Five Irish films set to make world premiere at Cannes Film Festival this week

The 77th annual film festival has started today and will last until Saturday.

Andrea Arnold's Bird is in the Official Competition, starring Barry Keoghan and Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Robbie Ryan.

Two films set to premiere at the prestigious festival are projects supported by Screen Ireland - Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice, selected for Official Competition, and Ariane Labed's September Says - selected for Un Certain Regard.

Meanwhile, The Surfer by Irish director Lorcan Finnegan will receive its world premiere in the Midnight Screenings strand.

Rungano Nyoni's On Becoming a Guinea Fowl will screen in Un Certain Regard and Yorgos Lanthimos' latest film Kinds of Kindness is in Official Competition.

Dublin-based Element Pictures have produced three out of five Irish films premiering this week - September Says, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl and Kinds of Kindness.

Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin will travel with the Screen Ireland delegation to Cannes and attend the Marché du Film on Friday.

Ms Martin will meet with international industry stakeholders and promote Ireland and France's recent co-production partnership. This networking event aims for the Irish and French producers to discuss potential project collaborations.

Minister Catherine Martin said: “I would like to extend my congratulations to the creative teams behind the five Irish films that will premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and to Barry Keoghan and Robbie Ryan whose work will also be showcased at the festival."

"The Irish screen industry continues to go from strength to strength and Cannes is an important annual promotional and business platform.

"The Cinematic Co-Production Agreement we signed with France has now come into effect and will support the development of closer working relationships with French producers and production companies,” she added.

Screen Ireland manages the Irish Pavilion at the Marché du Film every year, and supports the delegation of more than 200 Irish producers and filmmakers as they meet with international distributors to sell their films internationally and pitch their projects to potential production partners.

Chief executive of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland Désirée Finnegan said that the Marché du Film provides a "valuable business opportunity for Irish producers and filmmakers".

"The Cannes Film Festival showcases a very strong presence for Irish film this year, and we’re proud to showcase the breadth of Irish film coming to the international market," she added.

The Irish Pavilion is set to promote more than 20 projects currently in the market and those soon coming to the market.

These projects include the animated feature film Niko: Beyond the Northern Lights, the Irish co-production The Damned, the documentary The Flats, and the upcoming Irish-language horror film Fréwaka.