Frontières Platform Cannes 2020: Announces 13 Genre Projects For Industry Platform
The landscape of film festivals dramatically changed this year. You may have noticed. If we can see the light at the end of the tunnel or not everyone is still preparing to get going, making great genre cinema, once we have the green light.
Cannes has all but forgone having a 'physical' program this year and the popular film market Marche du film has decided to go with a virtual version, delaying the program until the end of June. Over the years Cannes has seen the rise of support for genre cinema productions and began working with partners to provide space for filmmakers & producers, sellers & buyers, to meet.
One of those partners are our friends at Frontières and they announced the program for their Frontières Platform Cannes yesterday.
First we look at the Buyer's Showcase. From Canada buyers will see filmmaker Amelia Moses' debut feature film Bloodthirsty. Jens Dahl, co-writer of NWR's Pusher, is working on his sophomore flick Breeder. Italian director Beniamino Catena has an interesting concept in Lo Sono Vera. From Estonia, Rasmus Merivoo's Kratt is also in post, a film where children summon a magical creature, which I don't think is at light as that sounds. The trailer for Tran Quoc Bao's The Paper Tigers dropped the other day, and this Vietnamese martial arts action comedy looks good. It's now in post. Finally another Canadian Pat Mills has a new film, The Retreat, which is also in post.
Second we look at the Proof of Concept program. Jennifer Handorf from the UK is working on her feature film debut The Change. Canadian Ante Kovac is in pre-production on their film Coming Soon. So yes, it lives up to its title so far. Argentine filmmaker Tamae Garateguy (She Wolf) is also in pre-production on her new film Dogman (Hombre Perro). We do not get to see too much genre cinema out of Israel so we hope Boaz Armoni's Fingernail gets what it needs to get done. Russian filmmaker and producer Maria Ivanova has her film In Her Head. Dutch filmmaker Hugo Keijzer is looking to expand on his 2019 short film The Occupant: Prologue with his debut feature film The Occupant, currently in post. Finally, probably the project with the highest profile actor attached to it, one Finn Wolfhard, is Rules for Werewolves by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux. Schaulin-Rioux just finished a short film version of the title so virtual attendees should expect to have a look at it next month.
It looks like there is a lot of intersting options for production partners at this year's Frontières Platform Cannes.
Frontières announces today the final selection of projects for their Cannes platform, returning for the fourth year to the Marché du Film as part of its upcoming online edition. The 2020 slate, which focuses on emerging voices in genre filmmaking from around the globe, will feature six projects selected for the Buyers Showcase and seven for the Proof of Concept Presentation.A co-presentation between Montreal’s celebrated Fantasia International Film Festival and the Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes, the Frontières selection this year sees over 15 countries represented. Films that are recently completed or in post-production make-up the Buyers Showcase, which will screen footage for buyers, sales agents and festival programmers, while the Proof of Concept Presentation grants films in the advanced financing stages to present completed teaser trailers directly to prospective partners.This marks the first initiative under newly appointed Executive Director Annick Mahnert, who added, "We are extremely proud and elated to be presenting these thirteen projects at the Frontières Platform in Cannes. Despite the disruptions, the Marché du Film fought to exist in a digital way and I am sincerely grateful we can be part of it, as Frontières has become a must-attend event for the genre industry during the market. The filmmakers have all put a lot of work into their projects and it is capital that they should now be able to share their work with their peers. This year’s selection is very diverse in style and origins, coming as far as Argentina, Israel and Russia, and I’m looking forward to the industry discovering these gems."“We’re thrilled to join forces again with Fantasia for this one-of-a-kind edition of Frontières on the Marché du Film Online,” added Jérôme Paillard, Executive Director of the Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes. “As our industry is facing unprecedented challenges, we wish to provide the industry with a platform to facilitate the development and distribution of genre films.”Accessing the Marché du Film Online and its virtual events will be limited to industry professionals who have been accredited by the Marché du Film, as well as select industry representatives invited by Frontières organizers. Further networking boosts are planned following the engagements, which are scheduled to take place on June 25th.Notable inclusions in the Buyer’s Showcase are the XYZ and AMP repped THE PAPER TIGERS, starring Jae Suh Park (Friends from College) and Ron Yuan (Mulan), and BLOODTHIRSTY, a female-driven and directed werewolf thriller from the producer of HARPOON. Noted films to present through proof of concepts are South American filmmaker Tamae Garateguy’s DOGMAN, which was awarded the Creative Excellence award for best project at the International Film Festival & Awards Macao, and RULES FOR WEREWOLVES starring Stranger Thing’s Finn Wolfhard in both the SXSW-selected short and attached for the feature-length adaption.The Frontières Platform in Cannes is funded by the Government of Canada, with the major support of Wallimage, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Norwegian Film Institute, Telefilm Canada, and SODEC.Frontières Platform in Cannes: Complete List of ProjectsBUYERS SHOWCASEBLOODTHIRSTY (Canada)Director: Amelia MosesProducer: Michael Peterson (775 Media Corp), Wendy Hill-Tout (Voice Pictures)BREEDER (Denmark)Director: Jens DahlProducer: Amalie Lyngbo Quist, Maria Møller Christoffersen (Beo Starling)Sales Agent: Level KIO SONO VERA (VERA DE VERDAD) (Italy/Chile)Director: Beniamino CatenaProducer: Simone Gandolfo (Macaia Film), Karina Jury (Atomica)KRATT (Estonia)Director: Rasmus MerivooProducer: Tõnu Hiielaid, Rain Rannu (Tallifornia)THE PAPER TIGERS (USA)Director: Tran Quoc BaoProducer: Michael Velasquez, Al’n Duong, Yuji Okumoto, Dan Gildark (Beimo Films)Sales Agent: XYZ Films & AMP InternationalTHE RETREAT (Canada)Director: Pat MillsProducers: Alyson Richards (Outside Line Studio), Lauren Grant (Clique Pictures)PROOF OF CONCEPT PRESENTATIONTHE CHANGE (United Kingdom)Director: Jennifer HandorfProducers: Jen Handorf (Dark Matter Films), Alex Bentley (AB Plus Films)Sales Agent: MPICOMING SOON (Canada)Director: Ante KovacProducers: Lauren Grant (Clique Pictures), Daniel Bekerman (Scythia Films), Rory Halsall (Santa Carla Films), Dave Huakoc, Daniel Quinn (levelFILM)Sales Agent: Altitude Film SalesDOGMAN (Argentina/Peru)Director: Tamae GarateguyProducer: Silvia Rodriguez (Tedigoque Producciones), Melissa Cordero (Lunática Films)FINGERNAIL (Israel)Director: Boaz ArmoniProducers: Yoav Roeh (Gum Films)IN HER HEAD (Russia/Lebanon/Georgia/France/Lithuania)Director: Maria IvanovaProducer: Maria Ivanova, Olga Erofeeva (Scoop Production)THE OCCUPANT (Netherlands)Director: Hugo KeijzerProducers: Maurice Schutte (HAA! Films), Raymond van der Kaaij (Revolver Amsterdam)RULES FOR WEREWOLVES (Canada/USA)Director: Jeremy Schaulin-RiouxProducers: Peter Harvey (Peter Harvey Productions Inc.), Kelly Williams, Jonathan Duffy (Ten Acre Films)
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