FIRST WAVE OF FRONTIÈRES FUNDING HOPEFULS ANNOUNCED
The 12th Frontières Co-Production Market has unveiled the first wave of genre projects to vie for 2020 financing. For the first time, the high-level pitch sessions will take place online, with an eventual roster of 20 projects - ten from North America and ten from Europe - bidding for funding. The Montreal-based virtual film market, usually a key component of the Fantasia International Film Festival, has been repurposed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and will run July 23-26.
"The submissions we received for the Frontieres Market confirmed that we needed to keep going, even virtually. We welcomed many excellent submissions and the selection was a highly difficult process, and from that we are extremely proud to feature a majority of projects directed by women in this first wave," said Frontières executive director Annick Mahnert (pictured, below) via statement, noting 70% of the titles have women directors attached. Past Frontières-funded films include Julia Ducornau’s Raw, Alexandre O. Philippe’s 78/52, Neasa Hardiman’s Sea Fever and Lorcan Finnegan’s Vivarium.
Projects announced last week include director Ashlea Wessel
's Lest We Be Devoured, a retro horror-comedy set for release on Shudder; Norwegian writer/director Kjersti Helen Rasmussen's The Nightmare; Chelsea Lupkin's Tell Them What You Saw, from the indie genre slate at Yellow Veil Pictures; and, Simon Jaquemet’s Electric Child, the first film from Switzerland to find favour with the Frontières selectors.
After festival circuit success with the offbeat alien exposè Love and Saucers (2017), director Brad Abrahams (pictured, below) will be at Frontières repping his latest feature, the unknown creatures doc Cryptozoologist. “It’s been a long road for this project, with a lot of false starts,” says Abrahams, “so Frontieres is huge for us. It is our best shot at getting this doc made and finished. We’re also proud to be the only documentary in this strong genre film lineup.”
The introduction of the online pitching process is not being taken lightly by the young director, who is approaching the digital meeting, he says, “with an incredible amount of preparation, more so than if we were doing it in person.” Abraham points out, “Video chats are inherently awkward, with even small delays negatively impact delivering lines. A pitch video is required, and we’re going to do something fun with it.”
In the true genre filmmaking spirit, Abrahams promises nothing will be left to chance. “Our bigfoot suit may make an appearance,” he teases.
The ten first wave films announced are:
616 (Italy) Director: Lyda Patitucci; Writer: Milo Tissone and Federica Pontremoli; Producers: Marina Marzotto, Mattia Oddone (Propaganda Italia), Simone Gandolfo (Macaia Films)
CRYPTOZOOLOGIST (USA) Director: Brad Abrahams; Writer: Matt Ralston; Producer: Matt Ralston (Yeti Films)
ELECTRIC CHILD (Switzerland, France) Director/Writer: Simon Jaquemet; Producers: Michela Pini (8horses GmbH), Didar Domerhi (Maneki Films)
ICE (United Kingdom) Director/Writer: Stéphanie Joalland (pictured, above); Producer: Sean McConville (Frenzy Films)
LEST WE BE DEVOURED (Canada) Director: Ashlea Wessel; Writer: Jim Munroe; Producers: Peter Kuplowsky, Shannon Hanmer (Low Sky Productions)
OUBLIER CHARLOTTE (Canada) Director/Writer: Chloé Cinq-Mars (pictured, left); Producer: Nicolas Comeau (1976 productions)
PERCHTEN - THE LOST WINTER (Italy) Director/Writer: Rossella De Venuto; Producers: Maurizio Antonini (Interlinea films)
TELL THEM WHAT YOU SAW (USA) Director/Writer: Chelsea Lupkin; Producers: Sarah Kalagvano, Michael Peterson (775 Media Corp), Yellow Veil Pictures
THE LAST VIDEO STORE (Canada) Director: Cody Kennedy; Writers: Tim Rutherford; Producers: Greg Jeffs (NJC Productions), Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford (The Last Video Store Inc.)
THE NIGHTMARE (Norway) Director/Writer: Kjersti Helen Rasmussen; Producers: John Einar Hagen (Nordisk Film Production), Einar Loftesnes (Handmade Films in Norwegian Woods)