Louis Clichy’s ‘Iron Boy’ Wins Cannes Jury Special Mention

Iron Boy is Louis Clichy’s animated feature about Christophe, a boy whose iron brace redirects his life away from his family farm and toward music and friendship. It won the Special Jury Prize in Cann

Louis Clichy’s animated feature 《Iron Boy》 tells the story of Christophe, who wants to take over from his father on the family farm. He begins inexplicably leaning and falling over at school, at the dinner table, and on the tractor. A doctor prescribes an iron corset to straighten his spine, and the boy’s daily life pulls him away from farm work. The film received the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

Time Away from the Farm

For Christophe, the corset is both a restriction and an opportunity to break free from his established role. Unable to help with work on the farm, he becomes absorbed in music and, after meeting Clara, experiences mischief and rebellion for the first time. The device intended to straighten his body instead opens up the possibility of a different life for the boy.

A Hand-Drawn Coming-of-Age Film

The Cannes Film Festival describes the film as an 89-minute French-Belgian co-production. Clichy directed and co-wrote it, with Franck Salomé contributing to the screenplay. Its hand-drawn 2D animation adds texture to the coming-of-age story set in the French countryside of the 1980s.

A Theatrical Release After Cannes

In France, the film was released theatrically under its original title, 《Le Corset》, on October 14, 2026. Its international title is 《Iron Boy》, and the Cannes Film Festival page lists KMBO as its distributor. The award recognition shows that the film’s emotional coming-of-age story and animation technique were evaluated together in the feature competition section.