The Résidence is a Festival de Cannes programme for emerging filmmakers developing a first or second fiction feature. Six directors join each four-and-a-half-month session and live in Paris while writing their screenplays.
Residents receive individual script support, production guidance and group meetings with film professionals. The programme also connects their projects with producers and distributors through festival appointments and a Cannes presentation.
Benefits & funding
- The programme provides a place to live at the Résidence in central Paris for the full session.
- Each filmmaker receives individual script consultations, guidance toward production and collective forums with cinema professionals.
- The programme prepares a project booklet for producers and distributors and offers post-residency help with French script translation.
- At Cannes, one director from each session receives a €5,000 CNC grant after the project presentations.
Eligibility
- Applicants must neither be French citizens nor reside in France; both conditions apply.
- Applicants must have made one or more short films and no more than one feature film.
- A previous short or first feature must have been selected by a Category A festival; this condition has no exceptions.
- Applicants must be under 35 on March 15, 2027, must not have applied more than three times and must speak English or French fluently.
- The submitted project must be a first or second fiction feature; co-directed or co-written projects are accepted, but only one named team member may attend.
- No academic degree is required.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Eligible nationalities
USA · Canada · Mexico · Guatemala · Costa Rica · Nicaragua · Honduras · El Salvador · Panama · Belize · Cuba · Haiti
+ 219 more
Jamaica · Bahamas · Barbados · Dominican Republic · Dominica · Grenada · Antigua and Barbuda · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago · Anguilla · Aruba · Bermuda · Bonaire · Saba · Sint Eustatius · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Curaçao · Montserrat · Puerto Rico · Sint Maarten · Turks and Caicos Islands · US Virgin Islands · Greenland · Brazil · Argentina · Chile · Colombia · Peru · Ecuador · Paraguay · Bolivia · Uruguay · Venezuela · Guyana · Suriname · Falkland Islands · UK · Germany · Italy · Spain · Portugal · Netherlands · Belgium · Luxembourg · Switzerland · Austria · Sweden · Norway · Denmark · Finland · Iceland · Faroe Islands · Gibraltar · Guernsey · Jersey · Isle of Man · Åland Islands · Svalbard and Jan Mayen · Ireland · Poland · Czechia · Hungary · Romania · Serbia · Greece · Bulgaria · Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania · Ukraine · Russia · Albania · Andorra · Belarus · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Croatia · Cyprus · Kosovo · Liechtenstein · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · North Macedonia · San Marino · Slovakia · Slovenia · Vatican City · China · Hong Kong · Macau · Taiwan · Japan · South Korea · North Korea · Singapore · Malaysia · Thailand · Vietnam · Indonesia · Philippines · India · Nepal · Brunei · Pakistan · Bangladesh · UAE · Saudi Arabia · Israel · Türkiye · Mongolia · Cambodia · Laos · Myanmar · Timor-Leste · Sri Lanka · Bhutan · Afghanistan · Armenia · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Georgia · Iran · Iraq · Jordan · Kazakhstan · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Lebanon · Maldives · Oman · Palestine · Qatar · Syria · Tajikistan · Turkmenistan · Uzbekistan · Yemen · South Africa · Kenya · Nigeria · Egypt · Morocco · Ghana · Uganda · Cameroon · Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cabo Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Côte d'Ivoire · DR Congo · Republic of the Congo · Djibouti · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Gabon · Gambia · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · Somaliland · South Sudan · Sudan · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Zambia · Zimbabwe · Western Sahara · Saint Helena · Australia · New Zealand · Fiji · Papua New Guinea · Samoa · Solomon Islands · Tonga · Vanuatu · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Micronesia · Nauru · Palau · Tuvalu · American Samoa · Cook Islands · Guam · Northern Mariana Islands · Pitcairn Islands · Niue · Tokelau
Residence required
USA · Canada · Mexico · Guatemala · Costa Rica · Nicaragua · Honduras · El Salvador · Panama · Belize · Cuba · Haiti
+ 219 more
Jamaica · Bahamas · Barbados · Dominican Republic · Dominica · Grenada · Antigua and Barbuda · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago · Anguilla · Aruba · Bermuda · Bonaire · Saba · Sint Eustatius · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Curaçao · Montserrat · Puerto Rico · Sint Maarten · Turks and Caicos Islands · US Virgin Islands · Greenland · Brazil · Argentina · Chile · Colombia · Peru · Ecuador · Paraguay · Bolivia · Uruguay · Venezuela · Guyana · Suriname · Falkland Islands · UK · Germany · Italy · Spain · Portugal · Netherlands · Belgium · Luxembourg · Switzerland · Austria · Sweden · Norway · Denmark · Finland · Iceland · Faroe Islands · Gibraltar · Guernsey · Jersey · Isle of Man · Åland Islands · Svalbard and Jan Mayen · Ireland · Poland · Czechia · Hungary · Romania · Serbia · Greece · Bulgaria · Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania · Ukraine · Russia · Albania · Andorra · Belarus · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Croatia · Cyprus · Kosovo · Liechtenstein · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · North Macedonia · San Marino · Slovakia · Slovenia · Vatican City · China · Hong Kong · Macau · Taiwan · Japan · South Korea · North Korea · Singapore · Malaysia · Thailand · Vietnam · Indonesia · Philippines · India · Nepal · Brunei · Pakistan · Bangladesh · UAE · Saudi Arabia · Israel · Türkiye · Mongolia · Cambodia · Laos · Myanmar · Timor-Leste · Sri Lanka · Bhutan · Afghanistan · Armenia · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Georgia · Iran · Iraq · Jordan · Kazakhstan · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Lebanon · Maldives · Oman · Palestine · Qatar · Syria · Tajikistan · Turkmenistan · Uzbekistan · Yemen · South Africa · Kenya · Nigeria · Egypt · Morocco · Ghana · Uganda · Cameroon · Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cabo Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Côte d'Ivoire · DR Congo · Republic of the Congo · Djibouti · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Gabon · Gambia · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · Somaliland · South Sudan · Sudan · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Zambia · Zimbabwe · Western Sahara · Saint Helena · Australia · New Zealand · Fiji · Papua New Guinea · Samoa · Solomon Islands · Tonga · Vanuatu · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Micronesia · Nauru · Palau · Tuvalu · American Samoa · Cook Islands · Guam · Northern Mariana Islands · Pitcairn Islands · Niue · Tokelau
Age requirement
≤ 34 yrs
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Application process
- 1Create or sign in to a Festival de Cannes My Account profile.
- 2Complete the online registration form and name the attending person if the project is co-directed or co-written.
- 3Upload an English- or French-language treatment of at least 10 pages, a synopsis, statement of intent, mood board, CV, proof of identity and previous films or viewing links.
- 4Submit the application by September 30, 2026.
Program timeline
Application deadline
September 30, 2026
53rd session starts in Paris
March 15, 2027
53rd session ends
July 31, 2027