Photo: Emma Branderhorst

Branderhorst is one of the six new international filmmakers - alongside Harry Lighton, Joecar Hanna, Saulé Bliuvaité, Mansi Maheshwari and Oliver McGoldrick - welcomed to this session. From March 16 to July 31, 2026, they will reside in Paris, where they will take part in an intensive programme focused on developing the screenplay for their first or second feature film. The residency combines personalized screenwriting with a collective programme of meetings with industry professionals.

Each year, La Résidence du Festival de Cannes welcomes twelve promising filmmakers, split across two sessions of four and a half months. Since its creation, the programme has supported more than 250 filmmakers from around sixty countries and has helped launch the careers of many directors who are now regulars at major international festivals.

On her selection, Branderhorst said:

"Writing can be a strangely lonely part of filmmaking. Especially when you’re translating something deeply personal, a friendship break-up, into scenes that actually work. Joining La Résidence in Paris means I don’t have to do that in isolation. Being surrounded by other filmmakers in the same phase gives me a space to be vulnerable in the work ; to test form, clarify the character arcs and bring this idea from instinct to screenplay."

Based in Amsterdam, Branderhorst is known for her intimate, character-driven films that explore social dynamics from a distinctly female perspective. Her short films Under the Skin, Spotless (Crystal Bear winner) and My Mother and I were all selected for the Berlinale, where she also participated in Berlinale Talents this year.

Alongside her fiction work, she directed the Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning short Piece of Me and regularly creates narrative-driven commercials across Europe. She is currently developing her debut feature This Will Not End Well. SEE NL previously spoke to Branderhorst about her selection for Berlinale Talents and her debut feature project. You can read the interview here.

Find out more about Festival de Cannes 2026 here.