Cannes 2024

According to the right-wing French press, inner-city Paris schools full of kids from immigrant families are hot beds of deprivation, noise, chaos and violence. Not so, says revered French-based doccer Claire Simon, whose new film is set in such an institution. All the children, wherever they come from, are being taught how to become good citizens, "how to learn and how to talk with the rest of the society,” Simon tells Business Doc Europe.

The Ukrainian filmmaker talks to See NL about his latest documentary which chronicles life during wartime, as Ukraine continues to repel the Russian invasion. “Life is always multi-faceted. As we know, there is always a place for lighter moments, humour [and] absurdity, even under these tragic circumstances,” Loznitsa stresses. “At the same time, even in these scenes in the film that are lighter and more cheerful, there is still the presence of tragedy.”

“The whole philosophy of Cannes Docs is all about going beyond a strict industry approach, to advocate for creative, author-driven, arthouse documentary cinema, and for all kinds of forward-thinking political values that I feel our community always has, at heart, to champion,” Pierre-Alexis Chevit says on the eve the 2024 event. Core activities this year include a Palestinian showcase, ongoing support of the Ukrainian doc industry via three special screenings & two new project presentations, a host of industry debates on core topics, and interviews with top doccers such as Raoul Peck and Nicolas Philibert.

The non-profit Chicken & Egg Films is taking its Cannes Docs bow in 2024, where toppers Wolfson and McCrae will be moderating a brace of panels, at the same time banging the drum for their organisation that provides financial and creative support for women and gender-expansive non-fiction directors. “We don’t need to prove that documentaries we support will make millions of dollars. Our goal is to support independent filmmakers to tell stories we feel reflect the complexity, diversity and social justice struggles of the world we live in,” Wolfson underlines.

Each year, Cannes Docs partners with a number of institutions and organizations from different parts of the world to showcase curated selections of docs-in-progress at finalization stage, aiming to hit the circuit within a few weeks or months. These showcases of docs-in-progress are primarily designed for decision makers looking for fresh new titles, in particular festival programmers and sales agents.