Cineuropa by Marta Bałaga 29/04/2021 -
The dedicated section for the genre film industry will return to the Marché du Film for a fourth year. Set to present 13 new genre projects to the industry on 10 and 11 July 2021, the Frontières Platform – a co-presentation between the Fantasia International Film Festival and the Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes – will include Proof of Concept presentations for projects in the advanced stages of financing, and the Buyers Showcase for titles which are in post-production or have recently been completed.
“Despite the pandemic, filmmakers around the world have been very prolific and we are proud to offer Marché du Film participants a first look at a variety of projects such as the very first anime presented at Frontières, an Austrian sci-fi film as well as a new vampire movie from a Frontières alumnus” – it was stated, referring to Denver Jackson’s Esluna: The Crown of Babylon, Magdalena Lauritsch’s Rubikon and Blaine Thurier’s Kicking Blood, which will be joined by Tristan Barr’s Subject, hailing from Australia.
As for the European offerings, Lauritsch will tell a story about a space station researching an algae project which could provide people with a permanent supply of oxygen and food – until things go horribly wrong. Vibeke Muasya will present Twisted (Denmark) and finally, Finland is set to highlight two projects: Taneli Mustonen’s The Twin, currently shooting in Estonia and starring Teresa Palmer as a young mother trying to deal with grief, and The Creeps by Marko Mäkilaakso of It Came from a Desert fame. The film will this time feature cult icons Christopher Lambert and Joe Dante instead of giant ants, rather appropriately so, as it will see a Finnish resort dominated by some tiny troublemakers.
“It took a village of crazy women and a handful of good men, to create my deeply personal psychological thriller” – Vibeke Muasya tells Cineuropa. “Being selected for the Frontieres Platform is a massive help to find distribution. We are in the final stages of post-production and have a lot of fresh talent on board, amateurs in front of the camera and young professionals behind the camera, like composer Mitch Tanner from the UK, and Danish first-time feature editor Amanda Bahl.”
The Frontières Proof of Concept Presentation will showcase six projects, including Beasts of Prey from Italy, directed by Andrea Corsini; Superposition from Denmark, about a creative couple and their son, leaving their life in Copenhagen for an isolated forest in Sweden (never a good idea); and Draven (UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland). Directed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wicklund, the latter promises a new, snowbound spin on the slasher genre, delivered by the duo behind Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich.
The Frontières Platform in Cannes is funded by the Government of Canada, with the major support of Wallimage, the Netherlands Film Fund, Telefilm Canada and SODEC.
Complete list of projects:
Buyers Showcase
Esluna: The Crown Of Babylon (Canada)
Director: Denver Jackson
Producer: Daniel Hogg
Kicking Blood (Canada)
Director: Blaine Thurier
Producer: Jennifer Jonas
Rubikon (Austria)
Director: Magdalena Lauritsch
Producers: Loredana Rehekampff, Andreas Schmied, Klaus Graf
Subject (Australia)
Director: Tristan Barr
Producer: David Gim, Tristan Barr
The Creeps (Finland)
Director: Marko Mäkilaakso
Producers: Miika J. Norvanto, Timo Puustinen
The Twin (Finland/Estonia)
Director: Taneli Mustonen
Producer: Aleksi Hyvärinen
Twisted (Denmark)
Director: Vibeke Muasya
Producers: Lene Børglum, Vibeke Muasya
Proof Of Concept Presentation
All The Names We Buried (USA)
Director: Thomas Torrey
Producers: Thomas Torrey, Noah Lang, Chadd Harbold, Sam Frohman
Beasts Of Prey (Italy)
Director: Andrea Corsini
Producer: Giorgia Maria Priolo, Francesco Grisi
Draven (UK/Sweden/Norway/Finland)
Director: Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wicklund
Producers: Rachel Richardson-Jones, Sean Wheelan, David Liljeblad
Long Days (USA)
Director: Adam Keleman
Producer: Eric Schultz
Superposition (Denmark)
Director: Karoline Lyngbye
Producer: Amalie Lyngbo Quist
The Island Between Tides (Canada)
Directors: Austin Andrews & Andrew Holmes
Producers: Austin Andrews, Andrew Holmes, Josh Huculiak