The Argentine filmmaker Federico Luis has been selected to take part in the 49th edition of the Cannes Film Festival Residency, a program that since the year 2000 has supported the careers of more than 250 filmmakers from over sixty countries. Currently directed by Stéphanie Lamome, the initiative brings together in Paris six young directors considered among the most promising emerging talents in world cinema.

Between October 1, 2025, and February 15, 2026, the selected participants will develop their new projects in the French capital, with guidance from tutors, producers, and industry experts. The residency also includes participation in the next edition of the Cannes Film Festival, to be held from May 12 to 23, 2026.

Alongside Federico Luis —winner of the 2024 Critics’ Week Grand Prize for Simón de la montaña— will be Ukrainian filmmaker Maksym Nakonechnyi, who is working on his second feature film after being discovered in the Un Certain Regard section in 2022.

The group is completed by four directors developing their debut features: Alica Bednáriková from Slovakia (Liquid Bread), Laís Santos Araújo from Brazil (Infantaria), Baran Sarmad from Iran (Spotted Yellow), and Dian Weys from South Africa (Vultures).

Since its creation, the Cannes Film Festival Residency has been a springboard for numerous filmmakers who later achieved international recognition. Among its alumni are Lucrecia Martel, Nadine Labaki, Carla Simón, László Nemes, Lukas Dhont, and Wang Bing, among others. More recently, graduates such as Diego Céspedes (The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo), Dea Kulumbegashvili (April), Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light), and Chiang Wei Liang (Mongrel) have further consolidated the prestige of this creative space.