The Fantastic Pavilion is cementing its position as a leading global hub for genre cinema at Cannes’s Marché du Film, where it returns this year for its fourth edition with an expanded slate of industry initiatives, international partnerships and market-driven programming.
Following its strongest edition to date in 2025 — which drew nearly 4,000 visitors and hosted 23 business deals across production, sales and distribution sectors — the Pavilion is doubling down on its role as a convergence point for the international fantastic film community.
Since launching in 2023, the Fantastic Pavilion has achieved more than 70% growth in attendance while more than doubling its business deal volume and participating sales companies across its first three editions.
In 2025, some 26% of all Marché du Film attendees visited the Pavilion, which hosted 40 film festivals, 47 production companies, 28 sales agents and distributors, four streamers and broadcasters, and 11 film commissions, academic institutions and non-profit organizations.
While describing the initiative as “the house of genre in the Marché,” organizers stress that the Pavilion is not simply an event space but a year-round business ecosystem for fantastic cinema. To that end, a new service is launching this year: The Concierge by the Fantastic Pavilion, working year-round to provide services to all collaborators and clients to fulfill their needs.
Another major addition for 2026 is the Fantastic Pavilion Vertical Cinema Showcase, dedicated to emerging mobile-first storytelling formats and short-form genre content.
The launch of the Fantastic Pavilion Vertical Cinema Showcase reflects the rapidly evolving audiovisual landscape, where digital platforms, social ecosystems and phone-first viewing habits are transforming the way stories are consumed, discovered and circulated internationally. Once viewed as experimental, the vertical 9:16 format has increasingly emerged as a powerful storytelling language capable of connecting with global audiences while preserving strong authorial identity and stylistic ambition.
Debuting inside the Fantastic Pavilion during the Marché du Film, Fantastic Pavilion Vertical Cinema will present an international showcase dedicated to horror, fantasy and science-fiction projects specifically designed for vertical viewing formats.
The inaugural edition will feature creators and projects from more than 15 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, with 12 filmmakers expected to present their works in person during the official showcase.
The initiative also opens the Pavilion to a new generation of creators, content-makers and filmmakers experimenting with mobile-native storytelling and microdramas while connecting them with producers, distributors, platforms and international buyers interested in emerging digital entertainment ecosystems and alternative distribution models.
The Vertical section is intended to become a long-term discovery platform for disruptive genre storytelling and new cinematic grammars, positioning Fantastic Pavilion at the forefront of conversations surrounding the future of short-form and mobile-first audiovisual content, according to organizers.
The expansion of Vertical Cinema also reflects the Pavilion’s growing international alliance strategy. Organizers point to new collaborations with the Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival and the Costa Rica Media Market’s Fantastic Lab initiative as part of a broader push into Latin America and the Caribbean, strengthening pathways for regional talent discovery and circulation.
The Pavilion has also strengthened ties with leading nternational genre organizations and markets, including Fantasia Frontières, Fantastic 7 Sitges and the Méliès International Festivals Federation, while adding new strategic allies including Pressman Film, The Horror Collective and BloodStream.
The event has confirmed the second season of “The Seance,” a genre-focused series presented in collaboration with Collider.com, further expanding the Pavilion’s growing media and industry alliance platform.
Recognizing influential voices whose contributions have helped shape contemporary genre cinema, the event this year honors filmmaker Xavier Gens (“Frontier(s)”, “Cold Skin,” “Under Paris”) with its Keys to the Pavilion Award. Previous recipients include David Cronenberg, Eli Roth, J.A. Bayona, Simon Boswell and Álex de la Iglesia. The accolade has become one of the Pavilion’s defining institutional recognitions for filmmakers and artists working within the global genre landscape, organizers note.
“We created the Fantastic Pavilion as a meeting point where the global genre industry could not only celebrate fantastic cinema, but actively conduct business, discover projects and build long-term collaborations,” said Fantastic Pavilion executive director Pablo Guisa Koestinger. “What we are seeing now is the consolidation of a true international ecosystem for genre film inside Cannes.”
Returning initiatives this year include the third edition of the Genre IP Showcase and the second installment of the Fantastic Round Robin.
One of the Pavilion’s fastest-growing sections, the Genre IP Showcase has increasingly positioned itself as a launchpad for remake opportunities and cross-border adaptation deals. Organizers point to growing industry interest surrounding titles such as “The Coffee Table,” while citing previous showcase titles including “Julia’s Eyes” (produced by Guillermo del Toro) and “Knock Knock” (produced and directed by Eli Roth) as examples of genre properties that continue to generate international remake and adaptation conversations. The 2026 edition will also feature additional projects ranging from cult classics to emerging genre properties.
Among the initiative’s early highlights is “The Turkish Coffee Table” — one of the first breakout success stories to emerge from the Pavilion’s remake and adaptation ecosystem, representing a Turkish adaptation of “The Coffee Table” that achieved a strong international festival run followed by theatrical release, signaling the growing commercial potential of internationally sourced genre IP. Two additional adaptation projects originating from previous Pavilion conversations are currently in development, according to organizers.
The Fantastic Round Robin will also return for its second edition, continuing its focus on connecting emerging genre projects with international companies, financiers, distributors and festival representatives. Projects and participating companies are expected to span territories including Turkey, Mexico, the U.S, Spain, Norway and Poland, underscoring the increasingly international nature of genre financing, co-production and distribution.
The 2026 edition will further expand its industry programming with a series of panels and discussions exploring the evolving state of genre production, IP and representation within the global market.
Among this year’s events is “It’s Alive! Remake, Reboot, Reborn: The Business of Genre IP,” presented by Fantastic Pavilion and Mórbido, which will explore the creative, legal and commercial forces driving the resurgence of genre remakes, reboots and re-imaginings.
Another featured panel, “Women in Genre: Shaping Careers, Opening Doors & Building Power,” presented alongside Yes She Cannes, will bring together directors, festival leaders and distribution executives to discuss mentorship, career-building and collective opportunities for women working across the genre industry, while also presenting selected projects from the Yes She Cannes network.
The 2026 edition will again host the Fantastic Galas, networking events, showcases, industry panels and the third edition of Fantastic Night, the official Cannes genre gathering that has become one of the market’s signature after-hours events.
Additional speakers, panels, screenings and special guests are set to be announced ahead of Cannes.
“What began as a space for community has evolved into an infrastructure for the genre business itself,” added Guisa Koestinger. “Community is still the key, but now that community is generating projects, partnerships, remakes and international opportunities at a scale we had only imagined in the beginning.”
