Columbia Filmmakers Head to 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Columbia University will make its mark at the 78th Cannes Film Festival this May with five filmmakers featured in various programs. Two students will present video essays, while alumni and faculty are connected to three films in the official selection.
Barnard student Andrea De Bedout and Columbia College student Gracie Hecht, who both recently participated in Adjunct Assistant Professor Behrang Garakani's "Lab in the Video Essay" course, will present their work at a special event on May 21 at the CNC (Centre National du Cinéma) pavilion in the Cannes Marché. They will be the first Columbia undergraduate students to ever be invited to Cannes.
Their selection comes through “The gleaners and I, revisiting Agnès Varda’s edit,” an innovative initiative by Ciné-Tamaris and Institut National de l'Audiovisuel that gives film students worldwide access to raw footage from Varda's documentary The Gleaners and I. The program, supported by several organizations,* allows students to study Varda's editing techniques and create their own interpretations.
The event will include official speeches from members of the CNC and the INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), Ciné-Tamaris, screenings of student shorts, and a panel discussion. Columbia holds the distinction of being the first university to participate in this innovative program, and with support from both Ciné-Tamaris and Columbia's School of the Arts Undergraduate Film and Media Studies program, Professor Garakani and both students will attend the festival in person.
"I'm incredibly honored to have my work screened at Cannes," said De Bedout, whose DATABASE GLEANING employs a desktop documentary format inspired by Lev Manovich's essay "Database as a Symbolic Form." Hecht's GLEANING REFLECTION takes a different approach, mirroring "Varda's reimagining of the act of gleaning as both a literal and metaphorical process for reclaiming overlooked stories and images," she said.
"It's worth noting that Andrea and Gracie entered my course with no prior experience in editing, video essays, or critical media practices," said Professor Garakani. "They incorporated their newfound knowledge with their prior education in documentary and media studies, philosophy, and personal experiences into what I term 'cinematic scholarship.'"
In the festival's official selection, Cheryl Wang '22 served as music coordinator for Splitsville, screening in the Cannes Premiere section. Directed by Michael Angelo Covino (following his 2019 Cannes selection The Climb), the comedy examines modern relationships through the story of a divorce that disrupts a friend group's dynamics when an open marriage arrangement is revealed. The film stars Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, and Nicholas Braun.
Adjunct Professor Rich Perello executive produced Orwell: 2+2=5, also screening in the Premiere section. Directed by Raoul Peck, this documentary on George Orwell's life and legacy uses archival footage and contemporary imagery to examine how the writer's concepts from 1984 continue to resonate today.
Undergraduate Film alum Dede Gardner (CC '90) produced Bono: Stories of Surrender, directed by Andrew Dominik and screening in the Special Screenings category. The documentary reimagines the U2 frontman's one-man stage show based on his memoir, featuring performances from New York's Beacon Theatre where Bono shares personal stories while performing iconic songs. Gardner, whose producing credits include 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight, continues her acclaimed work with Plan B Entertainment.
The Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival (DIFF), founded by Sola Fasehun '15, will also make an appearance at Cannes, hosting a series of panels, receptions, and mixers from May 18 to 19. DIFF's team includes Columbia Film alums Caroline Parker Boyd '17 (Accessibility Coordinator) and Eric 'Asha' Shahinian '16 (Festival Coordinator). The festival will present encore screenings of 1056 Meters, directed by alum Edwin Ho '18, and Heritage, produced by Fasehun and recipient of a Netflix grant. Both screenings will include filmmaker Q&As followed by networking receptions.
The Cannes Film Festival runs May 13–24, 2025. See the full lineup here.
*The “The gleaners and I, revisiting Agnes Varda’s edit” project is supported by: CNC, INA, Villa Albertine, Netflix, CHANEL, Ola Strøm et YGGDRASIL, Cinémathèque française, Institut Lumière, ArteKino, mk2 Films, The Criterion Collection, Janus Films, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.