Unifrance’s 10 to Watch initiative, launched in 2014, recognizes rising French film talent — and the org works to boost their visibility beyond France. The 10 artists selected were chosen by a committee of international journalists. The class of 2026 will be spotlighted at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20 at a lunch with the press and a closing dinner on the Unifrance Terrace.
Ugo Bienvenue
An acclaimed animator and cartoonist, Bienvenue conceived his feature debut as a way to imagine a more hopeful tomorrow. Those ideas took shape in “Arco,” a sci-fi fable about a boy from the distant future who rides rainbows through time. The film premiered at Cannes, won Annecy’s top prize, and later triumphed at the Césars and the European Film Awards, while earning an Oscar nomination. Bienvenue is now developing his follow-up with the same expansive vision. “French animation often leaves little room for adventure or spectacle,” he says. “Budgets are smaller than in Hollywood, so people limit themselves. That’s exactly why we must push boundaries.”
Valentine Cadic
As locals fled Paris before the 2024 Olympics began, actor and filmmaker Cadic assembled a small crew and plunged into the city’s frenzy to shoot “That Summer in Paris.” Drawing on her documentary background, she coaxed fiction out of fact, using crowds and active locations as dynamic backdrops for an intimate family drama. The project would later win France’s Louis-Delluc Prize. Cadic will retain that same catch-of-life approach for her next scripted feature, “Lio,” as well as an upcoming documentary exploring Paris’ Bercy arena. She’ll also return to acting in a romantic comedy directed by Anne Le Ny and set in the Père-Lachaise cemetery. “I like to mix make-believe with real life,” Cadic says. “In documentaries, you constantly adapt to the unexpected, so I’m wary of meticulous planning, because the best moments come from surprises.”
