Cannes Showcase 2025
Rachel Close wins the Chicken & Egg Vision Award with SOMETHING FAMILIAR
CIRCLE returned to Cannes Docs for the sixth consecutive year presenting four bold, intimate works-in-progress by alumnae of the program.
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Something Familiar by Rachel Close was presented with the Chicken & Egg Vision Award, highlighting a filmmaker whose film offers a creative vision and the potential to create change. The Award includes a $5,000 cash prize, one year of mentorship, and AlumNest membership.​
This year’s projects included award-winning international filmmakers such as seasoned director and producer Mina Keshavarz (The Art of Living in Danger, Profession: Documentarist and Phobos made in association with the Wim Wenders Foundation), feature directing debut from Anna Khazaradze (producer of the recently-awarded 9 Month Contract at CPH:DOX) and newcomers Ramona Mos and Rachel Close (whose producers respectively include the multi-award-winning Fünfer Films from Germany and Manifest Film from Romania).
More info about 2025 CIRCLE Docs-in-Progress here.​
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BERLINER
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Directed by: Anna Khazaradze (Georgia)
Produced by: 1991 Productions (Georgia)​
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Developed through CIRCLE 2023​
Nana, a Georgian translator based in Berlin, serves as a bridge for asylum seekers, helping them share their stories through translation and navigate the challenges of starting a new life.
DEAR
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Directed by: Ramona Mos (Germany/Norway)
Produced by: Fünfer Film (Germany) and Stray Dogs (Norway)
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Developed through CIRCLE 2021​
Ramona’s personal story of a six-year journey with her mother and close friends on an ever changing and seemingly never-ending road of courage, despair and resilience. As they lift each other up in the most dire moments, their journey turns into a struggle for justice and the efforts to preserve their own reality and solidarity pulls them back from despair.
HOPE AGAINST HOPE
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Directed by: Mina Keshavarz (Norway/France)
Produced by: MinDoc Film Production, FolkFilms (Norway) and Ici et La Production (France)
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Developed through CIRCLE 2024​
Spanning a quarter of a century, Hope Against Hope is the filmmaker’s own story and an intimate look at how political and social conflicts shape us.
SOMETHING FAMILIAR
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Directed by: Rachel Close (Romania/UK)
Produced by: Manifest Film (Romania) and My Accomplice (UK)
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Developed through CIRCLE 2022
While trying to help a fellow adoptee find her birth mother, British-Romanian filmmaker Rachel delves back into her own family story looking for healing and closure. Launching an international search for her missing sisters, she unearths a tragic legacy of abuse and exploitation. Can she harness the creative power of self-authorship to interrogate the ghosts of her past and write a new script for her future?
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PROJECTS HEAD OVER TO VARIETY!
CIRCLE@CANNES
The past editions of the showcase were marked by great successes, establishing a track record for identifying breakthrough documentaries. Previous selections include Lin Alluna’s Twice Colonized, which won the top prize at Docs-in-Progress 2022 before premiering at Sundance and opening both CPH:DOX and Hot Docs; Maja Prelog’s Cent’anni, winner of the 2021 Docs-in-Progress award; and Anna Nemet’s Beauty of the Beast, which received the Nordisk Panorama Award in 2020. Other notable alumni include Maka Gogaladze’s Ever Since I Knew Myself, which was awarded at Cannes Docs 2023 and premiered in the Burning Lights Competition at Visions du Réel 2024, Fan Wu's XiXi that premiered in 2024 Hot Docs International Competitionand, and Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc’s Tata, which debuted at TIFF in 2024 before screening and winning awards at festivals worldwide.
