The Festival de Cannes and the Directors' Fortnight have unveiled their Official Selections, with three projects from the Marché du Film's Investors Circle program — Gentle Monster by Marie Kreutzer, Coward by Lukas Dhont and Death Has No Master by Jorge Thielen Armand.
Gentle Monster and Coward already hold a special connection to Cannes, having been two of the ten projects exclusively pitched at the 2025 Investors Circle — the Marché’s prestigious initiative connecting private investors with high-end film projects — and are now selected in Competition.
Building on this momentum, a project from the 2024 Investors Circle, Death Has No Master has also gone on to be selected for the 2026’s Directors’ Fortnight.
Together, these achievements highlight the growing impact of the Investors Circle as a key driver of ambitious, internationally oriented cinema, facilitating early-stage financing through curated meetings and tailored pitching sessions.
In particular, the program’s ArteKino International Prize (€20,000) was awarded last year to Marie Kreutzer and her producers Alexander Glehr & Johanna Scherz (Film AG Produktions GmbH) for Gentle Monster, further supporting the film’s financing strategy.
“The Investors Circle program was extremely efficient for us because, during the event, we immediately connected with the exact investors who are open to a project like ours,” said Glehr. “It was one of the most important elements in our financing process.”
The presence of all three projects across the Festival’s and Directors’ Fortnight’s Official Selections underscores the program’s ability to identify and support standout projects with strong artistic ambition and international appeal.
The Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes opens its doors on 12 May 2026, with the film market running until 20 May and the Festival concluding its activities on 23 May.
The Investors Circle program is organized by the Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA.