Frontieres has announced the full line-up of its 16th co-production market running July 24-27 in Montreal alongside Fantasia International Film Festival.
The selection of projects seeking partners encompasses a broad range of genre. It includes new work from Sophie Mair and Dan Gitsham with UK-set grief horror Ginger; Quebecois filmmaker Patrice Laliberte with coming-of-age sci-fi He Who Sows Misery, Reaps Wrath; and Caye Casas’s Spanish dark comedy Suenos Son.
Also from Quebec is Eric Tessier with psychological horror Flots; while Germany’s Till Kleinert brings the supernatural thriller Turn On The Bright Lights; Australian Robyn Grace has pre-apocalyptic, coming-of-age tale Jude; and Le Hoang arrives with Vietnam-US romantic horror The Heirloom.
The pedigree of Frontieres picks is high and a number of recent selections have gone on to premiere in Cannes such as: Zarrar Kahn’s 2023 Directors’ Fortnight entry In Flames, Valdimar Johannsson’s 2021 Critics’ Week entry Lamb, and Lorcan Finnegan’s 2019 Critics Week selection Vivarium.
“Frontieres not only fosters collaboration, it also celebrates cultural diversity,” said market director Annick Mahnert. The market brings together diverse narratives and unique perspectives by showcasing talent across the globe. The 2024 selections are listed below. Descriptions are adapted from wording provided by Frontieres.
Blood: The Devil In Helsinki
(Fin)
Dir. Viivi HuuskaPdr: Mika Pajunen
Genre: crime, horror, drama
In Helsinki, a female vampire artist uses her art to cope with her past, drawing a male detective into a complex relationship amid an investigation, when the appearance of Mina Maru, her painting’s subject, catalyses a journey of revenge, self-discovery, and redemption, uncovering their dark fates.
Fall
(Bel)
Dir. Steffen GeypensPdr: Robin Kerremans
Genre: horror
A murderous city doctor takes a fresh start in the remote town of Fall where everyone seems to be consumed by their darkest secrets and no-one is innocent.
Flots
(Can, QC)
Dir. Eric TessierPdr. Anne-Marie Gelinas
Genre: psychological horror
Florence, an eight-year-old girl, leads her family and friends on a descent into Hell from which no one will emerge unscathed.
Gargoyle
(Can)
Dir. Kurt WalkerPdrs: Selina Crammond, Sahar Yousefi, Heather McDonald
Genre: horror
While on graveyard shifts at a cemetery and a video game studio, a brother and sister find themselves suddenly haunted by uncanny beings and must collaborate to survive the night.
Ginger
(UK)
Dirs. Sophie Mair and Dan GitshamPdrs. Jude Goldrei, Rebecca Wolff
Genre: horror
Relocating to the North Yorkshire Dales after a life-changing accident and the death of their unborn child, Grace and Abel cross paths with a beguiling organism which gradually exploits their emotional and sexual desires, leading to violent tragedy and rebirth.
Grave
(Swi)
Dirs. Anna Pieri Zuercher and Pietro ZuercherPdrs: Michela Pini, Olga Lamontanara
Genre: dark comedy, action
Deathly circumstances force a depressed gravedigger and a butcher-turned-hitman together on a frantic and absurd journey, to finally discover an unlikely and powerful friendship.
He Who Sows Misery, Reaps Wrath
(Can, QC)
Dir. Patrice LalibertePdr. Julie Groleau
Genre: sci-fi, coming-of-age
Montreal, 2040. As a luxury condo tower collapses in a gentrifying neighborhood, a less fortunate teenager wants nothing more than to find the electric bike she was robbed of in order to keep her job as a grocery delivery girl; a quest that proves more complicated than expected when violent riots break out between residents and police.
Inheritance
(USA)
Dir. Evgenia KovdaPdr. Yasha Levine
Genre: sci-fi, horror, dark comedy
A group of rich kids spend the weekend at a country house and accidentally set off a mysterious device that brings Soviet communists back to life, forcing the kids to confront their country’s violent past.
Jude
(Australia)
Dir. Robyn GracePdr. Laura Sivis
Genres: pre-apocalyptic sci-f However when teenagers around the globe begin a mysterious pilgrimage toward an interstellar spacecraft, she must relinquish her parental needs to decide the fate of the human race.
Little Lying Wild
(Belize-USA)
Dir. Samantha Aldana
Pdrs Valerie Steinberg and Samantha Aldana0 When no-one in the village believes her, she sets out on her own to solve the crime and stop the monster from killing again.Plasma
(Chil)
Dir. Daniel Aspillaga
Pdr: Paulina Ferretti
Genre: fantasy, body horror
A mother sacrifices her daughter, and as her flesh rises to the skies, it begins to influence the bodies of the world, which will mutate and find themselves.Recreational Vampire
(USA)
Dir. Benjamin Roberds
Pdr. Katie Gregg
Genre: horror
After a head-on collision, two couples hitch a ride with a monstrously suspicious RV and must fight for their lives to make it out alive.Romanticizing Monsters
(Can)
Dir. Berkley Bradey
Pdrs. Katisha Shaw and Justin Kelly
Genre: dramatic thriller
A driven journalist and podcaster, who profiles serial killers, finds herself captured by the one she’s been investigating.Scorpia
(Can, QC)
Dirs. Sarah Watts and Mark Slutsky
Pdrs. Robert Vroom
Genre: sci-fi, fantasy, horror, LGBTQ
In the mid-1980s, struggling computer game programmer Scorpia accepts an invitation to the manor house of an enigmatic, all-women game developer cult, where the lines between play, magic and body horror blur.Smook
(Neth)
Dir. Dwight Fagbamila
Pdrs. Layla Meijman and Maarten van der Veen
Genre : elevated The mysterious forces in the house reveal a connection between her past and the secret, putting Louise’ The greatest danger? Louise herself.
Suenos Son (Sp)
Dir. Caye Casas
Pdr. Norbert Llaras
Genres: horror, drama and dark comedy0100 What he doesn’t know is that this wish will end up transforming his life into a nightmare.
The Heirloom
(Viet-USA)Dir. Le Hoang
Pdrs. Anderson Le, Thanh Tran
Genres: romance, horror
When they escape his control, he has to stop them before his family members become their next victims. Rioghnach Ni Ghrioghair
Pdr. Claire Mc Cabe
Genre: siege thrillerA vapid influencer is caught up in a botched kidnapping plot and discovers the monster she really is when the whole ordeal is live-streamed.
The Long Way Down
(It-Slov-Cro)
Dir. Giacomo Talamini
Pdr. Bostjan Virc
Genre : elevated horrorA After an earthquake, trapped in the mine, their minds are ravaged by disturbing images that seem to be Till Kleinert
Pdr. Marcos Kantis
Genre: supernatural thriller, horror, music
Guilt-ridden by the suicide of a former contestant, a juror on a pop idol show must fight off a mysterious new candidate determined to destroy his life.
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