A story-led English resource with read-along audio
For intermediate and advanced English speakers working in or interested in film and the creative industries. These fictional stories are rich in detail from across the film industry, exploring the situations, decisions and challenges people encounter in different areas of the business. They provide a way to develop listening, reading and comprehension skills while becoming more familiar with the language, conversations and some of the realities of working in the industry.
Yuki is heading to Cannes for the first time with her short film. The story follows her experience of navigating the festival as a first-timer, from the questions and uncertainties she has on the journey to meeting her co-producer, arranging meetings and trying to make the most of the opportunity. Along the way, she encounters different perspectives on an experience that can be both exciting and overwhelming.
Practise your reading and listening skills through the conversations and situations that arise as Yuki finds her way through Cannes and the realities of taking a short film to a major international festival.
Audio note: This story uses AI-generated actor voices.
Start with these questions to explore the main choices, pressures and communication challenges in Part One.
Ben explains that people showed genuine interest in his project at Cannes, but the conversations did not eventually lead to a deal or another clear opportunity.
Do you think Ben’s first experience at Cannes was a failure because the project did not progress in the way he hoped?
Go deeper: What else might Ben have gained from going to Cannes, even though the project eventually fell apart?
Think about your own experience: Think of a professional opportunity that did not produce the result you originally wanted. Was the experience still useful in another way?
Ben is returning to Cannes without a particular project to promote. His career has changed, he is considering producing as well as acting, and he wants to reconnect with people he knows.
Why do you think Ben has decided to return to Cannes now?
Go deeper: Do you think attending a major industry event can still be worthwhile when you do not have a specific project to promote? What might Ben hope to gain from the trip?
Think about your own experience: If you attended an industry event without a project to promote, what would make the trip worthwhile for you?
Yuki has received conflicting advice about filling her diary, leaving time for spontaneous meetings, attending parties and avoiding unnecessary events.
Which pieces of advice do you think are genuinely useful for Yuki and her short film? Which advice do you think she should ignore?
Go deeper: If you were advising Yuki before her first Cannes, would you give her any different advice? What would your three priorities be?
Think about your own experience: When you receive conflicting professional advice, how do you decide whose advice to follow?
Ben points out that Yuki has told him a great deal about preparing for Cannes but very little about Maré Baixa. When he asks, she explains the story and where the idea came from.
From what Yuki tells Ben, what do you understand about Maré Baixa? What would you still like to know about the film?
Go deeper: Yuki waits for Ben to ask about her film rather than bringing it into the conversation herself. Do you think she is too reserved about talking about her work, or is this natural when meeting a stranger for the first time? What questions would you ask Yuki to find out more?
Think about your own experience: Choose a real, previous or imagined project. If someone you had just met while travelling to a festival asked you about it, what would you explain first, and what would you save for a longer conversation?
Yuki does not want to treat every meeting as though it could decide her career, but she also does not want to return home feeling that she could have done more.
What do you think a successful week at Cannes would look like for Yuki?
Go deeper: Which results can Yuki control herself, and which depend on other people? Do you think she is putting too much pressure on the festival to create an important career opportunity?
Think about your own experience: Before attending an important professional event, what realistic goals could you set so that success does not depend on one meeting, introduction or outcome?
Ben says that filmmakers now seem expected to generate interest in themselves and their projects online while they are at Cannes. Yuki worries about spending the festival on her phone trying to prove that she is having a successful week.
How important do you think social media and an online profile are for Yuki and her short film while she is at Cannes?
Go deeper: What could Yuki share online that would genuinely support the film or introduce her work to new people? What might become distracting, unnecessary or too performative?
Think about your own experience: Imagine you were promoting a film or creative project during a festival. What would you consider sharing online, and what would you choose not to share?
Ben remembers trying to attend as many parties and events as possible at his first Cannes. Yuki is trying to decide which invitations matter, when to leave space in her diary and whether to start conversations with people she does not know.
Do you think Yuki should plan her networking carefully, or leave more room for spontaneous conversations and unexpected opportunities?
Go deeper: What makes a networking opportunity genuinely useful? How could Yuki decide which events to attend and when it might be worth starting a conversation with someone new?
Think about your own experience: Imagine you had several invitations during a festival and limited time. What information would help you decide where to go and who you might want to meet?
Go further into the film-industry questions raised by the story, from festival support and collaboration to selection, preparation and cost.
Ben thinks Cannes appears more organised than it was during his first visit, with more platforms, more advance planning and different types of access. He also admits that he may simply have been less organised when he was younger.
Which changes do you think are really about Cannes, and which might be the result of Ben being older and more experienced?
Go deeper: How can returning to the same professional environment several years later change the way you understand it?
Think about your own experience: Have you ever returned to an event, organisation or professional situation and experienced it differently? What had changed?
Ben suggests speaking to the Critics’ Week team about press contacts. Yuki also plans to visit the Portuguese and UK pavilions because she hopes they can help her identify journalists, film channels and other useful contacts.
Do you think Yuki is right to ask festival teams and pavilions for help rather than trying to find every contact herself?
Go deeper: What should Yuki try to find out before visiting a pavilion or approaching someone working there? How could she explain what she needs clearly?
Think about your own experience: Imagine you were taking a film to a festival for the first time. What kind of help would you ask a pavilion, festival team or professional organisation for?
Yuki catches herself referring to the project as “my film” and then corrects herself to “our film”.
Why do you think Yuki corrects herself?
Go deeper: When you are representing a collaborative project, how can you talk clearly about your own contribution without giving the impression that the work belongs only to you?
Think about your own experience: Choose a collaborative project you have worked on, or imagine one. How would you explain your role while also recognising the contribution of the rest of the team?
Yuki has spent a great deal of time preparing for Cannes, while Ben describes learning not to force everything he had prepared into every answer or conversation.
How can preparation help Yuki, and when could too much preparation make her conversations less effective?
Go deeper: Imagine that Yuki has prepared several points about herself and Maré Baixa, but the person she meets is interested in something completely different. How could she adapt without forcing her prepared points into the conversation?
Think about your own experience: Choose a real or imagined professional conversation. What are the two or three things you would most like the other person to understand, and which could you leave out if the conversation moved in another direction?
Critics’ Week is organised by the French Union of Film Critics as part of the Cannes Film Festival and includes a selected programme of short films as well as first and second feature films. Yuki’s short film, Maré Baixa, has been selected.
Why do you think being selected for Critics’ Week feels important to Yuki and could matter for the film?
Go deeper: What opportunities could a selection at Cannes create for a short film and its filmmakers? What pressures or expectations might come with that opportunity?
Think about your own experience: If one of your projects received an important professional opportunity, what would you want to find out before deciding how to make the most of it?
Yuki says that even one week in Cannes will make a noticeable dent in her finances. She also explains that Maré Baixa received some funding in Portugal, but that the funding did not cover the full cost of making the film.
How do the financial pressures in the story affect the way you understand Yuki’s opportunity at Cannes?
Go deeper: Why might an important festival selection still create difficult decisions for an independent filmmaker or producer? How could limited money affect the length of the trip, the events they attend or the opportunities they can pursue?
Think about your own experience: Think of a real or imagined professional opportunity that would require you to spend your own money. What would you need to consider before deciding whether the opportunity was worth the cost?
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