2027 Annual Selection

Projects must be submitted online

Each applicant creates an account giving access to an online portal dedicated to submitting their project. Once created, this portal allows applicants to submit, amend and save the required information from the opening to the closing of the call for proposals.

It is recommended that you create your account as soon as possible so that you can familiarise yourself with the details provided in the online portal.

PLEASE NOTE
Each author may submit only one project.
A project may not be submitted more than three times to the Annual Selection.
Furthermore, a project that has already been submitted may be resubmitted provided that it has been significantly revised since the last submission and that an explanatory note is included: why the project is being resubmitted, and what changes have been made since the last submission.

Selection

The selection of the winning projects takes place in three stages:

• A shortlisting process involving around ten audiovisual professionals is organised: at this stage, applications are assessed primarily in the context of “Tell Me”, as well as on the basis of previous works for directors, or the screenwriter’s track record.
  Around thirty projects are shortlisted for the final jury. The results of the shortlisting process are communicated to the authors by email in January/February.

• A final panel comprises six professionals from the audiovisual sector: here, the projects are assessed in their entirety. This final panel draws up a shortlist of around ten projects.

• The authors concerned are invited to an online meeting and interview with the Groupe Ouest team. The final result is communicated to the authors by email at the end of February.

In both the shortlisting and final selection stages, authors may not request an explanation as to why their projects were not selected

Items to be submitted via the online portal :

All the documents to be submitted can be found on the submission platform; we recommend that you create an account on this platform to view them.

• a summary (a few lines)

• a synopsis (3 pages max)

• a film project proposal (max. 1 page)

• a moodboard (optional)

• a 5-minute “Tell me” (more details)

• A short biography

• a filmography including links to watch the films

  • You are leading this project as a director:
    Please include links to your film(s) – short or feature-length – fiction, documentary, animation or live-action – that demonstrate your directorial style. If you have directed both fiction and documentary films, please provide us with access to one of your fiction films.

  • You are submitting this project as a screenwriter:
    Describe the experiences that have shaped you, the passion that drives you as a screenwriter, and explain your vision of cinema (2 pages max).
    In addition, please include links to videos so that the jury can view the films you have written.

Calendar

Dates of group work sessions at the Groupe Ouest:

• session #1 : April (six days)

• session #2 : June (six days)

• session #3 : November (six days)

Online working sessions will take place between the residential weeks and will be scheduled at a later date.

Terms and Conditions of Participation

The Groupe Ouest Annual Selection enjoys a strong reputation within the film industry in France and abroad for its coaching programme for filmmakers in residence. Thanks to the Groupe Ouest’s artistic and financial support, the winning filmmakers receive guidance that helps bring their feature-length fiction film projects to fruition.

If selected, the winning authors undertake to comply with the following provisions:

Groupe Ouest wishes to reaffirm its humanist values – a principle of mutual support, a fundamental connection with the local area, its residents and its volunteers. As such, the award-winning writers in residence at Groupe Ouest undertake to participate in the proposed collective programme, to make themselves available to achieve the writing objectives set throughout the support process, and to stay in Plounéour-Brignogan-Plages during the collective working sessions.

Groupe Ouest is also a laboratory for narrative creation, where new methods are explored with a view to deepening and intensifying the development of cinematic narratives. By joining the Annual Selection, the winning writers commit to taking part in this collaborative working process, to experimenting with tools and methods that may diverge from traditional screenwriting development processes, and to approaching whatever emerges from this exploration with curiosity and an open mind.

Groupe Ouest’s commitment, its willingness to take risks and its support for projects selected for the Annual Selection are made possible by its public-interest mission in support of artistic creation.

In this regard, when the selected films go into production, with a view to aligning the specific interests of these films with the general interests of the Groupe Ouest, so as to ensure the long-term viability of the Annual Selection scheme, the winning filmmakers undertake to make a contribution to the Groupe Ouest. This will enable new filmmakers to be trained under similar conditions and to the same standard as that from which they themselves have benefited. The terms of this contribution are set out as follows:

• A fixed amount of €6,000.00 (six thousand euros) to be paid on the first day of filming

If the selected project is not made, no financial contribution will be due.

One of the tools used at Groupe Ouest is called “Tell me”. The aim is for the writer to use it to define as precisely as possible both the spirit and the driving force behind their film project, and to immerse us in their world. It is also a way for the filmmaker to convey the unfolding of the narrative to us in a form other than the written word. This element is essential for the jury members to grasp “what you are striving for”. The “Tell me” is not a statement of intent but rather a tool for capturing the narrative as it currently stands.

The aim is not to produce a perfect video, nor is it a promotional tool; rather, it is to capture a “snapshot” of your project at a specific moment in time to pinpoint the heart and essence of the film you have in mind. That is why it is so important that you do not simply read from a script prepared in advance, but that you make the effort to throw yourself into the experience of telling the story as if you were speaking to someone sitting right in front of you.

Here’s a video of Antoine Le Bos, Founder and artistic director of Groupe Ouest, to give you a bit more background on this key tool : https://vimeo.com/373422811 / password : raconte-moi

We offer you a guide to the points to be covered:

Set the scene (where, when…)
Introduce us to the character(s) at the heart of the story
What happens to them? What do they go through? What difficulties do they face?
The outcome you envisage at this stage
Through this experience, what do the protagonist(s) discover?
Finally, in a few words, what is the message you, as the filmmaker, wish to convey through this film?

A few practical points:

Long take facing the camera
5-minute video
.mov or .mp4 format

Eligibility criteria

At which festivals must at least one of my previous films have been selected for my project to be eligible for the Annual Selection?

The previous film(s) must have been selected for the competition at one of the Category 1 festivals included on the CNC’s list.

List of the French festivals concerned

Aix-en-Provence — Tout Courts Festival
Alès — Itinérances Festival
Alpe d’Huez — International Comedy Film Festival
Angers — Premiers Plans Festival
Annecy — Animation Film Festival
Aubagne — International Film Festival
Belfort — Entrevues Festival
Brest — European Short Film Festival
Brive — Brive Mid-Length Film Festival
Cannes — International Film Festival / Directors’ Fortnight / International Critics’ Week
Clermont-Ferrand — International Short Film Festival
Créteil — International Women’s Film Festival
Douarnenez — Film Festival
Gardanne — Autumn Film Festival
Gérardmer — International Fantasy Film Festival
Grenoble — Open-Air Short Film Festival
Lille — Audiovisual Encounters
Marseille — International Documentary Film Festival (FID)
Meudon — Comedy Short Film Festival
Montpellier — International Mediterranean Film Festival
Pantin — International Short Film Festival
Paris — Cinéma du réel / Paris Courts Devant
Strasbourg — European Fantasy Film Festival
Villeurbanne — Short Film Festival

List of international festivals

Berlin — Berlinale
Dresden — Dresden Film Festival
Oberhausen — Oberhausen Film Festival
Hamburg — Hamburg Film Festival
Mannheim — Mannheim Film Festival
Stuttgart — Stuttgart Trickfilm
Leeds — Leeds Film Festival
Melbourne — Melbourne Film Festival
Sydney — Sydney Film Festival
Brussels — Oh, ce court !
Namur — Namur Festival
Brussels — Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival
Brussels — Brussels Animation Festival (Anima)
Ouagadougou — Fespaco
Rio de Janeiro — Rio de Janeiro Festival
Rio de Janeiro — Anima Mundi – International Animation Film Festival
Ottawa — Ottawa Festival
Toronto — Toronto Film Festival
Montréal — Montréal Nouveau Cinéma
Montréal — Fantasia International Film Festival
Ottawa — Ottawa International Animation Festival
Busan — Busan International Film Festival
Zagreb — Zagreb Animation Festival (Animafest)
Odense — Odense Film Festival
Copenhagen — Copenhagen International Film Festival (CPH)
Edinburgh — Edinburgh International Film Festival
Bilbao — Bilbao Film Festival
Barcelona — Alternativa
Valencia — Valencia’s Festival
Valladolid — Valladolid Film Festival
Sitges — Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival
Palm Springs — Palm Springs International Film Festival
Sundance — Sundance Film Festival
Aspen — Aspen Independent Film Festival
Cleveland — Cleveland Film Festival
New York — Tribeca Film Festival
Rhode Island — Rhode Island International Film Festival
Tampere — Tampere Film Festival
Drama — Drama Film Festival
Tehran — Tehran Film Festival
Cork — Cork Film Festival
Rome — Arcipelago
Venice — Venice Film Festival
Siena — Siena Film Festival
Hiroshima — Hiroshima International Animation Festival
Sapporo — Sapporo Film Festival
Tokyo — Tokyo International Film Festival (Short Shorts)
Rotterdam — Rotterdam International Film Festival
Kraków — Kraków Film Festival
Espinho — Cinanima
Vila do Conde — Vila do Conde Film Festival
Lisbon — Lisbon Film Festival (IndieLisboa)
Lisbon — Lisbon International Documentary Film Festival (Doclisboa)
Saint Petersburg — Saint Petersburg Film Festival
Uppsala — Uppsala Film Festival
Geneva — Cinéma Tout Écran
Locarno — Locarno Film Festival
Kyiv — Molodist

Are documentary film projects eligible?

No. Documentary film projects are not eligible for the Annual Selection.

Are animated film projects eligible?

Yes. Animation projects are welcome, provided they are feature films.

Do you have to be French to apply?

No. There are no nationality requirements for applying to the Annual Selection.

However, applicants must be able to write and express themselves in French.

The film may be set in any country and in any language: the film’s final language does not need to be French.

At what stage of development should my project be?

Do I need to have a production to apply for the Annual Selection?

The Annual Selection is open to authors, screenwriters and directors, whether or not they are working with a producer.

Being already affiliated with a production company is not a criterion for eligibility.

Can I submit more than one project?

No. Each author may submit only one project to the Annual Selection.

Can I apply with a project that was already submitted in a previous edition?

Yes. The same project may be submitted up to a maximum of three times to the Annual Selection.

However, if you resubmit a project that has already been submitted, it must have been significantly revised since the previous submission.

You will also need to attach a short note explaining the reasons for this new submission and the main changes made to the project since the last submission.

Is it possible to apply as a pair?

Yes. It is possible to apply as a pair, for example: 

• two writer-directors;
• a director and a screenwriter;
• two co-writers

In this case, one person must be designated as the project lead. The other person must be listed in the field provided for the co-author.

Both people undertake to take part in all three sessions of the programme. It is therefore preferable, where possible, to complete the application form together, to write the required documents as a pair, and to carry out the ‘Raconte-moi’ activity as a pair.

Applications are limited to a maximum of two people: it is not possible to apply as a group of three or more.

Several co-authors are working on my project: do we all have to meet the eligibility criteria?

No. It is sufficient for at least one of the co-authors to meet the eligibility criteria for the project to be submitted.

My film is an adaptation of a pre-existing work: do I need to have signed a rights assignment agreement at the time of registration?

No. It is not necessary to have signed a rights assignment agreement at the time of submitting the application.

However, the author must have a letter of consent from the publisher or the holders of the adaptation rights, authorising them to develop their project.

Documents to be included in the application

How do I submit my project?

Each candidate must create an account on the application platform : https://project-legroupeouest.festicine.fr/fr/logout

This account gives you access to a personal area dedicated to submitting your project.

Once your account has been created, you will be able to upload, edit and save the various required documents until the call for proposals closes.

We recommend that you create your account well in advance so that you can familiarise yourself with the guidelines and further details available on the platform before you begin your application.

I am a writer-director: do I need to provide both a writer’s note and an extract from a previous project?

No. If you are applying as a writer-director, simply send us the synopsis, the director’s statement and the mood board (optional).

How long should my “Raconte-moi” be?

The ‘Raconte-moi’ video should be as close as possible to 5 minutes.

A video lasting 4 minutes 07 seconds or 5 minutes 46 seconds is perfectly acceptable. However, a video lasting 8 minutes will be considered too long, and one lasting 2 minutes too short.

We therefore ask you to keep the duration as close as possible to the recommended 5 minutes.

The selection process

How are the eight winning projects selected?

The selection process takes place in three stages.

Stage 1 — Pre-selection (late January)

Around ten audiovisual professionals review the applications.

At this stage, the project is assessed primarily on the basis of the ‘Raconte-moi’, as well as:

• links to previous projects for the directors;
• the screenwriter’s notes for screenwriters.

When are the results announced?

The successful candidates are announced in March.

At each stage of the selection process, an email is sent to candidates to inform them whether they have been shortlisted for the next stage or not.

When are the three residency sessions taking place?

The exact dates have not yet been finalised.

As is the case every year, the three sessions will take place:

• session #1 : April (six days)
• session #2 : June (six days)
• session #3 : November (six days)

Online working sessions will take place between the residency weeks and will be scheduled at a later date.

The final dates will be communicated to the finalists only.

Can I get a feedback if my project isn’t selected?

No. Projects that are not selected cannot be assessed on an individual basis. This rule applies to both the pre-selection stage and the final selection stage.

Participation and fees

Is there a fee to take part in the Annual Selection?

No. There are no charges for accommodation, meals or educational support as part of the Annual Selection process.
However, participants are responsible for their own travel costs to attend the sessions.

Is a financial contribution required if the film is produced?

Yes. When a selected project goes into production, the winning filmmakers undertake to pay a contribution to Groupe Ouest.
This contribution helps to ensure the scheme’s long-term viability and enables Groupe Ouest to continue supporting new filmmakers under similar conditions.
The amount of this contribution is set at €6,000, to be paid on the first day of filming.
If the selected project does not ultimately go ahead, no financial contribution is due.