France-based streaming platform Sooner and Critics’ Week have announced a new partnership bolstering the parallel Cannes section’s Next Step program, which supports directors as they move onto their first feature-length film.

The new partnership was announced as the latest round of Next Step participants arrive in Paris for meetings with producers and sales agents about their upcoming projects, following a week-long development workshop in Normandy.

Under the accord, Sooner will sponsor the Next Step Prize, worth €2,500 and including an invitation to the Cannes Film Festival.

Dedicated to independent films and series, Sooner was created out of the merger of French platforms Filmo and Universcine.

“Sooner has a real focus on arthouse cinema and for us it’s very interesting to have a

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