10/03/2026 - Fhe French film centre is also backing Claude Barras and Gints Zibalodis’ upcoming titles, as well as first films by Nans Laborde-Jourdàa, Mathieu Volpe, Simon Helloco and Hugo de Faucompret

Director Léa Fehner, whose project Isabelle has been selected

Seven projects have been selected in the first 2026 session of the CNC’s second (second and third feature films) and first (first feature films) advance on receipts committees.

Standing tall among the three titles selected by the second committee is Isabelle by Léa Fehner, who was acclaimed for Silent Voices [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Qu'un seul tienne et les au…
film profile] (discovered in Venice’s 2009 Giornate degli Autori line-up, awarded the Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film and nominated in the same category at the 2010 Césars) and Ogres [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (the winner of the IFFR’s Big Screen trophy in 2016 and nominated for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 2017 Lumière Awards), but also for the TV work Midwives [+see also:
film review
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interview: Léa Fehner
film profile] (screened in the 2023 Berlinale’s Panorama section). Her upcoming opus has been co-written by her usual partner-in-crime, Catherine Paillé, and will be produced by Haut et Court.

The other two titles selected by the second committee are also third feature films, as well as animated projects by well-known filmmakers. These take the form of La vie en rose by Swiss director Claude Barras, who won multiple awards for My Life as a Courgette [+see also:
film review
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interview: Claude Barras
film profile] (unveiled in the Directors’ Fortnight and notably nominated for the 2017 Oscar) and who also proved his mettle with Savages [+see also:
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interview: Red Carpet @ European Film …
film profile] (shown in a Special Screening in Cannes 2024, and nominated for the 2025 César and Lumière awards). An adaptation by Claude Barras and Christelle Berthevas based on Fabien Toulmé’s graphic novel, Ce n’est pas toi que j’attendais, La vie en rose is produced by Parisian firm Sombrero Films in co-production with Switzerland’s Helium Films, and is sold by France tv distribution.

Animation was further singled out by way of the advance on receipts awarded to Limbo by Latvia’s Gints Zibalodis, who became a global star of the genre thanks to Flow [+see also:
film review
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interview: Gints Zilbalodis
interview: Red Carpet @ European Film …
film profile] (the recipient of countless trophies, including for Best Animated Film at the 2025 Oscars, where it was also nominated as Best International Film) having been discovered via Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gints Zilbalodis
film profile] (2019). His upcoming movie will be produced by Latvia’s Dream Well Studio and French outfit Sacrebleu Productions.

Last but not least, the four lucky projects granted support by the first committee include Un torrent by Nans Laborde-Jourdàa (co-written by Thomas Colineau – produced by Avenue B), L’or rouge by Belgium-Italian director Mathieu Volpe (produced by Belgium’s Les Films du Fleuve and French firm Les Films de Pierre), Les neiges de Grenade by Simon Helloco (La Belle Affaire Productions) and the animated project Granny Is a Tree! by Hugo de Faucompret (produced by Laïdak Films and Dandelooo in league with Luxembourg’s Doghouse Films).

(Translated from French)