14/04/2026 - Paul Nouhet, Ivan Marković, Guillaume Massart, and directorial duos Lola Cambourieu-Yann Berlier, Dimitri Planchon-Jean-Paul Guigue and Céline Carridroit-Aline Suter are some of those on the line-up

Justine Triet, Kaouther Ben Hania, Ursula Meier, Alain Gomis, Patricia Mazuy, Claire Simon, and Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu have all been selected there with their debut features, and last year, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk by Sepideh Farsi, A Light That Never Goes Out by Lauri-Matti Parppei, and Drifting Laurent by Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture and Mattéo Eustachon made a particularly big splash: aiming to offer increased visibility to quality independent works that are often not circulated widely enough, and remaining true to its editorial policy hinging on gutsiness and a variety of different viewpoints, the ACID (Association for the Circulation of Independent Film) has unveiled the 34th programme that it will be offering on the Croisette from 13-22 May, as an integral part of the 79th Cannes Film Festival. The selection comprises nine feature films, including four fictions, three documentaries, one animation and one hybrid work.

Standing out among the debut fiction features are Rewind Barcelona by France’s Paul Nouhet (selected in the short-film competition at Cannes in 2020 with Camille Contactless), centring on four French youngsters, all 18 years old, who head off to Barcelona, the Mecca of skateboarding, for their first holiday all together; and Born Under a Bad Star by his compatriots Lola Cambourieu and Yann Berlier (Special Mention for the 2025 Screenplay Award), which will open the programme and which tells of a day in the life of a woman living in the grip of her violent partner.

Also on the menu of the debut features is the Swiss-French hybrid film (blending fiction and documentary) Summer Drift by Céline Carridroit and Aline Suter, which delves into a summer in Geneva, following the trail of Johanna, who works in a factory where she assembles luxury watches. As she contemplates getting rid of her old Beetle, she decides to bring it back to life in order to face the racing community that previously rejected her.

Another feature debut is the animated flick Blaise by French duo Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue (who turned heads with Silex and the City), based on the former’s comic book of the same name.

The fiction titles also include Promised Spaces, the sophomore feature by Serbia’s Ivan Marković (who made a splash in the Berlinale Forum in 2019 with From Tomorrow on, I Will), which is set in an ultra-urbanised Cambodia, and Living Twice, Dying Thrice, the fifth feature by Iran’s Karim Lakzadeh (in the Proxima competition at Karlovy Vary in 2023 with Dark Matter).

The line-up is rounded off by three French documentaries: the second feature Detention by Guillaume Massart (who generated a buzz in 2017 with La liberté), who dove into the inner workings of the National School of Prison Administration, and the feature debuts A Secret Heart by Tom Fontenille (who made a name for himself in Work in Progress [Films en cours] at the Entrevues Festival in Belfort) and Into the Jaws of the Ogre by filmmaker of Iranian heritage Mahsa Karampour (which took part in Work in Progress at Cinéma du Réel).

Here is the full list of selected films:

ACID

Under a Bad Star - Lola Cambourieu, Yann Berlier (France) (opening film)
Summer Drift - Céline Carridroit, Aline Suter (Switzerland/France)
A Secret Heart - Tom Fontenille (France)
Into the Jaws of the Ogre - Mahsa Karampour (France)
Living Twice, Dying Thrice - Karim Lakzadeh (Iran)
Promised Spaces - Ivan Marković (France/Germany/Serbia/Cambodia)
Detention - Guillaume Massart (France)
Rewind Barcelona - Paul Nouhet (France)
Blaise - Dimitri Planchon, Jean-Paul Guigue (France)

(Translated from French)