The Marché du Cannes (Market) has some hot projects:

Eyes Along The Valley

• Cast: Stephen Lang, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey (Hacksaw Ridge)

• Worldwide Sales Rep: Architect (The Georgetown Project)

Synopsis:

A 1950s crime-thriller.

Becoming Capa

• Cast: Esther McGregor (We Were Liars), Mark Eydelshteyn (Anora), Danny Huston

• DP: Pawel Pogorzelski (Hereditary)

• International Sales Rep: HanWay Films (Carol, La Cocina)

Synopsis:

Celebrated war photographers Gerda Taro and Robert Capa fall in love in a tale of audacity and defiance against a world in political turmoil.

Kaet Might Die

• Cast: Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), Ken Jeong

• Dir: Mercedes Bryce Morgan (Bleecker’s Bone Lake)

• Domestic Sales Rep: Capture Entertainment and CAA

• International Sales Rep: Capture Entertainment (Dark Jungle)

Synopsis:

Designer Kaet McAnneny trains for NYC Marathon, but breast cancer diagnosis disrupts life. Her marriage faces turmoil, relapses, yet unexpected positives emerge over 18 months, based on ‘Boobs Gone Rogue’ memoir.

Follow Mode

• Dir/Wri: Ben Leonberg (Good Boy)

• Wri: Alex Cannon (Good Boy)

• Prod: Temple Hill (Smile)

• International Sales Rep: Protagonist Pictures (The Brutalist)

Synopsis:

Follows a group of teens who knock a drone out of the sky and discover it contains footage of a serial killer’s crimes, then must expose the killer before becoming victims.

Maybe We Should

• Cast: Heather Graham

• Dir: A.J. Tesler (Hero Mode)

• Worldwide Sales Rep: Concourse Media (The Little Hours)

Synopsis:

A heartwarming, inspirational family film based on the true story of one family’s effort to build a groundbreaking center for children. The film weaves magical realism and humor into an uplifting story about resilience and community.

The Neverending Pillow Fort

• Voice Cast: Sofia Rose, David Tennant, Guy Pearce, Teresa Palmer

• Prod Co: Crayola Studios

Three Cannes market horrors:

Vorteks (Dubai-based sales agency) acquires international sales rights for SXSW horror hit Grind. Directed by Ed Dougherty, Brea Grant, and Chelsea Stardust, the film follows four interconnected stories that center around the gig economy, hustle culture, and the evils of late-stage capitalism. The film debuted in the Midnighter section of SXSW last month and gained praise from critics and audiences alike.

Blue Finch Films (U.K. sales and distribution outfit) takes the worldwide sales rights to horror feature Recluse. The film follows Joan, a sound recordist who visits her father’s burnt estate, only to pick up on ghostly audio that uncovers a dark family secret. The film will have its world premiere in the Escape From Tribeca section of the Tribeca Film Festival in June. Henry Chaisson (Producer: M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant) directed the film.

MPX (global film sales agency) acquires worldwide sales rights to U.S. indie horror Swipe. Directed by Sean Whalen (Actor: Twister), the film follows a young woman who is trying to save her brother from a sadistic, mute family of women after a dating app hook-up leads to his disappearance. Hana Mae Lee (Pitch Perfect), Ray Santiago (Meet the Fockers), and Dominique Columbus (Road House) star in the film.

Buffalo 8 Distribution acquires feature documentary Ice Ice Baby – Hop Hop’s 1st Global #1. The feature documentary will follow Rob Van Winkle or Vanilla Ice, and the unprecedented success of his chart-topping single Ice Ice Baby – the first hip-hop song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The doc includes interviews with Monte Lipman (CEO of Republic Records) and Daniel Glass (Founder of Glassnote Records).

Sender

• Int. Sales Rep: Concourse Media (Sovereign)

• Dir/Wri: Russell Goldman (prod. Apple TV+’s The Lost Bus)

• Cast: Rhea Seehorn (Pluribus), Britt Lower (Severance), Jamie Lee Curtis

• Prod. Comp: Comet Pictures (Prime’s Scarpetta)

• Premiered at SXSW

Synopsis:

After receiving a series of unwanted packages containing unnervingly targeted items, a woman tumbles down a paranoid rabbit hole to find her mysterious sender.

Flyover

• U.S. Sales Rep: Convoke Media (Succubus)

• Dir: Jackie! Zhou (Sound Designer: Didi)

• Cast: Hayley Law (Riverdale), Luke Cook (Hacks)

Synopsis:

Follows a group of women who leave Los Angeles for a flyover state to test whether their dating struggles are rooted in geography or something far more personal.

Director Park Chan-wook’s biggest American movie.

Park Chan-wook’s (Dir: Oldboy, No Other Choice) next project is a western thriller, The Brigands of Rattlecreek, written by S. Craig Zahler (Wri: Dragged Across Concrete).

The cast is star-studded:

• Matthew McConaughey

• Austin Butler

• Pedro Pascal

• Tang Wei (Decision to Leave)

The film will follow a sheriff and a doctor in a frontier town that is terrorized by a gang that uses a thunderstorm to rob its residents.

Park’s direction and S. Craig Zahler’s writing are characterized by unflinching violence that isn’t for the shock factor, but has a narrative elegance that enhances the emotional arc of the story.

Park often showed his love towards the Western genre in many interviews, especially the 1974 Neo-Western film Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, directed by Sam Peckinpah (trailer) – so we can expect a gritty grindhouse-meets-arthouse film from the Korean director. We would love to see Park’s obsessive yet beautiful take on the Western genre.

Legendary’s 193 (Die, My Love) will serve as the sales rep.

Matt Smith has never met a strange role he didn’t want to make weirder.

The Doctor Who actor is joining Imogen Poots (The Chronology of Water) in The Salamander Lives Twice, a left-field mystery headed to the Cannes market with sales rep Embankment Films.

Here’s the synopsis:

Follows a stranger who washes ashore on a remote island with no memory. Taken in by Iris, her daughter Goggy, and their butler Baby, he’s drawn into their decaying world of revenge, family betrayal, and violence.

Much like his House of the Dragon character, which we will finally see on our screen again this June, Smith thrives on unpredictability, balancing an incontestable charm with an enigmatic edge that leaves his intentions constantly in question. A man with no memories, the role gives Smith ample room to play with a shifting sense of self and the kind of offbeat absurdity he does so well.

Warner Bros. International TV Production Sweden’s Adult Supervision

• Cast: Gustaf Skarsgård (Vikings)

• Sales Rep: Heretic (Triangle of Sadness)

Synopsis:

When a middle-aged man joins his 13-year-old daughter on a school trip in an attempt to repair their relationship, he soon finds himself caught up in conflicts that stir dark memories from his past.

Miss You, Love You

• Int. Sales Rep: Architect (I Don’t Understand You)

• Dir/Wri: Jim Rash (dir. The Way, Way Back)

• Cast: Allison Janney, Bonnie Hunt, Andrew Rannells (A Simple Favor)

• Prod. Co: Madison Wells (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

Synopsis:

A widow plans husband’s funeral. Estranged son sends an assistant instead of coming himself. Widow grieves with a stranger.

Bitcoin

• Dir: Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow)

• Cast: Gal Gadot, Isla Fisher (Now You See Me), joining Casey Affleck and Pete Davidson

• Prod. Comp/Int. Sales Rep: 193 (sales rep: Die My Love)

Synopsis:

Follows a man’s quest to prove he created Bitcoin, a claim that puts his life in peril and sets off a high-stakes race between tech billionaires and world leaders with the financial system hanging in the balance.

Studiocanal is going all in on Bill Condon’s South African musical, set to finance, produce, and release the film in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Road Home

• Int. Sales Rep: Palisades Park Pictures (Fast Charlie)

• Dir: Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)

• Wri: Michael Bronner (The Mauritanian)

• Cast: Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)

Synopsis:

Exiled from his native South Africa, trumpeter Hugh Masekela is pulled between two worlds when the anti-apartheid movement, led by his mentor and fierce anti-apartheid advocate, launches a boycott against Hugh’s friend Paul Simon, over his township music-inspired album Graceland, accusing Simon of violating the United Nations’ Cultural Boycott.

Embers

• Int. Sales Rep: Embankment Films (The Father)

• Dir: István Szabó (Mephisto)

• Wri: Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons)

• Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Viggo Mortensen

• Prod. Comp: Bell Media (Heated Rivalry)

Synopsis:

Henrik and Konrad were inseparable friends once. They reconnect decades after Konrad’s mysterious disappearance, uncovering the secret that tore them apart and the woman at the center of it.

Cornerstone (Pillion) boards as international sales rep for:

When Darkness Loves Us

• Dir: James Ashcroft (The Rule of Jenny Pen)

• Cast: Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Marlon Williams (Sweet Tooth)

• U.S. Dist: Bleecker Street Media

Synopsis:

When a pregnant young woman becomes trapped in an underground cave system, she must learn to survive in a world totally devoid of light. But she discovers true darkness within herself when she emerges 15 years later.

Alex Proyas (Dir: The Crow, I, Robot) is using AI to make his new film Heaven.

Synopsis:

A man agrees to be uploaded to an A.I. metaverse afterlife and discovers it more closely resembles hell than heaven.

The use of AI actually seems like a perfect creative choice here, and one that allows the filmmaker to paint on a bigger canvas. He spent 10 years trying to get this up, so this is a massive win. From Ex Machina Studios and K5 International.

Complex Texas

• Int. Sales rep/Prod. Comp: VMI Worldwide (sales: Goodfellas)

• Dir: Jared Cohn (Hold Your Breath)

• Cast: Kevin Dillon (Entourage), Cam Gigandet (Twilight), Danielle Vasinova (The Madison)

Synopsis:

Follows three low-level criminals who accidentally pull off a $300M heist and find themselves stranded in a small West Texas town where every desperate resident is willing to trade their morals and lives for the fortune.

Love and War

• Int. Sales Rep: Alliance Media Partners (Dead Eyes)

• Dir: Lisa Mulcahy (Lies We Tell)

• Cast: Samantha Morton (Minority Report, Morvern Callar)

Synopsis:

A mother is forced to enter war-torn Syria to recover her daughter after the child is taken across borders by her estranged husband.

Also…

Neon’s Oscar and BAFTA-nominated film Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020, trailer) is getting a sequel. Quo Vadis, Aida? – The Missing Part will pick up immediately from the ending of the previous film, as we follow Aida searching for her sons, who were taken by Serbian forces during the fall of Srebrenica in 1995. Paris-based sales company Indie Sales has been appointed to oversee international sales at the Cannes Market.

Cannes’ Market’s The Unlucky starring Ludi Lin (Mortal Kombat) is picked up by Media Move (Sales Rep: The Lure).

The Playmaker (Sew Torn) boards international sales for Lieblingsfilm’s Horse on a Stick, a family adventure about competitive hobby horsing. The film is set for a Cannes Market debut.

Ahead of its Cannes premiere in the ACID section, Celluloid Dreams (sales rep. The Maiden) has boarded international sales for Rewind Barcelona (Barça Zou). From French director Paul Nouhet (Salut les zins), the story follows friends reuniting in the same place they took their first trip a decade before, the mecca of skateboarding, Barcelona.

Pluto Film (Berlin-based sales company) gets the international rights for a pole-dancing drama feature Exotic. Directed by first-time feature director Sonja Orlewicz‑Zakrzewska, the film follows a writer who wants to master pole dancing, only to find that the journey turns into a profound act of self-discovery.

Synopsis:

Two rival gangs of local and visiting teens compete in the dangerous sport of cliff diving one summer.

Luxbox (Magellan, A Poet) serves as the sales rep. Dumon’s latest film was the wacky sci-fi The Empire.

Mini Tidbits:

Luxbox also has boarded Diego Luna’s Ashes.

Ira Sachs’ In Competition film The Man I Love, starring Rami Malek, Rebecca Hall, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, is bought for French distribution by Memento (Pillion).

Cannes Market:

Studiocanal is going all in on Bill Condon’s South African musical, set to finance, produce, and release the film in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Road Home

• Int. Sales Rep: Palisades Park Pictures (Fast Charlie)

• Dir: Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)

• Wri: Michael Bronner (The Mauritanian)

• Cast: Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)

Synopsis:

Exiled from his native South Africa, trumpeter Hugh Masekela is pulled between two worlds when the anti-apartheid movement, led by his mentor and fierce anti-apartheid advocate, launches a boycott against Hugh’s friend Paul Simon, over his township music-inspired album Graceland, accusing Simon of violating the United Nations’ Cultural Boycott.

Plus, Alex Proyas (Dir: The Crow, I, Robot) is using AI to make his new film Heaven.

Synopsis:

A man agrees to be uploaded to an A.I. metaverse afterlife and discovers it more closely resembles hell than heaven.

The use of AI actually seems like a perfect creative choice here, and one that allows the filmmaker to paint on a bigger canvas. He spent 10 years trying to get this up, so this is a massive win. From Ex Machina Studios and K5 International.

Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique (The Seed of the Sacred Fig) picks up Aquí (Cannes Premiere).

Payal Kapadia (dir: All We Imagine as Light) is returning to Cannes as the president of the jury for the 65th Critics Week section. She won the Grand Prix in 2024 for her beautifully moving sophomore film All We Imagine as Light (trailer), celebrated for its portrayal of hope, dreams, and a longing for a better life.

Studio TF1 (sales rep: Lucky Star) has landed worldwide sales for Forsaken (L’Abandon), a true story thriller feature. Led by Anatomy of a Fall actor Antoine Reinartz, the film will chronicle the final days of a French school teacher’s life, whose death sparked outrage over secularism and freedom of speech across the country. The film is set to debut (out of competition) at Cannes.

French director Camille Delamarre (Brick Mansions) is set to direct The Godforsaken Sea, an epic period film following an elite group of sailors attempting to circumnavigate the globe alone, non-stop, and without assistance. Delamarre is known for his high-octane action films, with his newest project gearing up to be his most intense story yet. The Godforsaken Sea will be at the Cannes Film Market.

The Wing (New Zealand Film Post & Finance company) launches for International Co-Productions. The outfit will offer international producers with post-production services and equity financing mechanisms.

Cannes Directors’ Fortnight’s most high-profile films:

Butterfly Jam

• Dir/Wri: Kantemir Balagov (Cannes breakout Beanpole)

• Cast: Barry Keoghan, Monica Bellucci, Riley Keough, Harry Melling (Pillion)

• Int. Sales Rep: Goodfellas

Synopsis:

A Circassian-American teen in New Jersey balances working at his family’s struggling ethnic diner with his wrestling aspirations, until his father’s risky decision forces him to face harsh realities and grow up quickly.

Never would I have predicted a movie set in New Jersey would be one of the headlining films at Cannes, but crazier things have happened!

Opening the section, Balagov’s English-language debut features a cast of strong young actors and a raw coming-of-age story that feels both personal and universally relatable.

Clarissa

• Dir: Aerie and Chuko Esiri (This Is My Desire)

• Cast: Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), David Oyelowo (Selma)

• Worldwide Dist/Int. Sales Rep: Neon

Synopsis:

A re-imagining of Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” set in Lagos.

Woolf’s 1925 landmark novel perfected a stream of consciousness style that, reimagined today, with Edebiri in the titular role, could bring the story’s interiority to life in a really cool, cinematic way.

I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

• Dir: Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant)

• Cast: Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air), Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), Daryl McCormack (Wake Up Dead Man)

• Prod. Comp: BBC Film

• Int. Sales Rep: Charades (Int. Sales The Testament of Ann Lee)

Synopsis:

Five childhood friends face adult struggles: Patrick and Shiv’s relationship strains over a secret, Oli parties destructively, Conor awaits fatherhood with business dreams, and wealthy Rian can’t escape his past despite moving away.

In addition to direction from BAFTA nominated Barnard, screenwriter Enda Walsh who’s fantastic track record of book to screen adaptations (Die My Love, Small Things Like These) makes this one to definitely look out for.

Diary of a Chambermaid (Journal d’une femme de chambre)

• Dir: Radu Jude (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn)

• Cast: Ana Dumitrascu (Immaculate), Amélie Prevot (Band of Spies)

• Prod. Comp: SBS Productions (Benedetta)

Synopsis:

A young Romanian woman living in France works for a French family and joins a theatre company who are adapting Octave Mirbeau’s “The Diary of a Chambermaid.”

Jude’s comedy and contemporary adaptation of Octave Mirbeau’s classic novel is bringing him to Cannes (shockingly) for the first time. Diary… marks back-to-back projects for Dumitrascu, who starred in Jude’s satirical horror Dracula last year.

Mini Tidbits:

Two American directors are being featured in this year’s Directors’ Fortnight lineup. Reed Van Dyk is making both his Cannes and directorial debut with Atonement, an Iraqi war drama starring Kenneth Branagh and Succession’s Hiam Abbass.

One of the few documentaries in the section Neon’s Once Upon A Time in Harlem is from New York’s own David Greaves, the son of the late great William Greaves (dir. Symbiopsychotaciplasm: Take One), making its way to Cannes after a strong reception at its premiere at Sundance earlier this year.

The widely absurd and quirky French director Quentin Dupieux (Rubber) is bringing two films to the festival this year. Full Phil, the father-daughter dramedy starring Woody Harrelson and Kristen Stewart, will screen in the midnight section, and his debut animated feature Le Vertige is closing out the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar.

The 9th Season of Canneseries dropped its official selection.

In Competition, includes:

Disney+’s Alice and Steve

• Cast: Nicola Walker, Jemaine Clement

• Writer: Sophie Goodhart (7 eps Sex Education)

Synopsis:

Alice is devastated when her best friend Steve (Clement) starts dating her 26-year-old daughter Izzy. She’s going to lose her best friend and her daughter in one fell swoop.

First look and more details here.

Movistar Plus+ (2 series)

• Yo Siempre A Veces

Synopsis:

Laura gets pregnant after a weeklong, drug-fuelled love story with Rubén. Five months after their son Mario was born, they were already breaking up, and not exactly on good terms.

• Se tiene que morir mucha gente

Synopsis:

Bárbara, Maca and Elena are friends from school. Bárbara is stuck in a job she hates and addicted to benzos. Maca is struggling to make it as an actress. Elena is married and pregnant, apparently living her dream life. When Bárbara hits rock bottom, everything is set to explode.

Prime Denmark’s Snake Killer

Synopsis:

When his informant is killed, Brian “Smiley” Petersen and fellow narcotics officers from the infamous Uropatruljen battle a crime syndicate, using extreme methods that often cross legal boundaries.

More info here.

5th Season’s Summer of 84

• Creator: Björn Stein (Dir: Underworld Awakening)

• Studio Media Res

Synopsis:

When a group of teenagers spend another summer in the archipelago, expectations are high. But a mysterious drowning and a dying mermaid turn the idyllic season into something that threatens both their friendship and survival.

Also, Martin Zandvliet (dir: Sony Pictures Classics’ Land of Mine) is directing and writing HØST.

Full list of selections here, including out-of-competition series from HBO and BBC (Half Man) and Apple (Star City).

Television:

Secret Service

• Int. Sales Rep/Prod.Comp: All3Media International (AMC+ The Assassin)

• Cast: Gemma Arterton (The King’s Man)

Global Pre-Sales include:

• ARD Plus (Drive My Car) - Austria, Germany, Switzerland

Synopsis:

A British intelligence officer races against time to uncover a UK politician’s potential ties with the Kremlin, risking her reputation and family, as a murder and election looms.

Curious by Nature (Enquête parallèle)

• Sales Rep: France TV Distribution (Frantz)

• Cast: Florence Pernel (Three Colors: Blue)

• Ireland/U.K./N.A. distributor: Walter Presents (The Island)

Synopsis:

Fred, a former war correspondent now working as a local TV journalist, investigates crimes in rural France alongside her cameraman while forming a new family with her adopted daughter and mother.

Film:

Everybody Digs Bill Evans

• Int. Sales Rep: Mister Smith Entertainment (Dangerous Animals)

• Dir: Grant Gee (debut)

• Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie (Sentimental Value), Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)

Secured distribution deals across Europe, including:

• UFO (4 Lions) - France

• Cinemaran (Backseat Fighter) - Spain

• Wanted Cinema (The Chronology of Water) - Italy

Synopsis:

Legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans forms his perfect trio, recording two groundbreaking albums. When his brilliant young bassist dies tragically, Evans is devastated. The story follows Evans’ journey to overcome grief and return to music.

A Tale of Two Cities

• Int. Sales Rep: Federation Studios (Girl Climber)

• Cast: Kit Harington (Game of Thrones), Ian Pirie (The Last Duel)

• Prod. Comp: BBC One (The Traitors)

• Dist: Amazon Prime Video

• Sold to 3x distributers including Canada’s CBC and Belgium’s RTBF.

Synopsis:

A pair of lookalikes, one a former French aristocrat and the other an alcoholic English lawyer, falls in love with the same woman amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution.

Gone

• Created by George Kay (Lupin)

• Cast: David Morrissey (The Walking Dead), Eve Myles (Torchwood)

• Prod. Comp: All3Media International (The Assassin)

• N.A. Dist: BritBox (Ludwig)

Synopsis:

Local Headmaster Michael Polly who becomes the prime suspect in his wife Sarah’s disappearance when he encounters gutsy Detective Annie Cassidy in a compulsive game of cat and mouse.

London TV Screenings.

Beta Film picks up two projects. And makes some sales:

Ludwig II.O

• Int. Sales Rep: Beta Film (Couture)

• Cast: Luis Pintsch (22 Lengths), Felix Mayr (Unorthodox)

• Prod. Comp: W&B Television (Dark)

• Filming has wrapped

• Headed to the London TV Screenings

Synopsis:

Follows psychologist Gustav Zimmermann who reviews a psychiatric report on King Ludwig II to determine if the king is incompetent to rule, uncovering secrets of power struggles and forbidden love.

The Other Royals - A Máxima Story

• Int. Sales Rep: Beta Film (Amrum)

• Prod. Comp: Millstreet Films (Starz’ The Couple Next Door)

• Spinoff of flagship series Máxima

Synopsis:

Focuses on two figures orbiting the Dutch crown, starting in 1999 when Mabel Wisse Smit and Margarita de Bourbon de Parme meet their future royal partners and begin navigating the pressures of life under intense public scrutiny

Beta Film’s sale:

Patience

• Int. Sales Rep: Beta Film

• Creator: Laurent Burtin (wri. The Intern)

• Cast: Ali Ariaie (Hulu’s The Great), Liza Sadovy (A Real Pain)

• U.K. Dist: Channel 4 Television (Leaving Neverland)

• Sells in 100 territories

Synopsis:

Patience catalogues evidence in the Yorkshire Police records department. A brilliant self-taught criminologist with keen crime scene instincts, her talent is spotted by Metcalf, opening new worlds for the archivist.

Banijay’s acquisition of comedy challenge series:

You Laugh You Lose

• Int. Sales Rep: Banijay Entertainment (Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man)

• Prod/DistComp: Yoshimoto Kogyo (LOL: Last One Laughing)

Synopsis:

Comedians are forbidden to laugh while comics try to make each other crack.

Banijay Rights joins the BBC’s The Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley, a six-part docuseries investigating some of the internet’s biggest health hacks to find any truths. The doc will screen a portion at the LTVS today.

Berlin sales rep pick up:

We Are All Strangers

• Int. Dist: Paradise City Sales (Drift)

• Dir/Wri: Anthony Chen (Ilo Ilo)

• Prod. Comp: Giraffe Pictures (Wet Season)

• Premiere: Berlin (main competition)

Synopsis:

In bustling Singapore, three families from different social classes navigate their intertwined lives, challenging traditional values and exploring the bonds that connect people beyond blood relations.

The first ever Singaporean entry to compete in Berlin, Paradise is continuing its collaboration with Chen securing a number of deals worldwide shortly following the festival premiere of We Are All Strangers.

BAFTA:

BAFTA Emerging Talent Jury Member Jonte Richardson has stepped down following the incident over the weekend which saw John Davidson, a man with Tourette’s syndrome, shouted a racist slur at Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan during the ceremony. Davidson issued a statement saying, “I am, and always have been deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.”

Warner Bros International Television Production producer, Wall to Wall (Netflix’s Dope), is debuting two nonfiction documentary projects at the London TV Screenings this week. Full details here.

Moon mission doc Artemis

• Prod. Comp: Wall to Wall (for BBC Two)

Synopsis:

A 60-minute special offering unparalleled access to NASA’s Artemis II Moon mission.

L.S. Lowry: The Unheard Tapes

• Prod. Comp: Wall to Wall (for BBC)

• Cast: Ian McKellan (Lord of the Rings)

Synopsis:

Using previously unheard audio recordings from the private conversations, British artist L.S. Lowry’s own words are brought to life as he reflects on his childhood, artistic journey and the industrial Britain that shaped his vision.

A Woman of Substance

• U.S. Distributor/streamer: BritBox

• Int. Sales Rep: Banijay Rights (Peaky Blinders)

• Cast: Brenda Blethyn (Pride & Prejudice), Keith Lomas (Heads of State)

• Prod. Comp: The Forge (Netflix’s Collateral)

Series Synopsis:

From servant’s quarters to business empire, Emma Harte’s indomitable spirit propels her rise from poverty to riches, yearning for one unattainable love.

A Very Good Boy

• Dir: Sébastien Lifshitz (Berlin title Little Girl)

• Cinematographer: Paul Guilhaume (Emilia Pérez)

• France dist: ARTE (Peaky Blinders)

• Prod. Comp: Agat films & Cie (Cannes title Forever Young)

Synopsis:

An aging French gay porn icon recounts his life story in a beautifully existential portrait that intertwines personal narrative with the history of the gay rights movement.

A World Gone Mad - The War Diaries of Astrid Lindgren

• Dir/Wri: Wilfried Hauke (feature length debut)

• German dist: Farbfilm Verleih (Quo Vadis, Aida?)

• Prod. Comp: Auto Images (Little Big Girl)

Synopsis:

Through Astrid Lindgren’s (Pippi Longstocking creator) own wartime diaries and reconstructions, the film explores the Swedish author’s formative years at the outbreak of World War II, reflecting on life, art, and survival.

A Fox Under a Pink Moon

• Int. Sales Rep: CAT&Docs (Citizenfour)

• Dir: Mehrdad Oskouei (Sunless Shadows)

Synopsis:

Over five years, young Soraya documents her repeated attempts to flee Iran for Europe using her mobile phone, offering a raw, deeply personal account of her journey and hopes for a new life.

You can check out all of the docs playing at next month’s CPH:DOX festival here.

A Woman of Substance

• Int. Sales Rep: Banijay

• Dir: John Hardwicke (Knights of the Realm)

• Cast: Brenda Blethyn (Pride & Prejudice)

• Prod. Comp: The Forge (Netflix’s Collateral)

• Dist: Channel 4

Synopsis:

From servant’s quarters to business empire, Emma Harte’s indomitable spirit propels her rise from poverty to riches, yearning for one unattainable love.

Falling

• Int. Sales Rep: Banijay

• Wri: Jack Thorne (Adolescence)

• Cast: Jason Watkins (The Crown), Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You)

• Prod. Comp: The Forge (The Miniaturist)

• Dist: Channel 4

Synopsis:

A nun and a priest, each dedicated to their religious calling, unexpectedly fall in love and must confront what this means for their vows and faith.

Two projects pick up sales reps:

Eléo & Nova

• Int. Sales Rep: Global Constellation (Charlie the Wonderdog)

• Dir: Jérémy Comte (short film Fauve, Berlin title Paradise)

• Prod. Comp: Max Films International (The Power of the Dog)

Synopsis:

Left to their own devices in a remote country house in northern Canada during an endless heatwave, four siblings, a young boy and his three sisters, find themselves cut off from the outside world by a prolonged power outage.

Tristan Forever

• Int. Sales Rep: Radiance

• Dir/Wri: Tobias Nölle (Berlin winning Aloys)

• Prod. Comp: Hugofilm Features (Jill)

Synopsis:

A Paris doctor who’s been friends with a Tristan da Cunha fisherman for 3 years makes one final journey to the world’s most remote inhabited island, planning to settle there permanently.

Hedgehogs in the Haze (Ježevi u magli)

• Dir: Danis Tanović (Oscar-winning No Man’s Land)

• Cast: Džana Pinjo (In the Land of Blood and Honey), Maja Izetbegović (Karlovy’s Regained Memory)

• Going to Berlin’s Co-Pro Series Pitch Fest

Synopsis:

Revolves around three best friends as they deal with myriad issues, including doggy finances, overbearing partners, and an unexpected tryst with the criminal underworld.

Mini Tidbits:

TLA Releasing (Mysterious Skin) and Optimale (Shelter) have acquired U.S. and UK distribution for Locarno film, Lunar Sway, a queer dark comedy. The sophomore film of director Nick Butler (The Legacy of Cloudy Falls), Lunar Sway is about a young man pining for his ex who simultaneously reconnects with his estranged birth mother.

• Dir: Arsen A. Ostojic (A Wonderful Night in Split)

• Cast: Jeremy Irons (Dead Ringers), Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement)

• Original music by Diane Warren and Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid)

Synopsis:

On the recently colonized Crystal Planet, 11-year old Rea befriends a dinosaur-like cub named Burgy, who was separated from his mother by a mutant monster.

Prosecution

• Int. Sales Rep: New Europe Film Sales (Lamb)

• French dist: Memento (Pillion)

• Dir: Faraz Shariat (Future Drei)

Synopsis:

Centers on a young prosecutor Seyo Kim, who is determined to confront far-right violence in eastern Germany.

Bone Keeper

• Int. Sales Rep: Reinvent Yellow (Frostbite)

• Dir/Wri: Howard J. Ford (Escape)

• Cast John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings)

Synopsis:

Centers on six young friends who enter a remote cabin.

• Int. Sales Rep: north.five.six (Regretting You)

• Financier: Constantin Film (Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die)

• Dir/Wri: Josh Boone (Regretting You)

Synopsis:

Follows a hitman in Honolulu who faces a spiritual crisis when he finds himself haunted by the ghost of a young woman he accidentally killed during a botched attempt on his life.

Heavens: The Boy and His Robot

• Int. Sales Rep: Prestige International Pictures (Seeds)

• N.A. dist: Radial Entertainment (Americano)

• Dir/Wri: Rich Ho (Fall)

Synopsis:

The journey of a struggling young pilot, Kai, and his fighter mecha, Little Dragon, set against a backdrop of epic galactic warfare told with action, humor, and heart, rekindling wonder in adults and sparking the imaginations of children.

Villain 2

• Int. Sales Rep: Double Dutch (A Quiet Passion)

• Cast: Craig Fairbrass (Netflix’s One Piece)

The Mise En Scène Company at EFM:

Forge

• Int. Sales Rep: The Mise En Scène Company (Anchorage)

• Dir: Jing Ai Ng (debut)

• Cast: Kelly Marie Tran (The Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Andie Ju (Beef)

• Premiered: SXSW

Synopsis:

Siblings accept a millionaire’s offer to replace and sell his family’s art collection as an underappreciated FBI agent, hungry for a career-making case, closes in.

Desert Road

• Int. Sales Rep: The Mise En Scène Company (The Magnificent Meyersons)

• Dir: Shannon Tripplett (prod. Godzilla)

• Cast: Kristine Froseth (The Assistant), Ryan Hurst (Saving Private Ryan)

• Premiered: SXSW

Synopsis:

A young photographer who, after a car breakdown on a remote desert road, finds herself lost in a time loop and must master its rules to engineer an escape before she is trapped forever.

Pesta

• Int. Sales Rep: Charades (Flow)

• Dist: GKIDS (Little Amelie or the Character of Rain)

• Dir: Hanne Berkaak (debut)

Synopsis:

A romantic horror movie about Astrid, a devout noble girl who falls in love with the pagan rebel Eilev. When Eilev is taken prisoner, Astrid is faced with a horrifying decision: lose him or turn into the monster she dreads the most, Pesta.

Monster Mia

• Int. Sales Rep: Sola Media

• Wri: A.B. Saddlewick (based on book by)

• Trailer

Synopsis:

Expelled student Mia and her pet rat Quentin arrive at Rotwood Academy, where she’s the only human among monster classmates. With Principal Van Vlad’s hatred of humans, she must team up with monsters to thwart his schemes.

Wash Away

• Int. Sales Rep: Finecut

• Dir: Takuya Miyahara (short film Suck)

Synopsis:

The thriller centers on two vacationers who receive a free stay at an isolated lakeside getaway, where they encounter sinister forces tied to local folklore about water’s ability to cleanse the soul.

Berlin:

Not a Hero

• Int. Sales Rep: MMM Films

• Dir/Wri: Rima Das (Village Rockstars)

• Premiere: Berlin (Generation section)

Synopsis:

A city boy moves to his village, where his bitter aunt lives. He makes friends with a horse and local children, embarking on adventures that reveal life’s wonders and his own bravery.

Series Mania:

Europe’s largest TV-centred festival, Series Mania, is kicking things off with the premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale prequel series The Testaments. With Ann Dowd and OBAA’s Chase Infiniti, the series drops on Hulu and Disney+ two weeks after.

The Peaky Blinders movie, The Immortal Man, will also be playing for the first time shortly after.

CJ ENM’s Korean military drama The Legend of Kitchen Soldier will have its world premiere at Series Mania.

Series Mania kicks offon March 20th.

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Unforgettable features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.

Dead Deer High
Director: Jo Rochelle, Producer/Screenwriter: Joshua Roark
Created by teachers, Dead Deer High follows a team of high school slam poets and their English teacher as they prepare for a national poetry competition one year after a tragic shooting changed their lives forever. Cast: Zack Kozlow, Holden Goyette, Kyla Brown, Christian Cruz, Ayanna Berkshire, Joseph Bertót, Madelyn Grace, Aaron Cammack, Julia Prud’homme, Audrey Kennedy Kozlow (World Premiere)

The Fox (Australia)
Director/Screenwriter: Dario Russo, Producers: Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings, Carly Maple
In this darkly comic folktale, an affable foxhunter encounters a talking Fox who offers him an opportunity to transform his fiancée into the perfect woman. Cast: Jai Courtney, Emily Browning, Damon Herriman, Claudia Doumit, Sam Neill, Miranda Otto, Olivia Colman (International Premiere)

Love Language
Director/Screenwriter: Joey Power, Producers: Bert Hamelinck, Allison Hironaka, Ari Lubet, Colin Jost, Jeff Grosvenor
An aspiring author with a side hustle writing wedding vows for other people reconnects with her long-time crush, only to learn he is the fiancé of one of her new clients. Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Anthony Ramos, Manny Jacinto, Isabel May, Lukas Gage, Billie Lourd, Chloe Fineman, Zach Zucker, Morgan Jay, Bobbi Althoff, Marchánt Davis, Dan Perrault (World Premiere)

A Safe Distance (Canada)
Director: Gloria Mercer, Producers: Nic Altobelli, Aidan West, Gloria Mercer, Screenwriter: Aidan West
After a woman is abandoned by her boyfriend in the forest, she befriends a pair of notorious fugitives on the run from the law, and becomes dangerously entangled in their relationship. Cast: Bethany Brown, Tandia Mercedes, Cody Kearsley, Chris McNally (World Premiere)

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Incredible features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.

Baby/Girls
Directors: Alyse Walsh, Jackie Jesko, Producers: Melissa Leardi, Alex Waterfield

Set in post-Dobbs Arkansas, baby/girls follows three teens living in a Christian maternity home as they navigate pregnancy and early motherhood. The film offers an intimate, unfiltered look at girlhood and motherhood colliding in the American South. Featuring Grace Dulaney, Ariana Green, Olivia Malott, Audra Dulaney, Brian Rivera, Paula Woods (World Premiere)

FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Acclaimed standouts from festivals around the world.

Big Girls Don’t Cry (New Zealand)
Director/Screenwriter: Paloma Schneideman, Producers: Vicky Pope, Thomas Coppell
Rural New Zealand, 2006. Over one transformative summer, 14 year-old Sid Bookman discovers desire, identity and the internet, as she imitates the people she longs to be loved by. Cast: Ani Palmer, Rain Spencer, Noah Taylor (Texas Premiere)

Chasing Summer
Director: Josephine Decker, Producers: Rob Guillermo, Ray Maiello, Nihaar Sinha, Houston King, Sam Pressman, Paula Paizes, Screenwriter: Iliza Shlesinger
After losing both her job and boyfriend, Jamie retreats to her small Texas hometown where friends and flings from a fateful high school summer turn her life upside down. Cast: Iliza Shlesinger, Garrett Wareing, Lola Tung, Tom Welling, Megan Mullally, Aimee Garcia, Cassidy Freeman, Jeff Perry (Texas Premiere)

Cookie Queens
Director: Alysa Nahmias, Producers: Gregory Kershaw, Michael Dweck, Alysa Nahmias, Jennifer Sims
It’s Girl Scout Cookie season, and four tenacious girls strive to be a top-selling “Cookie Queen,” navigating an $800 million business in which innocence and ambition collide. Featuring Nikki B., Olive G., Shannon Elizabeth S., Ara E. (Texas Premiere)

Joybubbles
Director: Rachael Morrison, Producer: Sarah Winshall
In the 1950s, a boy discovers he can control the global telephone system by whistling a magic tone. Born blind and hungry for connection, his obsession with the telephone sparks a subculture that shapes the future of hacking in the 20th century. Featuring JoyBubbles, Steve Wozniak, Toni Engressia (Texas Premiere)

VISIONS
Audacious, risk-taking artists who demonstrate innovation and creativity.

Sinner Supper Club
Directors: Daisy Rosato, Nora Kaye, Producers: Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Jackie Monoson, Screenwriters: Nora Kaye, Daisy Rosato
An NYC friend group reunites to throw an “eviction funeral” for Genevieve; as the night progresses and a heat wave traps them together, their long-ignored problems boil over. An improvised gay mumblecore ghost story shot on an iPhone in six days. Cast: Ashil Lee, Elise Kibler, Genevieve Simon, Jayae Riley Jr., Nora Kaye, Sophie Sagan-Gutherz, Daisy Rosato (World Premiere)

24 BEATS PER SECOND
Vibrant films showcasing the sounds, culture, and influence of music and musicians.

Stages
Director: Ryan Booth, Producers: Val Hill, Morgan Stevenson Cooper, Russell Wayne Groves, JOLENE, Screenwriter: Bradley Jackson, Dan Steele
A year after the tumultuous break-up of his band, Ben Garza sets off on his first ever solo tour. Life on the road is different now, as Ben learns alongside his ride-or-die tour manager, Rita and his spotlight-stealing opening act, Jessie. Cast: David Ramirez, Leslie Grace, JOLENE, Jake McMullen, Rafael Casal, Abner Ramirez, Amanda Sudano Ramirez, Jerry Ferrara, Marc Menchaca, David Strathairn (World Premiere)

The Man with the Big Hat
Director/Screenwriter: Austin Sayre, Producers: Stephanie Moore, David Broad, Aaron Colussi, Jay Newberg, Diana Zuniga, Cherry Brown, Austin Sayre
Experience the unraveling of fame’s illusions as 1970’s Texas singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz embarks on a soul-stirring journey of self-discovery and the true meaning of success. Featuring Lyle Lovett, Ray Benson, Terry Lickona, Butch Hancock, Bobby Bridger, Mike Williams, Dan McCrimmon, Janey Lake, Darcie Jane Fromholz, Felicity Rose Fromholz (World Premiere)

TV PROGRAM

TV SPOTLIGHT
Exciting new series from around the world

Woodstockers
Showrunner: Corbin Bernsen, Director: Oliver Bernsen, Producer: Zoe Rosenberg, Screenwriters: Corbin Bernsen, Joshua Michael Stern, Henry Bernsen
When his marriage collapses and his best friend dies, an aging hippie who went to Woodstock in 1969 and never left must finally reckon with a life shaped by peace, love, and too much weed. Cast: Corbin Bernsen, Stephen Tobolowsky, Barbara Hershey, Susan Ruttan, Maggie Lawson, Willie C. Carpenter, John Glover, Lee Wilkof, Lea Delaria, Jilian Medford
(World Premiere)

COMPETITION AWARDS
The Narrative Feature Competition, the Documentary Feature Competition, and Special Awards will be announced on Wednesday, March 18 along with all the Short Film Program winners, which are eligible for Jury Awards within their respective screening categories, and XR Experience Competition. 2026 Special Awards include the SXSW Best of Texas Award, Redbreast Unhidden Award, Vimeo Staff Pick Award, Agog Immersive Impact Award, and the Janet Pierson Champion Award presented by Indiewire. All film categories, except Special Events, will be eligible for category-specific Audience Awards, which will be certified by the accounting firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter and announced via sxsw.com the following week.

SXSW is proud to be an official qualifying festival for the Academy Awards® Short Film competition. Winners of our Best Animated, Best Narrative and Best Documentary Short Film categories become eligible for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards (Oscars). Any British Short Film or British Short Animation that screens at SXSW is eligible for BAFTA nomination. Films are also eligible for the Independent Spirit Awards, more information on eligibility.

Written by the SXSW press team.

Summer’s Last Resort

• Int. Sales Rep: Blue Fox Entertainment (Sidelined: The QB and Me)

• Cast: Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill), Jerry O’Connell (Billions)

Synopsis:

A high-strung teen’s vacation takes a turn when she’s trapped with her free-spirited mom’s try-hard boyfriend, who also happens to be her vice principal.

Buzzkill

• Int. Sales Rep: Blue Fox Entertainment (Big Girls Don’t Cry

• Dir: Jem Garrard (R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead)

• Wri: Suzanne Keilly (Sundance’s Slumber Party Massacre)

• Cast: Siena Agudong (Sidelined: The QB and Me), Brec Bassinger (Final Destination: Bloodlines)

Synopsis:

When a group of sorority sisters find themselves trapped with a vengeful killer, party-girl Nora knows that the drunker she gets, the more her tipsy memories start revealing clues about who’s murdering her friends.

The films are set to be exclusively released on Tubi with production on going on both.

Korean powerhouse Finecut also adds two new acquisitions to its EFM slate.

3D animated feature Long Long Night

• Int. Sales Rep: Finecut (Burning)

• Dir: Youm Kyu-Bock (debut)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

The last rhino of his kind befriends a penguin hatched from an abandoned egg, embarking on a journey to the ocean together.

The Day She Returns (Geunyoga doraon nal)

• Int. Sales Rep: Finecut (I Saw the Devil)

• Dir: Hong Sangsoo (Cannes’ In Our Day)

• Cast: Song Seon-mi (Golden Time)

• Premiere: Berlin (Panorama section)

Synopsis:

After completing an indie film, an actress struggles to recall details from her three press interviews when asked to recreate them during her acting class.

• Int. Sales Rep: Luminosity Pictures (Rise of the Zombie)

• Dir: Brian McGreevy (wri. Netflix’s Hemlock Grove)

• Cast: Kelsey Asbille (Yellowstone), Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story), Ben Platt (Theater Camp)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

Five actors enroll in a mysterious week-long intensive led by a renowned but secretive instructor. While her former students have reached extraordinary heights in their careers, her unconventional methods remain unknown to outsiders.

Damned If You Do

• Int. Sales Rep: Stoic

• Dir: Evan Metzold (Damned If You Do)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

A group of friends who sold their souls to the devil years ago must reunite before their 25th high school reunion to try and escape Hell’s grasp before the contract’s deadline expires.

Sega video game adaptation The House of the Dead

• Wri/Dir: Paul W.S. Anderson (wri. Resident Evil: Apocalypse)

• Cast: Isabela Merced (Alien: Romulus, The Last of Us)

• Going to EFM

Dominion Of Darkness 2

• Int. Sales Rep: Mokster Films (Halabala)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

The story follows the priests as they investigate a brutal possession tied to a generations-old blood pact that awakens a ‘Rephaim’, an ancient demon rooted in Old Testament scripture

Lucy Lost

• Int. Sales Rep: Goodfellas Animation (Oscar nominated Arco)

• Dir/Wri: Olivier Clert (animator The Lorax)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

Mysterious eleven-year-old Lucy, whose ability to see visions no-one else can see sparks suspicion in the quiet fishing village she calls home.

The Wild Between Us

• Int. Sales Rep: France TV Distribution (Don Jon)

• Dir: François Busnel (Les Grands Mythes)

• Cast: Andreas Pietschmann (Nuremberg)

• Going to EFM

Berlin Co-Prod Market:

The Vacation

• Int. Sales Rep: Luxbox (Magellan)

• Dir: Dénes Nagy (Natural Light)

• Prod. Comp: Campfilm (The Hungarian Dressmaker)

• Going to Berlin Co-Market

• Int. Sales Rep: Quantify (The Trial)

• Dir: Brendan Gabriel Murphy (Fluxx)

• Cast: Tanner Beard (Landman), Jamie King (My Bloody Valentine)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

The story follows Casey Hatfield, a former Army Ranger, who joins a motorcycle gang causing him to spiral into a life of crime and addiction. Breaking away from the grips of the brutal gang he attempts to bring down the entire organization.

Documentary To Hold a Mountain

• Int. Sales Rep: MetFilm Sales (Name Me Lawand)

• Dir: Biljana Tutorov (When Pigs Come)

• Premiere: Sundance (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize winner)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

In Montenegro’s highlands, a shepherd mother and daughter defend their ancestral land from NATO military training threats, recalling their family’s past violence.

Petrichor

• Int. Sales Rep: Goodfellas (A Private Life)

• Dir: Marco Perego (The Absence of Eden)

• Wri: Nicholas Pileggi (Casino)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

Planned TV series based on the 1990 film ‘Goodfellas’, which follows gangster Henry Hill and his friends as they move up the mob hierarchy.

Dragoons

• First Look

• Int. Sales Rep: Global Constellation (Straight Circle)

• Dir: Shea Wageman (Charlie the Wonderdog)

• Going to EFM

Father

• Int. Sales Rep: Intramovies

• Dir: Tereza Nvotová (Nightsiren)

• Premiered at Venice

Synopsis:

A successful man’s perfect life shatters when his baby disappears from daycare. His wife’s frantic call reveals a devastating truth about a memory lapse known as Forgotten Baby Syndrome, joining countless similar tragedies.

Just an Illusion

• Int. Sales Rep: Gaumont

• Dir: Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano (The Intouchables)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

A 12-year-old boy in 1985 suburban Paris navigates life between his distant older brother and quarreling parents while grappling with identity, friendship, love, and understanding why adults seem lost.

Rays and Shadows

• Int. Sales Rep: Gaumont

• Dir: Xavier Giannoli (Of Money and Blood)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

Set in Paris during the 1940’s and explores the moral compromises of French high society during the Occupation through the intertwined fates of journalist Jean Luchaire and his daughter Corinne, a rising movie star.

Where To?

• Int. Sales Rep: Lucky Number (Palestine 36)

• Dir: Assaf Machnes (Debut)

• Cast: Ehab Salami (Let It Be Morning), Ido Tako (Tell Me Everything)

• Premiere: Berlin (Perspectives section)

Synopsis:

A Palestinian Uber driver and a lost young Israeli cross paths during multiple taxi rides through Berlin, leading to unexpected moments that blend humor and heartache as their journeys unfold.

Westend Girl

• Int. Sales Rep: Beta Film (Couture)

• Cast: Helena Zengel (News of the World)

• Premiere: Berlin (series market)

Wolfgang

• Dir: Filmsaaz (short film She Who Wasn’t Tamed)

• Premiere: Rotterdam (Bright Future section)

Synopsis:

1778, exiled in Paris, in hopes of a better life, after the sudden death of his mother, the depressed 22-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, spends his days crying in his room stuck in the past and spends his nights getting drunk, writing scatological pieces of music, to escape the past.

EFM:

Play Dead

• Int. Sales Rep: WME Independent (Nuremberg)

• Dir: Jaume Collett-Serra (Carry On)

• Cast: Noah Jupe (Hamnet), Matthias Schweighöfer (Oppenheimer)

• Prod. Co: Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures (Don’t Breathe)

Synopsis:

Follows an Allied soldier who, after an ambush, must play dead to survive the night while surrounded by Nazis

Wildcard

• Int. Sales Rep: Mavryk. (Broken Bird)

• Dir: Greg Bekkers (Debut)

• Cast: Andrea Londo (Narcos), David Arquette (Scream), James Le Gros (Drugstore Cowboy)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

Follows Isabel Collins, a former tennis prodigy newly out of rehab, who returns to her childhood home near the U.S.-Mexico border to rebuild her identity amid fractured family relationships and addiction.

Mano Negra Documentary

• Int. Sales Rep: Goodfellas (A Private Life)

• Dir: David Dufresne (The Monopoly of Violence)

Unholy Night

• Int. Sales Rep: Blue Finch Films (Dolly)

• Dir: Michael Gabriele (Debut)

• Cast: Marc Bendavid (Dark Matter)

Synopsis:

A family’s Christmas Eve dinner becomes a nightmare as Gino must protect his loved ones from his reanimated grandmother who crashes the celebration with murderous intent.

Soon You Will Be Gone And Possibly Eaten

• Int. Sales Rep: Anton (Fuze)

• Dir: Egor Abramenko (Sputnik)

• Cast: Sophie Wilde (Babygirl)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

Follows Rob and Sabile, a young engaged couple who head to a secluded mountain resort to take their vows. Their joyous wedding takes a different turn when unexpected guests crash the ceremony.

Rotterdam projects pick up sales reps:

Visit Films handles sales:

The Gymnast

• Int. Sales Rep: Visit Films (Mouse)

• Dir: Charlotte Glynn (Rachel Is)

• Cast: Margarita Levieva (The Lincoln Lawyer), Cotter Smith (Mindhunter)

• Going to Rotterdam (Tiger Competition)

Synopsis:

1993. In a former mill-town devastated by loss of industry, a 16 year-old elite gymnast and her single father, a die hard “gym dad”, fight to reinvent themselves after a potentially career ending injury.

Festival Trailers:

Berlin:

London

• Trailer

• Dir: Sebastian Brameshuber (Movements of a Nearby Mountain)

• Premiere: Berlin

First all-Pakistani film Lali

• Trailer

• Dir: Sarmad Sultan Khoosat (Oscar-nominated Circus of Life)

• Premiere: Berlin (Panorama)

My Name

• Trailer

• Dir: Chung Ji-young (Debut)

• Cast: Yeom Hye-ran (No Other Choice)

• Premiere: Berlin

The Day She Returns

• Trailer

• Dir: Hong Sang-soo (Right Now, Wrong Then)

• Premiere: Berlin (Panorama)

EFM:

A Woman Asleep

• Cinematic AI slop Trailer

• Dir: Vikki Bardot (prod. Post Truth)

• Prod. Comp: Spongeworthy Studio (AI-generated doc Post Truth)

SXSW line-up keeps growing. They’ve just added 54 new projects. Full breakdown here.

Top additions include series, like:

• HBO’s The Comeback (S3)

And some cool film premieres:

• Pretty Lethal

  • Cast: Uma Thurman, Iris Apatow

Synopsis:

An action-packed thriller where five ballerinas, stranded in a remote forest, take shelter at an unsettling roadside inn. They must weaponize years of brutal training, turning grace, discipline, and even pointe shoes into tools for survival.

• The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel

  • Dir: Ben Feldman (star: Superstore)

Synopsis:

An in-depth look at the formative years of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the profound influence of original guitarist, Hillel Slovak. The film explores the band’s early evolution in LA and the deep bonds forged through their friendship.

• Hokum

  • Cast: Adam Scott

  • Prod: Roy Lee (Weapons)

When novelist Ohm Bauman retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, he is consumed by tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance forces him to confront dark corners of his past.

• The Saviors

  • Cast: Adam Scott

Synopsis:

An estranged couple rents out their Airbnb, but soon start to suspect their guests might be plotting something nefarious. As the couple investigates, they rekindle their relationship and discover something stranger than they could have imagined.

• Chili Finger

  • Cast: Judy Greer, Sean Astin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman

Synopsis:

When a small town lawyer discovers a severed finger in her chili, she blackmails the restaurant for a cash payout in an effort to regain control over her mundane life. The situation quickly spirals out of control, and her life descends into chaos.

• Dreamquil

  • Cast: Elizabeth Banks, John C. Reilly, Juliette Lewis, Sofia Boutella and Kathryn Newton

Synopsis:

Set in the near future, a woman returning from a virtual retreat discovers her worst nightmare when the helper robot sent to assist her family in her absence starts to infringe on her life and identity.

Full SXSW breakdown here.

Whale 52 - Suite for Man, Boy, and Whale (short film)

• Trailer

• Dir: Daniel Neiden (Slide)

• Premiere: Berlin

Shanghai Daughter

• Trailer

• Dir: Agnis Shen Shongmin (wri. Deep Simulator)

• Premiere: Berlin (Panorama section)

The Fabulous Time Machine (A Fabulosa Máquina do Tempo)

• Clip

• Dir: Eliza Capai (Your Turn)

• Premiere: Berlin (Generation Kplus)

Rotterdam:

Mi Amor

• Trailer

• Dir: Guillaume Nicloux (The Kidnapping of Michael Houellebecq, Valley of Love)

• Cast: Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy)

• Premiere: Rotterdam

A Fading Man (Der verlorene Mann)

• Trailer

• Dir: Welf Reinhart (short film Eigenheim)

• Premiere: Rotterdam (Tiger competition)

Festival First Look:

I Don’t Know You

• First Look

• Int. Sales Rep: Goodfellas (Nouvelle Vague)

• Cast: Kentaro Sakaguchi (What Comes After Love)

• Going to EFM

Synopsis:

Following a teenager called Asako and her relationship with Yuhei, a man who became a father figure to her for six months when she was five years old after he started dating her mother.