Launched in 2022 as an initiative by filmmaker Alice Diop, the Ideal Cinematheque of the World’s Suburbs (CIBM) is led by Ateliers Médicis (Clichy-Montfermeil) in partnership with the Centre Pompidou. It offers a critical reflection on the representation of so-called peripheral territories and of populations often rendered invisible or typecast in cinema history.

Following an initial exploratory phase, the CIBM is launching the second edition of its New Writing Grant in 2025 — a creative support program for young emerging artists, writers, and filmmakers. Its goal: to foster the emergence of new cinematic languages, free from conventional or dominant forms, and to give rise to alternative narratives in film.

The grant supports a decentered and plural vision of cinema history by backing projects that offer sensitive, critical, poetic, or documentary perspectives on the world’s suburbs. It provides grantees with writing support, artistic guidance, resources, and time in residence.

This program is part of a broader political and artistic approach aimed at challenging dominant aesthetic norms, broadening the scope of contemporary film production, and giving real visibility to underrepresented authors and voices.

Target audience:
Young artists, filmmakers, videographers, and writers engaged in contemporary forms of visual storytelling.

By supporting the second edition of this grant, the Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund reaffirms its commitment — helping the project reach a new stage of growth, both in substance and in the eyes of the world.