Juho Kuosmanen, Magnus Von Horn & Carine Tardieu Projects Set For Cannes Investors Circle

The Marché du Film has unveiled the eight directors who will present projects at the fourth edition of its Cannes Investors Circle aimed at connecting elevated international arthouse productions with potential financiers.

The curated lineup features productions in development by directors with Cannes and Venice pedigree spanning a broad range of cinematic approaches, with budgets ranging from €1M to over €12M.

The participating directors include Juho Kuosmanen, who won the Cannes Grand Prix for his last film Compartment No. 6 as well as Atsuko Hirayanagi, whose Oh Lucy! played in Cannes Critics’ Week and Magnus Von Horn, whose The Girl with the Needle debuted in Competition in 2024.

Further participants are Felipe Gálvez (The Settlers, Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2023), Carine Tardieu (The Ties That Bind Us, Orizzonti, Venice 2024), Emanuel Pârvu (Three Kilometres to the End of the World, In Competition, Cannes 2024), Ismaël El Iraki (Zanka Contact, Orizzonti, Venice 2020), and Noé Débré (screenwriter of Dheepan, Palme d’Or, Cannes 2015).

“Following last year’s edition, the Investors Circle has already led to concrete investment outcomes, with projects such as Gentle Monster by Marie Kreutzer and Poeta Chileno by Sebastián Lelio securing investors through the program,” said Guillaume Esmiol, Executive Director of the Marché du Film.

“At the same time, participating filmmakers were also represented across prestigious festival selections. For this new edition, we are further refining the selection process, and we will once again have a very prestigious selection of projects. We also plan to expand the initiative beyond Cannes through year- round activities, such as the recent workshop we did in Trieste during When East Meets West.”

The 2026 selection process was overseen by the Head of Investors Circle, Alexandra Zakharchenko, in collaboration with an annually renewed committee of industry figures.

This year’s committee comprised Céline Dornier (Content Executive, IPR.VC), Jean des Forêts (Founder & CEO, Petit Film), Alice Laffillé (Vice President of International Sales, FilmNation Entertainment) and Anthony Muir (Senior Executive for International Co-Productions, Film i Väst).

Scheduled for Saturday, 16 May and Sunday, 17 May, the event will take place at the Plage des Palmes, the official beachside venue of the Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes.