Carine Tardieu’s ‘All The Little Live Things’ Takes Home the Top Prize at Cannes Investors Circle
Carine Tardieu’s film All The Little Live Things has won the prestigious top prize at the Marché du Film’s Cannes Investors Circle pitching event, which connects feature film projects with potential financiers and partners.
The filmmakers, Antoine Rein and Fabrice Goldstein from Kare Productions, received the 2026 ArteKino International Prize, valued at €20,000 (approximately $23,000), to help finance the film.
Based on Wallace Stegner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1967 novel of the same name, the film explores a couple grappling with the loss of their son in a surfing accident, set against the social and political turmoil of the era.
Tardieu has relocated the story to the Normandy countryside for her adaptation, with filming set to begin next month. The cast includes Benoît Magimel, Léa Drucker, and Mélanie Thierry.
This recognition comes as Tardieu’s profile continues to rise, following the success of her previous film, The Ties That Bind Us (L’Attachement), which won Best Film and Best Supporting Actress for Vimala Pons at the 2026 French Césars.
The latter film features Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as a solitary woman who becomes entangled in the chaotic lives of young neighbors facing a tragic fate. It premiered at Venice’s Orizzonti sidebar last year.
All The Little Live Things was one of eight projects showcased at the two-day Investors Circle event. Other participating directors included Juho Kuosmanen, who won the Cannes Grand Prix for Compartment No. 6, and Atsuko Hirayanagi, known for Oh Lucy!.
This year’s program also addressed the evolving role of brands in film financing, emphasizing their increasing strategic participation and direct investments in cinema.
The event commenced with a keynote address from Koji Yanai, Group Senior Executive Officer and Board Director at Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., the parent company of Uniqlo. Yanai served as a producer for Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days, which premiered in Competition at Cannes in 2023.
A panel discussion featuring industry leaders—including Rebecca De Pas from Fondazione Prada, Elsa Huisman of 111 Avocats, Philipp Manderla of Red Bull Studios, and Brian Newman of Sub-Genre Media—examined how brands are reshaping financing models and fostering long-term connections with independent cinema.
Full list of projects:
All The Little Live Things
directed by Carine Tardieu (France)
produced by Antoine Rein, Fabrice Goldstein at Kare Productions
CIGHID
directed by Emanuel Pârvu (Romania)
produced by Miruna Berescu at FAMart
Dream Come True
directed by Juho Kuosmanen (Finland)
produced by Jussi Rantamäki at Aamu Film Company, Katrin Pors at Snowglobe
Impunity
directed by Felipe Gálvez (Chile)
produced by Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda at Rei Pictures, Emily Morgan at Quiddity, Alejandra García at Ronda Cine, Sylvie Pialat, Alejandro Arenas at Les Films du Worso.
Montjoie
directed by Noé Debré (France)
produced by Benjamin Elalouf at Moonshaker
The Passenger
directed by Magnus von Horn (Sweden/Poland)
produced by Jan Krüger, Roshanak Khodabakhsh at Port au Prince Films and Mariusz Włodarski at Lava Films
The Returning
directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi (Japan/USA)
produced by Eiko Mizuno-Gray at Loaded Films
Wolfmother
directed by Ismaël El Iraki (Morocco/France)
produced by Alexis Hofmann, Sébastien Onomo at Special Touch Studios
