Frontières' program kicks off this year at Cannes with the Frontières Platform. This year the program features Proof of Concept presentations and a Buyers Showcase will take place over the third weekend in May.
The Buyers Showcase features first or second feature films for directors like Turkey's Baris Fert, American duo Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki, Zarrar Kahn from Pakistan and Canadians Ashlea Wessel and Bruno Mourral. Canadian filmmaker Jesse T Cook appears to be the only vetern in the showcase this year (Monster Brawl, Septic Man, The Hexecutioners). Producers of their films will present footage from these completed or near-completed films to potential buyers, sales agents, and festival programmers.
In the Proof of Concept program filmmakers will present completed teaser trailers to prospective partners. The program includes Chadi Abo has a visual effects background, working on such films at The Matrix Reloaded, 300, Speed Racer and Blood Machines. Fried Barry's Ryan Kruger is promoting his next project, Street Trash. French filmmaker Cédric Hachard looks to make his second feature film. Austrian filmmaker Christoph Rainer is hoping to adapt his 2013 short film Requiem For A Robot into a feature film. Irish filmmaker Imogen Murphy looks to break away from a long career of shorts and series with her first feature film. The same could also be said for Dutch filmmaker Ruwan Suresh Heggelman; after a long career making short films he's looking toward his first feature film.
The complete announcement, lineup and short synopsis follow.
The Frontières Platform in Cannes will return to the Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes for a fifth year, presenting 13 genre projects to the industry on May 21st and 22nd, 2022. As a co-presentation between the Fantasia International Film Festival and the Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes, the Frontières Platform activities will include Proof of Concept presentations for projects in the advanced stages of financing, and the Buyers Showcase for films that are in post-production or have recently been completed.We are thrilled to announce the selection of six films for the Buyers Showcase which will take place on Sunday, May 22nd, 2022 at 4.30pm. Producers will screen footage for potential buyers, sales agents, and festival programmers. We are proud to offer Marché du Film participants a first look at a variety of projects from around the world such as a creature feature from Canada, an American tale about fallen witches as well as a psychological horror movie from Pakistan.The Frontières Proof of Concept Presentation, held Saturday May 21st, 2022 at 9.30am, will showcase seven projects from European, South African, Syrian and Algerian filmmakers who will present their completed teaser trailers to prospective partners. Amongst them a psychotic kitten, a useless little robot with a new purpose in life and killer Gnomes!The Frontières Platform in Cannes is funded by Telefilm Canada, SODEC, the Government of Quebec, the City of Montreal and the Netherlands Film Fund.Frontières Platform in Cannes: Complete List of ProjectsBUYERS SHOWCASEA GUIDE TO LIVING FOR THE DEAD (Turkey)Director: Baris FertProducers: Ipek Erden, Emre PekçakirGenre: Action, Thriller, Dark ComedyDeniz, a crime machine who lost her feelings and ability to empathize years ago, chases after a mysterious software that is supposed to be in Istanbul and finds herself in a chaotic, one night only adventure.CULT HERO (Canada)Director: Jesse T. CookProducer: Jesse T. Cook, Liv Collins, Craig ShouldiceGenre: Horror, Comedy, ActionManager-summoning control freak Kallie Jones teams up with washed-up cult buster Dale Domazar to rescue her husband from the clutches of a cannibalistic death cult.FALLING STARS (USA)Directors: Richard Karpala, Gabriel BienczyckiProducers: Richard Karpala, Gabriel BienczyckiGenre: Horror, Drama, ThrillerOn the first night of harvest, three brothers set out for the desert to see a witch's corpse.IN FLAMES (Pakistan, Canada)Director: Zarrar KahnProducers: Anam Abbas, Shant JoshiGenre: Psychologiocal HorrorAfter a fatal accident claims the life of Mariam’s boyfriend, she is haunted by unresolved grief. But, when her thoughts twist into vivid hallucinations, she must choose to confront her past or let her nightmares consume her.JUNCTION ROW (Canada)Director: Ashlea WesselProducer: Pasha Patriki, James Fler, Michael Paszt, Andrew T. HuntSales Agent: Raven Banner EntertainmentGenre: Horror, Science-FictionA veteran recovering from addiction returns to the intentional community she once called home in search of her missing friend, but finds that it has been infiltrated by an otherworldly force.KIDNAPPING INC (Canada)Director: Bruno MourralProducers: Yanick Létourneau, Samuel ChauvinGenre: Dark ComedyTwo hapless kidnappers, tasked with what seems like a simple job discover it's anything but, and find themselves in the middle of a political conspiracy.PROOF OF CONCEPTGNOMES! (The Netherlands)Director: Ruwan Suresh HeggelmanProducers: Monique van Kessel, Richard RaaphorstGenre: HorrorWhen a talented arrogant mountainbiker enters an off limits forest section, she inadvertently becomes the key piece in a secret battle between humanity and gnomanity, and the only person to rescue us from complete annihilation.NIGHT TOWN (Ireland)Director: Imogen MurphyProducer: Ruth Treacy, Julianne FordeGenre: Gothic DramaIn Dublin's late 19th century red light district, a teenage girl on the run is drawn into a sinister vortex of love, revenge – and murder.REQUIEM FOR A ROBOT (Austria, Germany)Director: Christoph RainerProducers: Loredana Rehekampff, Andreas Schmied, Josef RedingerGenre: Science-FictionA thrilling sci-fi fairytale about a misfit robot struggling to find his purpose. When the life of his god-like brother is in danger, our clumsy hero embarks on an existential journey to save him.ROQIA (Algeria, France, USA)Director: Yanis KoussimProducer: Farès Ladjimi, Christophe Lafont, Armen Aghaeian, Abhi Goel, Tara AnsleyGenre: Horror1993... Ahmed becomes amnesic after a car crash. Nowadays... an old raqi, a Muslim exorcist, is suffering of a dazzling Alzheimer's, under the worried eyes of his disciple. And while Ahmed is increasingly afraid of recovering his memory, the raqi's disciple fears that the loss of his master's will causes the return of an evil locked up years ago....SERIAL KITTEN (France)Director: Cédric HachardProducer: Alexis PerrinGenre: Fantasy, ComedyAs Ana's life crumbles with the death of her father and a romantic breakup, her little cat Lucius inexplicably takes on human form and sets out to kill those who cause her mistress pain - helping Ana to regain control over her life.STREET TRASH (South Africa, USA)Director: Ryan KrugerProducers: Justin Martell, Matt Manjourides, James C. Williamson, Ryan KrugerGenre: Horror, ComedyA group of homeless misfits must fight for survival when they discover a plot to exterminate every homeless person in the city.THE PORTAL (France, Syria, Germany)Director: Chadi AboProducers: Chadi Abo, Ruba El Khash Khair, May Odeh, Zorana Musikic, Tania KhouriGenre: Science-Fiction, FantasyIn a war zone, a little girl prays for salvation. A cosmic power comes to help her. Now Sana can resurrects dead children too.