more than 70 awards from international festivals including BFI Short Film Award, Clermont-Ferrand Connexion Award, AFI Grand Jury Award, Toronto Honorable Mention. In her short films she focused on personal topics through the means of animated documentary. Currently she is developing her first feature Inbetween Worlds at the Résidence of the Festival de Cannes, a fiction film which combines live-action and animation.
ZHAO HAO
CHINA
“A trip to Paris has always been inspiring and mind-opening. I’m overjoyed to be surrounded by a community of exceptionally talented filmmakers at the historical “La Résidence”. So excited for the journey of exploration and inspiration that lies ahead!”
Originally from Rizhao, Zhao Hao is a Chinese writer, director graduated from Tisch School of the Arts, NYU and a BIFF Asian Film Academy directing fellow. His short film Fang ke (An Invitation) was presented at the 60th Cannes Critics’ Week in 2021. Yi Shi Yi Ke (Now. Here), his latest short, premiered at Berlinale in 2023. Zhao is currently developing his first feature Qing Shui Luo Da Yu (If I See a Rainbow) at the Résidence of the Festival de Cannes. The project has received support from the IFFR Hubert Bals Fund for script development and is a selected project of the 9th Next Step at Cannes Critics’ Week, where it won the residency award of Le Moulin d’Andé.
GESSICA GÉNÉUS
HAITI
“The Résidence has come at a time where I needed ‘a room of my own’. Creating silence has become an insurmountable challenge on my island and I feel a real need to get away. As a special bonus, I’ll be surrounded by people who are just as passionate about their own projects. Twenty years ago, I watched the Festival de Cannes from afar, through a book, and I wondered what it would be like to be there. A crazy dream that came true with the selection of my first film for Un Certain Regard. And now, the opportunity of the Résidence. I am truly grateful.”
Gessica Généus is a Haitian actress, singer and director. She started her career at the age of 17. In 2010, after the earthquake, she is involved in the reconstruction of her country and works for the United Nation. Then she obtains a scholarship to study at The Acting International in Paris. After returning to Haiti, she creates her production company, Ayizan Production, in order to develop her own projects. Between 2014 and 2016 she’s directing Vizaj Nou, a series of short portraits of major figures of contemporary Haitian society. In 2017, her documentary Douvan Jou Ka Leve, co-produced by SaNoSi Productions, wins 8 international awards. Freda, her first feature film, was world premiered in Cannes Official Selection Un Certain Regard in 2021. To date, it has received twenty-five awards at international festivals.
ANDREA SLAVIČEK
CROATIA
“I’m very happy and excited to be among other great filmmakers, to work on and further improve my script which will be very inspiring in this surrounding. This selection will help greatly the production of the film, and in getting on board all the international collaborators.”
Andrea Slaviček is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and designer from Croatia, born in Zagreb in 1990. She studied film direction at ESCAC in Barcelona, Spain. She attended Berlinale Talents Sarajevo edition in 2020. After working in Spain, her second short film The Real Truth about the Fight was shot in Croatia and premiered at the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2023, following selections at various international festivals. She is interested in unconventional structures, experimenting with the perception of characters and their view of reality. Now, she is developing her debut feature film Luna on Two Planets at the Résidence of the Festival de Cannes.
ASMAE EL MOUDIR
MAROC
“Being chosen for the residency is already paving the way for my next film. Reading the names that came before me in my pretty room at the residence gives me chills; not so long ago, I was fifteen and I was still a fan of Nadine Labaki. I’m moved to find myself in her old room. There aren’t many women filmmakers in the Arab world, and it’s time we were united.”
Asmae El Moudir is a Moroccan film director, screenwriter and producer. She studied at La Fémis in Paris and holds a master’s degree in production and a bachelor’s degree in documentary cinema. She also graduated in 2010 from the Moroccan Film Academy in Film studies. Asmae has won important national and international awards and her films have been screened in festivals worldwide. After making a number of short films, Asmae completed the mid-length documentary The Postcard in 2020. Selected in Un Certain Regard, The Mother of All Lies, her first feature film, won the best Directing Prize in Cannes 2023. The film is Marroco’s official entry for Best International Feature and has been qualified for Best Feature Documentary at the 96th Academy Awards.