Frontieres 2023: First Wave of Market Titles And Forum Announced

As Summer approaches Anarchist's eyes turn to Montreal and the promise of another Frontieres Market. A chance to see what may come down the pipeline of genre film production Frontieres arleady boasts a history of successful projects. Films like Raw, Vivarium, The Long Walk and Hatching were all pitched at the market. 
 
The first wave of titles for this year's market and forum were announced today. On the market side we will see new projects from Peter Hengl (Family DInner) and other filmmakers looking to make their feature film debut. A large majority of projects are from female directors (#FundFemaleFilmmakers) and two projects are from Quebecois filmmakers. 
 
Audrey Ewell (Until The Light Takes Us), Jean Mach & Nicolas Alberny (8th Wonderland) and Nyla Innuksuk (Slash/Back) are working on their next films. They will be participating in the Forum which will see them get ever closer to shooting their new projects. These are already off the ground and have secured various commitments for production, it is just a matter of "pulling that train into the station" as one industry insider plain-spoke it for me. 
 
The final wave of projects will be announced at the end of the month. 
 
FIRST WAVE ANNOUNCEMENT
 
After the upcoming Frontières Platform in Cannes on Saturday May 20 and Sunday May 21, Frontières will return to the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal for the 15th edition of its co-production market which will take place between July 26-29 with the Forum overlapping on July 26-28.
 
Frontières is pleased to announce a first wave of projects for this year’s official market selection. Notable project helmers include:  Peter Hengl (FAMILY DINNER) from Austria, Yannis Veslemes (the upcoming SHE LOVED BLOSSOMS MORE) from Greece, Jean Mach & Nicolas Alberny (8TH WONDERLAND) from France and Nyla Innuksuk (SLASH/BACK) from Canada. Quebec will be represented by filmmakers Jeanne Leblanc (LES NÔTRES) and Olivier Godin (IL N'Y A PAS DE FAUX MÉTIER). Of these projects, the line-up features 70% women directors and showcases a wide variety of genres including horror, dark comedy, an aquatic thriller, psychological horror and a new type of vampires. The full project line-up will be announced at the end of May. Past Frontières projects include IN FLAMES, HATCHING, LAMB, THE LONG WALK, SEA FEVER, VIVARIUM and RAW.
 
The Frontières Co-Production Market is funded by Telefilm Canada, SODEC, the Government of Quebec, the City of Montreal, Wallimage and the Netherlands Film Fund.
 
FRONTIÈRES MARKET
 
ANIMAL  (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Director: Milada Tesitelova
Producers: Julie Zackova, Unit and Sofa Praha
Genre: Horror Comedy
Although she is trying hard to fit in, Fanynka's life in the suburbs full of perfect families gets complicated when she gives birth to a cat. She decides to steal a baby to cover it up, only to be confronted with the cult-like idea of perfect motherhood which will soon make her life unbearable.
 
ANNA NOUS PARLERA (Canada, QC)
Director: Olivier Godin
Producer: Nemesis Films Inc.
Genre: Dark Comedy
Anna Nous Parlera is an investigative dark comedy about a novel that blows the head off of whoever finishes reading it.
 
DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL  (United Kingdom)
Directors: Coral Amiga, Nicole Hartley
Producer: Federica Omodei
Genre: Psychological Horror, Thriller
A young couple is pushed to breaking point when the woman’s overbearing father interrupts their idyllic Italian getaway leading to a bloody confrontation.
 
DRAWN (USA)
Director: Cosmo Salovaara
Producers: Anne Alexander, Cousins Company
Genre: Horror, Vampire, LGBTQ
A queer, socioeconomic take on the vampire genre, Drawn invites you into the world of the titular blood transfusion app that connects the aging rich with the young, desperate donor class.
 
FREYA  (Canada BC, Australia)
Director: Rhona Rees
Producer: Kristyn Stilling, Athena Russell
Genre: Science Fiction
In a future where abortion is completely outlawed and birth control is available only to men, a woman must fight for her autonomy and her life when she is tricked into getting pregnant to a one night stand.
 
HALL OF DULLNESS (Colombia)
Director: Ángela Tobón Ospina
Producer: Máquina Espía
Genre: Science Fiction
A man pedals a stationary bike in order to recover the light of his memories.
 
KRAMPUSNACHT (Austria)
Director: Peter Hengl
Producer: Lola Basara
Genre: Horror
Every year, the young men in the alpine villages dress up in wooden masks and fur costumes to become the “Krampus” – but visiting siblings Val and Mat suspect one of them may be the devil himself – and it seems like he’s out for Val’s soul and sanity….
 
NORTHPOLE (Greece)
Director: Yannis Veslemes
Producer: Fenia Cossovitsa
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Period Drama
In the year 1901 Peter Blackforest and Alice Webber built a steam-powered spaceship to travel to the moon in order to escape the great flood they both believed would soon annihilate the Earth.
 
VISITE LIBRE (Canada, QC)
Director: Jeanne Leblanc
Producer: Caramel Films
Genre: Horror
When you can no longer believe in such a bleak future… You do what you have to do.
 
 
FRONTIÈRES FORUM
 
AND YOU AS WELL MUST DIE (USA, Poland)
Director: Audrey Ewell
Producers: Luca Borghese, AgX
Genre: Horror
While battling survivor's guilt, a young woman attempts to contact her dead fiancé. In a psychedelics-fueled ceremony, a terrifying dark figure follows her out into the real world. A mysterious neighbor appears and offers to help, but he's not who - or what - he seems.
 
HIGH PRESSURE (France)
Directors: Jean Mach, Nicolas Alberny
Producer: MAD Films
Genre: Aquatic thriller, Survival
2 brothers, 80 meters down, 24 hours of oxygen...
 
IN THE HEART OF THE SOUTH (Canada, ON)
Director: Nyla Innuksuk 
Producers: Sphere Media Productions, Mixtape VR Inc.
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Yura Ivalu is an Indigenous filmmaker who mines the complicated lives of others for inspiration.
 
FRONTIÈRES is an international co-production market and networking platform specifically focused on genre film financing and co-production between Europe and North America. It is organised by the Fantasia International Film Festival, in partnership with the Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes.  In addition to its annual co-production market and Forum at Fantasia (July 26-29 2023), Frontières programming also includes the Frontières Platform (May 20-21 2023, Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes).
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