How French Producers Pieced Together a €1M Budget for a 10-Year Rural Documentary at Cannes

To finance Maxence Voiseux's Directors' Fortnight selection "Gabin," Alter Ego Production had to hack the European grant system and build an international coalition for a hyper-local story.

Shooting a documentary over a decade is a logistical nightmare; financing it is even harder. Gabin, selected for the 58th Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, follows the life of a young boy in rural nort…