Fund contributors selected to play at Cannes Film Festival

Nine films that paid into the Film Skills Fund have been selected to play at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The renowned festival runs from 13-24 May and will see the film world to the south of France for 11 days of film premieres, awards and the world’s largest industry market.

Competing in the Un Certain Regard competition at the festival are three titles that contributed to the Film Skills Fund. Actor Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut, Urchin, will receive its world premiere, alongside the Nigerian-set family drama My Father’s Shadow and Pillion, a tale of unconventional romance starring Alexander Skarsgård.

Six additional contributing productions will feature as part of the BFI Great 8 selection. The programme aims to showcase the best of new British cinema to the world’s industry and invites international distributors and sales agencies to view work from exciting new voices from the UK.

Among them are Animol (director Ashley Walters), Ish – (dir. Imran Perretta), Learning to Breathe Under Water (dir. Rebekah Fortune), Mission (dir. Paul Wright), Retreat (dir. Ted Evans), The Son and the Sea (dir. Stroma Cairns).

Across the nine films, a total of 22 trainees were welcomed onto production through the ScreenSkills Trainee Finder programme. The new entrant initiative provides paid production placements and tailored training to those taking their first steps into a screen career. There were also placements for three candidates from the Make a Move programme, encouraging on-the-job training for crew members identified by production as ready to move into a more senior role.

Members of the ScreenSkills film team will be at the festival, meeting industry partners and introducing ScreenSkills to a wider audience. Emma Turner, Head of Film, Animation and Future Skills, and Naomi Joseph, Film Team Manager, will be cementing industry ties and forming new connections from the Screen UK Industry Partners Pavillion, co-sponsored by the Film Skills Fund.

We congratulate each of the productions for their selection and wish them luck for their screenings at the festival.