Program details

Key Dates: 14-15 May 2026

Access: Marché du Film badge holders

Main Venue: Press Conference Room (Palais -3)

Target Audience: Publishers, Producers

This year’s Shoot the Book! Pitches Selection explores identity through psychological drama across genres like thriller, crime, action, and dystopia, blending powerful storytelling with social depth. It features a bold, international lineup of books from France, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Taiwan, and Mongolia, all chosen for their strong screen potential.

Producers can join the two-day event on 14-15 May, co-organized with SCELF, with live pitches and curated one-on-one meetings with publishers and rights holders.


Find out more about the 2026 Pitches Selection!

Projects

Shoot the Book!

In The Eye of The Wild

Category: Shoot the Book! Selection

Genre: Psychological Drama, Testimonial

Format: Novel

Language: French

Original Title: Croire aux fauves

Company: Gallimard | France

Synopsis:

A story of a hand-to-hand encounter between a bear and an anthropologist in Kamtchatka. The anthropologist gets out partly disfigured but also transfigured: it is a kind of rebirth.

Author: Nastassja Martin

Shoot the Book!

Looking for Bono

Category: Shoot the Book! Selection

Genre: Dark Comedy

Format: Novel

Language: English

Original Title: Looking for Bono

Company: Jacaranda | UK

Synopsis:

One man’s absurd quest to find U2’s Bono spirals into a darkly hilarious takedown of aid culture, personal ambition, and the spin of international goodwill.

Author: Abidemi Sanusi

Shoot the Book!

Sankara

Category: Shoot the Book! Selection

Genre: Historical, Psychological Drama

Format: Novel

Language: English

Original Title: Sankara

Company: Blue Ocean Press | USA

Synopsis:

A young Mongolian man falsely imprisoned to save his brother survives a Soviet labor camp through education and Buddhism, emerging years later as a filmmaker and cultural icon.

Author: Turu Khan

Shoot the Book!

Superstars

Category: Shoot the Book! Selection

Genre: Chronicles

Format: Novel

Language: French

Original Title: Superstars

Company: Flammarion | France

Synopsis:

Immersed in Parisian nights, Louise drifts between desire, music and emotional uncertainty until love unexpectedly strikes, forcing her to confront what she truly wants, and who she really is.

Author: Ann Scott

Shoot the Book!

The Echo Before Dawn

Category: Shoot the Book! Selection

Genre: Action, Crime

Format: Graphic Novel

Language: Taiwanese

Original Title: Li ming chien te hui sheng

Company: Sense Creative Managment Ltd. | Taiwan

Synopsis:

Two lonely teens from opposing worlds seek solace and connection, but drift into drug addiction. In the darkest corner of their youth, can they find glimmers of compassion and hope?

Author: Lang Chi

Shoot the Book!

The Shadows Tomorrow

Category: Shoot the Book! Selection

Genre: Action/Adventure, Dystopian

Format: Novel

Language: French

Original Title: Demain les ombres

Company: Le bruit du monde | France

Synopsis:

Humans manage to clone Neanderthal babies and enable them to survive. To avoid exposing them to diseases and pollution, they decide to place them in a park, where they become despite themselves the stars of a reality TV show.

Author: Noëlle Michel

Shoot the Book!

The Summer Boy

Category: Shoot the Book! Selection

Genre: Psychological Drama, Suspense, Thriller

Format: Novel

Language: French

Original Title: Un soir d'été

Company: Julliard | France

Synopsis:

In the 1980s, on an island off the coast of France, six teenagers come together for a summer of desire and discovery until one of them vanishes forever, leaving the rest with an enduring mystery

Author: Philippe Besson

Shoot the Book!

These Blazing Suns

Category: Shoot the Book! Selection

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Format: Novel

Language: French

Original Title: Ces soleils ardents

Company: JC Lattès | France

Synopsis:

Iro is a university student in Abidjan, but the death of his father in their native Ivorian village turns his life upside-down, ultimately bringing revelations. A powerful coming-of-age story.

Author: Nincemon Fallé