Actualités

As the 2016 Cinéfondation selection has been unveiled, let’s talk with last year’s prize winners, looking back at the 2015 Festival and what has happened to them since then.

3 questions for Pippa Bianco about her film Share 

How did you react to winning your award at the Festival de Cannes 2015?

It's hard for me to put our experience of being selected into words, let alone the experience of the award. So many of the films and film-makers I admire have been shaped and curated by the Festival, and by Cinéfondation in particular--Annie Silverstein, Reinaldo Green, Jonas Carpignano on the residency programme, or Antonio Campos to name but a few--so it was entirely surreal when we received word of our selection. Arriving in Cannes didn’t make it any more real, the dream simply seemed to continue with each beautiful film we saw. We were very dazed and very humbled when the award ceremony finally arrived, so when the name of the film was announced, I think it just seemed like a continuation of the same dream. 

What has your award brought you?

The selection itself completely changed the trajectory of my work. It's hard for me to describe or quantify what it brought me, as it ranges from a wealth of creative inspiration to awareness and support from new collaborators, or attention and support from investors. The award was a wonderful gift for us all. It did everything, from help my editor receive an O-1 artist visa that allowed him to stay in the US and continue to work with us, to help get the support of grant and residency organisations like Yaddo and the Sundance labs for the feature-length version of the short film (which the same team has been working on together), so that we could complete it and launch the next phase.

Do you have new projects?

Yes, last week we started preparing for the feature-length version of the short film. I never imagined we would be in the position we are in now, let alone so soon. I know we owe this to the incredible support of the Cinéfondation and the entire Cannes Festival.