Columbia Filmmakers Dazzle at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2025

Cannes Directors' Fortnight recently unveiled their selection for 2025, and several Columbia filmmakers are screening their films at this prestigious independent sidebar to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Directors' Guild. Focused on cutting edge, auteur cinema, this year's Directors' Fortnight will run from May 14 to 24, 2025.

Recent Film alum Arthur Gay ’24 is bringing his stunning short film, When The Geese Flew, to the festival for its world premiere. The film follows main character Cyrus as he risks a desperate bid to prevent his older sister from leaving home, and boasts the involvement of four up-and-coming Film alumni; it was written and directed by Gay, co-written by Rali Chaouni ’24, produced by Laura Ganotis ’23, and shot by Michael Cong ’24. 

"I was lucky enough to make When the Geese Flew with some of my closest friends and fellow students here at Columbia," said Gay. "Since moving here to study, I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to film back home in New Zealand. So, it was a cathartic experience to finally return and bring Laura and Michael with me to work alongside friends and colleagues from the industry there—it felt like two worlds colliding in the best way. Although Rali couldn’t be there in person, he was very much there in spirit."

"This film, more than any other I’ve made in the program, was incredibly tough at times, and it simply wouldn’t exist without the support, encouragement, and creative counsel of my friends and classmates here at Columbia, and my thesis advisor, [Professor of Professional Practice] Eric Mendelsohn, who stood by me the whole way. It truly means the world—and it feels extra special to now have the chance to give it its world premiere at Cannes Directors' Fortnight this year. It’s a dream come true for me."

Also premiering at the festival is Lucky Lu, a feature adaptation of Director Lloyd Lee Choi’s live-action short Same Old. Produced by Tony Yang ’20, Lucky Lu tells the story of a Chinese delivery driver in New York City who discovers his e-bike has been stolen. With his family en route after many years apart, Lu must contend with a community that has turned its back on him while he tries to replace the only thing promising to keep his family afloat

The closing film for the event is Eva Victor’s Sundance Hit and feature debut, Sorry, Baby—a frank, funny and tender spin on the female ‘traumedy’ following a New England academic gradually recovering from a sexual assault. The film’s Post Production Supervisor, Film alum Joshua M. Cohen ’14, contributed to a film that has already garnered high critical acclaim.

Launched by the French Directors’ Guild in 1969 in the wake of the student and labor protests that disturbed—and shut down—the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, Directors' Fortnight is a highly regarded independent sidebar that brings together short, medium- and feature-length films, fiction and nonfiction, live-action and animation alike, running parallel to the main festival in Cannes.

Fortnight artistic director Julien Reijl reflected in a press statement, “The 57th edition of the Fortnight is pluralist, mixed, rich in discoveries. It celebrates a cinematic liveliness that is invaluable and more essential than ever, even as directors and producers are finding it increasingly difficult to finance their project. It stands with directors the world over in the fight against the homogenisation, the commodification and thus the neutralisation of cinema. We are pleased to share with you a lineup that honours the art of mise en scene and the desire and generosity of the auteurs.”

See a full lineup of the films here.