Six projects have been selected for the third 2026 session of the second college (dedicated to second and third features) and the third college (fourth features and beyond) of the CNC’s advance on receipts.

Among the lucky recipients L’homme qui avait peur des femmes stands out. This will be the Jean-Baptiste Durand’s second feature after Chien de la casse (seven César nominations and winner of Best First Feature and Most Promising Actor). Co-written by the director with Nathan Le Graciet and Guillaume Bréaud, the script centres on Guilhem, who lives in a small village in the Hérault valley. He is 39 and has never really been with a girl. While waiting for love to miraculously strike, Guilhem leads the life of a hardened bachelor. When he’s not at his vineyard, he’s playing football or is at home with his cat Léa. One day, he finds his miracle; her name is Marie, she’s an angel and she’s single. He doesn’t know how to go about it, he’s shy, he’s afraid of women, he hasn’t got a chance, but never mind. He sets off in search of true love… Production is being handled by Anaïs Bertrand of Insolence Productions.

An advance on receipts has also been awarded to La main bleue by Yolande Zauberman, which will see the director of M (César Award for Best Documentary) and La Belle de Gaza (Special Screening at Cannes) return to fiction; a genre she has not tackled since 2002 and which, among other awards, earned her a Directors’ Fortnight selection in 1993 with Moi Ivan, toi Abraham… Production is handled by Moonshaker II.

The CNC will also support the project Rose royale , which will be the 4th feature by Baya Kasmi (well received last year with Mikado and this time to be produced by a duo teaming up Karé Productions and Tandem) and Une vie cachée, the Cécile Ducrocq’s sophomore project (noticed with Une femme du monde, which earned Laure Calamy a César nomination for Best Actress), once again with Domino Films producing.

Animation and documentary also found favour in this session of the advance on receipts, with L’histoire des histoires by Marya Zarif (revealed with her feature debut with Dounia et la princesse d’Alep) to be produced by Haut et Court, and Quand les gardiens tombent by Ilan Klipper (director, among others, of Ciel étoilé au-dessus de ma tête and Funambules, selected for ACID Cannes), which will be produced by New Sight.