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ACID Announces 2025 Cannes Lineup
The ACID section of Cannes has announced its lineup for this year’s edition. From the press release:
ACID (Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion) is a collective of filmmakers who support independent films by giving them greater exposure. Their goal? To help original, daring films reach their audience, both in France and abroad. […] ACID stands out for its unique selection process: filmmakers choose the films they support. Each year, 14 filmmakers see over 600 feature films for the Cannes Film Festival and select 9 of them, to receive invaluable support for their release in theaters and at festivals, both in France and abroad. […] In 2024, ACID screened its films at some 30 festivals in 20 countries, enabling emerging filmmakers to meet professionals from around the world. Many of these films, which do not have a distributor or sales agent when first discovered in Cannes, receive vital exposure to international programmers. To reinforce this impact, ACID supports foreign festivals by paying for travel expenses of the filmmakers whose films are programmed. As a result, more than 150 screenings and meetings are organised each year in cities such as Montreal, Belgrade, Thessaloniki, New York, Hiroshima, Berlin, Cairo, Busan, Tangiers and Porto.
The lineup follows below:
L’Aventura (Opening night film)
Sophie Letourneur
with Philippe Katerine, Sophie Letourneur, Bérénice Vernet, Esteban Melero
5th feature film fiction – 100 min – France – 2025
Production: Tourne Films & Atelier de Production
International sales: Best Friend Forever
French distribution: Arizona Distribution
Press: Chloé Lorenzi
Summer holidays. Sardinia, Italy. A family (road) trip. Claudine, soon to be 11 y.o., tells the story of their adventures as they go along. When Raoul, her 3-y.o. brother, doesn’t bother her…
The Black Snake [La Couleuvre Noire]
Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux
with Alexis Tafur, Miguel Ángel Viera, Angela Rodríguez, Laura Valentina Quintero, Virgelina Gil
2nd feature film fiction – 86 min – France, Colombia, Brazil – 2025
Production: Dublin Films
Co-production: Burning & Vulcana Cinema
After years of absence, Ciro is back in the Colombian Tatacoa desert, at the bedside of his dying mother. As he confronts those he has abandoned and an age-old legacy, the last guardians of the desert prowl a land as sublime as it is fragile.
Drifting Laurent [Laurent Dans le Vent]
Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture, Mattéo Eustachon
with Baptiste Pérusate, Béatrice Dalle, Djanis Bouzyani, Thomas Daloz, Monique Crespin, Suzanne Debaecque
2nd feature film fiction – 110 min – France – 2025
Production: Mabel Film
International Sales: Best Friend Forever
French distribution: Arizona Distribution
Press: Chloé Lorenzi
Laurent, 29 years old, is looking for meaning in his life. He ends up in a deserted ski resort in the off-season and quickly blends into the surprising lives of its few locals. When the tourists arrive with winter, Laurent can’t leave anymore…
Drunken Noodles
Lucia Castro
with Laith Khalifeh, Ezriel Kornel, Matthew Risch, Joel Isaac
3rd feature film fiction – 82 min – USA, Argentina – 2025
Production: Alsina 427
Adnan, a young art student, arrives in New York City to flat-sit for the summer. He’s interning at a gallery where an unconventional older artist he once encountered is being exhibited. As moments from his past and present begin to intertwine, a series of encounters — both artistic and erotic — open cracks in his everyday reality.
Entroncamento
Pedro Cabeleira
with Ana Vilaça, Cleo Diára, Rafael Morais, Tiago Costa, Sérgio Coragem, André Simões, Henrique Barbosa
2nd feature film fiction – 131 min – Portugal, France – 2025
Production: OPTEC Filmes — Sociedade Óptica Técnic
Co-production: Kometa Films
Escaping a turbulent past, Laura takes refuge in Entroncamento to rebuild her life, where she finds a disillusioned youth not so different from herself. Can an honest job compete with the lure of crime? Violence, misfortune, greed, and loyalty rule the streets — everyone wants a better life.
Life after Siham (La vie après Siham)
Namir Abdel Messeeh
2nd feature film documentary – 76 min – France, Egypt – 2025
Production: Oweda Films
International sales: Les Films d’ici, Ambient Light & Redstar
When Siham passed away, Namir didn’t realize that she was gone forever. In a child’s mind, mothers are immortal… To keep her memory alive, Namir delves into his family history across Egypt and France. With the cinema of Youssef Chahine as his companion, a story of exile — and above all, of love — begins to unfold.
A Light That Never Goes Out
Lauri-Matti Parppei
with Samuel Kujala, Anna Rosaliina Kauno, Camille Auer, Kaisa-Leena Koskenkorva
1st feature film fiction – 108 min – Finland, Norway – 2025
Production: Made
Co-production: Goodtime Pictures
International sales: Patra Spanou Film
Successful classical flutist Pauli (29) returns to his small hometown after a breakdown. Reconnecting with old schoolmate Iiris, he is drawn into experimental music. Pauli, who has always sought perfection, is drawn to her chaotic energy and finds comfort in their sonic experiments.
Obscure Night — Ain’t I a Child? [Nuit Obscure — Ain’t I a Child?]
Sylvain George
8th feature film documentary – 164 min – France, Switzerland, Portugal – 2024
Production: NOIRPRODUCTION
Co-production: Alina Film, Kintop
Press: Gloria Zerbinati
Obscure Night traces the path of young exiles through the nights of Paris. Between furtive gestures and vibrant presences, it sketches youth as a power of being, and brings forth, through silence and duration, other ways of inhabiting the world.
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Sepideh Farsi
6th feature film documentary – 110 min – France, Palestine, Iran – 2025
Production: Rêves d’eau Productions
Co-production: 24 images
This film is a window, opened through a miraculous encounter with Fatem. Offering glimpses of the ongoing massacre of the Palestinians. She has become my eyes in Gaza, and I, her connection to the outside world. We have kept this line of life going for almost a year. The bits of pixel and sound that we exchanged have become the film that you see.
