The Festival de Cannes is to celebrate on May 19th 10 years of the Résidence, created in 2000 to encourage the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers.

To illustrate the action undertaken this last decade, the Festival has invited several of its former residents to come defend their current project: the Iranian Mitra Farahani, the Australian Ben Hackworth, the Korean Kim Hee-Jung, from China, Kit Hui, from Kazakhstan, Abay Kulbayev and the Israeli Noam Kaplan. During the celebrations for the Résidence, actors will perform extracts from their screenplays in the presence of international film professionals.
The meeting is to take place in the Pavillon du CNC, Village International Pantiero.

The role of the Résidence is now internationally renowned: over the past 10 years it has hosted 120 filmmakers from 50 countries. Its originality is in bringing together young and very different filmmakers, from a cultural standpoint, put them to creating a film but also supporting them after their time in Paris is done when needed.

Six young filmmakers, from a huge selection of candidates, are selected for each of the twice yearly sessions. For these winners, the Résidence is a kind of shared laboratory for work and discussion in which they prepare the screenplay of their feature. It is also a place where directors, screenwriters, producers and distributors can meet to discuss the projects being written and advise the participants. The residents are also invited to present their projects at Cannes, Rotterdam or Locarno, and so better prepare the path towards direction and production.

Over time, the films prepared at the Résidence have almost all been made. Many of them have been noticed at major festivals, paving the way for wider distribution in theatres. For example, there is the American Peter Sollett (Long Way Home), the Argentine Lucrecia Martel (The Swamp) or more recently the Lebanese,  Nadine Labaki (Caramel), from China, Xiaolu Guo (She, a Chinese) or the Romanian Corneliu Porumboiu (12 :08 East of Bucharest).