The Cannes Film Festival‘s ACID sidebar, run by France’s independent cinemas’ association l’ACID , unveiled its 2025 line-up on Tuesday, with the section kicking off with The Adventura (L’aventura), a French family drama from actor/director Sophie Letourneur, starring Letourneur and Philippe Katerine as the parents of small children who go on a summer road trip to Italy.
ACID’s 2025 drama lineup also includes Drunken Noodles, from U.S.-based Argentinian director Lucio Castro, a feature loosely inspired by the life of artist Sal Salandra; The Black Snake from French filmmaker Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux, about a man who, after years of absence, returns to the Colombian Tatacoa Desert to the bedside of his dying mother; Laruent in the Wind from directors Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture, and Mattéo Eustachon, about a 29-year-old searching for the meaning in his life; the crime drama Entroncamento from Portuguese director Pedro Cabeleira; and Finnish film A Light That Never Goes Out from director Lauri-Matti Parppei, starring Samuel Kujala as a classical flutist with a perfectionist streak who returns to his small hometown after suffering a breakdown.
Documentaries featured in ACID this year include Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk from Iranian-French director Sepideh Farsi, about life in Gaza during the Israeli military campaign, captured through Farsi’s video calls with a young woman in Gaza; Namir Abdel Messeeh’s Life After Siham, an investigation into her own family history, which moves between France and Egypt; and Sylvain George’s Nuit Obscure – Ain’t I A Child, about Moroccan teenagers living on the streets of Paris.
Launched in 1992, ACID prides itself on discovering up-and-coming directing talents and has championed the likes of Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg), Radu Jude (Bad Luck Banging, Or Looney Porn) early in their careers.
ACID 2025 Program
The Adventura (L’Aventura), Dir. Sophie Letourneur
The Black Snake (La Couleuvre Noire), Dir. Aurélien Vernhes -Lermusiaux
Drunken Noodles, Dir. Lucio Castro
Entroncamento, Dir. Pedro Cabeleira
Laurent in the Wind (Laurent Dans Le Vent), Dirs: Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture, Mattéo Eustachon
Life After Siham, Dir. Namir Abdel Messeeh
A Light That Never Goes Out, Dir. Lauri-Matti Parppei
Nuit Obscure – Ain’t I A Child?, Dir. Sylvain George
Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk, Dir. Sepideh Farsi
