First parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival, the Critics’ Week has contributed since its debuts to discover new directors. Our Selection only presents first and second feature films. Among the talented directors discovered by the Critics’ Week are : Bernardo Bertolucci, Barbet Schroeder, Ken Loach, Wong Kar Waï, Jacques Audiard, Arnaud Desplechin or François Ozon.

Every year, 7 feature films and 7 short films, selected from hundreds of films, compete for the Critics’ Week Top Prize. The Critics’ Week also organizes special screenings (features and shorts panorama), dedicated to new and original productions.

Having suffered for a long time from the highly competitive context of the Cannes Film Festival, the International Critics’ Week has found credibility with the press and the professionals thanks to the quality and the relevance of its Selection.

Some of the most recent films discovered by the Critics’ Week are Amores perros of the Mexican Gonzalez Iñarritu (who recently directed 21 grams), Emanuele Crialese's Respiro with Valeria Golino (more than 600 000 spectators in France), Since Otar left by Julie Bertuccelli, and last year’s revelation Brodeuses by Eléonore Faucher with Ariane Ascaride.
Furthermore, the 2004 Caméra d’Or Award (which rewards the best first feature film presented in the Cannes Film Festival) went to a film presented in our selection: Or (Mon trésor) by Keren Yedaya

There is no use in trying to compete with the Official Selection so even if the International Critics’ Week wants to be open to a large audience within the world’s biggest film festival, it also tries to find its specific place by developing its own strategy in the Cannes Festival context.

As a spot of new talents discovery, we try to support our films after their presentation in Cannes, to help them follow their way to success. That is why we organize reruns of our selection in different cities and countries.

In a context where independent cinema must be supported, and where the new technologies are developing, the International Critics’ Week wants to explore and reveal young film creation.