Congratulations are in order! Two First Cut Lab supported films premiered at Cannes 2025:

• RENOIR by Hayakawa Chie in Official Selection and in competition for the Palme d’Or.
• THE BLACK SNAKE by Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux, selected in ACID.

First Cut Lab continues to support an increasing number of feature projects, and having two of these films recognized at the world’s biggest film festival is an achievement we are truly proud of.

RENOIR

Suburban Tokyo, 1987. 11-year-old Fuki’s father, Keiji, is battling a terminal illness, and in and out of hospital. Her mother, Utako, is constantly stressed out from caring for Keiji while holding down a full-time job. Left alone with her rich imagination, Fuki becomes fascinated by telepathy and falls ever deeper into her own fantasy world… Renoir participated in First Cut Lab Japan and we would like to extend special thanks to our consultants and advisors who contributed to this film: Consultant Editor Sebastian Sepulveda, Editorial Consultant Wim Vanacker, Industry Advisors Paolo Bertolin, Edward Fletcher and Tatiana Leite.

THE BLACK SNAKE

After years of absence, Ciro is back in the Colombian Tatacoa desert, at the bedside of his dying mother. As he confronts those he has abandoned and an age-old legacy, the last guardians of the desert prowl a land as sublime as it is fragile. The Black Snake was part of First Cut Lab Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Hessen and the same acknowledgements apply to Consultant Editor Sebastian Sepulveda, Editorial Consultant Erica Barbiani, and Industry Advisors Frédéric Boyer, Khalil Joreige and Tatiana Leite.

Learn more projects like RENOIR and THE BLACK SNAKE, check out our more information for workshops above – and stay tuned for the next Japan call very soon!