Festival de Cannes La Résidence

Deadlines & fees

• Application deadlineNext deadline
  30 Sept 2026Europe/ParisFreeGoogle·.ics

Dates and fees checked against the official site 8 Aug 2026.

Key facts

Formats

Feature

Not open to

France

Required materials

Online registration through the My Account portal · Treatment covering the project current development stage, in English or French only, minimum 10 pages · Synopsis · Statement of intent outlining the creative vision and the choice of plot · Mood board · CV · Proof of identity · Uploads of previous films, or viewing links

Open to filmmakers who have made one or several short films and no more than one feature. Applicants must be under 35 on the first day of the session, which for the 53rd session means 15 March 2027. Candidates must not be residents or citizens of France. The hardest gate is festival selection: the applicant's short films or first feature must have been selected for a Category A festival, and the English rules state no exceptions will be made. Applicants must be able to express themselves fluently in English or French, and must not have applied more than three times before. Co-directed or co-written projects are eligible but only one person from the team may attend, chosen at registration. The Festival reserves an exceptional right to select filmmakers who derogate from some criteria.

Prizes

Accommodation in a shared Paris apartment for the full four and a half months is provided, with no participation fee. Note carefully what the 5,000 euro CNC grant actually is: not a benefit of selection, but a competitive prize awarded by a three-person jury to one director from each session after a pitch in Cannes, so two of the twelve annual residents receive it. Several national film bodies including Telefilm Canada and the New Zealand Film Commission state that residents receive a grant of 800 euro a month, but this figure appears nowhere on any current Festival de Cannes page in English or French, so treat it as indicative rather than confirmed. Who pays travel is not addressed by any source.

Judging

The Festival de Cannes assesses every application and watches the films submitted, judging on the film-making potential shown in previous work, the quality of the treatment and the applicant's motivations. No named selection committee is published. The 5,000 euro CNC grant is decided separately by a jury of three film industry figures after residents pitch at the CNC pavilion in Cannes; the most recent published jury was Josephine Bourgeois, Sebastian Lelio and Jean-Christophe Simon. No feedback to unsuccessful applicants is offered or mentioned.

Frequently asked questions