Cannes 2025: Samuel Kircher Stars in Acclaimed Drama at Directors’ Fortnight!

The Directors’ Fortnight 2025 has wrapped up its events. This non-competitive section of the Cannes Film Festival has given out its traditional labels and, for the second year in a row, an audience award.

Iraqi director Hasan Hadi is now the second recipient of the audience award at the Croisette, across all categories, with his drama “The President’s Cake”. The film tells the story of Lamia, a 9-year-old girl tasked with the daunting job of baking a cake for the president’s birthday. Her journey to gather ingredients, along with her friend Saeed, disrupts her everyday life in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

Awards at the Directors’ Fortnight 2025

• Audience Award: The President’s Cake by Hasan Hadi

• SACD Award: La Danse des renards by Valéry Carnoy

• Europa Cinemas Label: La Danse des renards by Valéry Carnoy

Another standout film at the 57th edition of the Directors’ Fortnight was “La Danse des renards” by Valéry Carnoy. In this French drama, Samuel Kircher plays Camille, a gifted young boxer at a sports academy.

He is miraculously saved from a fatal accident by his best friend Matteo. While doctors believe he has recovered, an unexplained pain gradually overtakes him, putting his dreams of greatness at risk.

The Directors’ Fortnight 2025 also featured emotionally powerful opening and closing films. The opening film was the posthumous work “Enzo” by Laurent Cantet.

This was the last film written by Laurent Cantet, co-authored with his longtime collaborator Robin Campillo, who passed away in April 2024. Filmmaker Robin Campillo (known for “120 Beats Per Minute” and “The Red Island”) took over the project and directed it.

The Directors’ Fortnight concluded with a significant and moving film that made waves at the last Sundance Festival. “Sorry, Baby” is the debut feature of Eva Victor, titled “Something Happened to Agnes.” As the world moves on without her, her friendship with Lydie remains a precious sanctuary. Amidst laughter and silence, their enduring bond offers a glimpse into what comes next.

What is the Directors’ Fortnight?

For a bit of background, the Directors’ Fortnight (formerly known as Directors’ Fortnight) was established in 1969. It is organized annually by the Society of Film Directors (SRF) to showcase global cinema without censorship or competition during the Cannes Film Festival.

Independent from the official competition, the Directors’ Fortnight supports filmmakers by providing them an unfiltered and unrestricted platform for exposure to the public and critics. This section is known for discovering new talents and future great filmmakers from around the world, who are often overlooked at major international festivals.

For the 2025 edition – the third under the supervision of General Delegate Julien Rejl – more than 1,600 feature films were viewed by the selection committee (specifically 1,605, in a particularly “sporting” timing, as nearly half of the films arrived after March 15!).

Julien Rejl highlighted the high quality of the films received and the challenges of selecting only 18 feature films from a cinema “ahead of its time”. “The global creative output is evident, and this selection proves it,” he noted.

The Cannes Film Festival 2025 takes place from May 13 to May 24, 2025.

The selection will travel throughout France after the festival, starting June 11, 2025, with previews in partner cinemas under the program “Directors’ Fortnight on Tour”.