Yahoo News Cannes Critics’ Week ‘How To Have Sex’ Incubator Marks 10th Edition In French New Wave Normandy Retreat
The 10th edition of the Next Step program of Cannes Critics’ Week is unfolding this week at the Moulin d’Andé artists residence in Normandy.
The complex, built around a 12th Century mill overlooking the River Seine, is renowned for its French New Wave connections, with François Truffaut reported to have written the screenplay for Jules And Jim during a stay there in the early 1960s.
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“It’s one of the oldest writing and screenwriting residents in France,” says Cannes Critics’ Week program manager and Next Step workshop director Thomas Rosso. “We been coming here since the beginning.”
Aimed at helping filmmakers who have shown shorts at Cannes Critics’ Week get their first feature over the line, Next Step has supported 88 projects since its launch, 29 of which have come to fruition, with 13 more in production or due to premiere in 2024.
“Next Step is open to all filmmakers who have been invited to Cannes Critics’ Week with a short. They can only come once so we try to make sure that it is the right time for the project to participate,” says Rosso.
This year’s selection – featuring 10 filmmakers and their first feature projects – is characteristically diverse and a reflection of the Cannes Critics’ Week line-up over the years.
They include French-Swiss director Anton Bialas with The Last Piña Colada On Earth, revolving around the habitués of a Paris nightclub threatened with closure by conservative forces; Dutch filmmaker Vincent Tilanus Dovetail, about an openly gay teenager coming to terms with the discovery of his father’s past relationships with men, while on a wedding anniversary road trip with his parents; and Egyptian director Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore, a contemporary take on Romeo and Juliet exploring the reality of African immigrants living in Egypt. [scroll down for full selection]
The participants spend five days at the Moulin d’Ande in one-on-one and collective meetings with screenwriters, directors, producers and different types of consultants, before heading to Paris on Friday to meet producers, sales agents and distributors in a sort of speed-dating event.
One of the projects will also receive the 2,500€ Next Step Award and an invite to the Cannes Film Festival. Two of the participants will also be selected for a long residency at the Moulin d’Andé and the Pop Residency program.
As it marks its 10th edition, the legacy and impact of Next Step is snowballing.
A raft of films making waves on the festival and awards circuit this year benefitted from its support including Molly Manning Walker’s Cannes 2023 Un Certain Regard winner How to Have Sex; Felipe Gálvez’ Cannes Fipresci winner and Chilean Oscar entry The Settlers, which also played in Un Certain Regard; Locarno breakout The Permanent Picture by Laura Ferrés, and Moin Hussain’s Sky Peals, which debuted at Venice Critics’ Week
Manning, who won the Next Prize for How To Have Sex in 2021, gave a shout out to Cannes Critics’ Week on the red carpet at the European Film Awards over the weekend, where the film won European Discovery award for best first film.
Beyond the development support at the Moulin D’Ande residency and prize, Manning also met with the film’s eventual French sales agent mk2 films via the speed-dating event.
“She made her first connections there and then the deal came together in Berlin,” says Rosso. “The Friday meeting helps the filmmakers to start building a network, it’s a first step to connecting with potential partners.”
Around 80 attendees are expected at this year’s speed-dating event in Paris on Friday.
Most are predominantly based in France but there will be a smattering of international professionals, with Rosso noting a trend for people on route to Les Arcs Film Festival, which kicks off in the French Alps this weekend, stopping off in Paris for the meeting.
How To Have Sex world premiered in Cannes Official Selection rather than Cannes Critics’ Week, but Rosso says retaining the films it has supported for its own line-up is not the end game.
“We can’t invite all the features we’ve supported on the Next Step program, so it’s important that they are able to find homes elsewhere,” he says.
“Of course, it can sometimes be frustrating when films we’d like to screen go elsewhere. We’re like parents with children and we want to keep them with us but that’s not the objective of Next Step. The aim is to help filmmakers succeed with their first film, so we’re delighted when they achieve success. What’s happened with How To Have Sex is amazing,” he says.
The Full Selection Of Projects & Filmmakers at 10th Edition of Next Step
The Last Piña Colada On Earth
Dir. Anton Bialas (French-Switzerland)
The owner and habitués of baroque Paris nightclub refuse to move on when capitalistic forces try to shut it down
Anekumen
Dir. Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe (Spain)
Disillusioned young factory workers create the remote, spiritual community of Anekumen in the mountains in the wake of a failed strike.
To Put Out One Fire
Dir. Jela Hasler (Switzerland
An idealistic young woman, who has recently completed her postgraduate degree, kicks off her career in Zurich’s Urban Greening Office, where her academic approach clashes with that of an older colleague.
Nous Brûlons
Dir. Nans Laborde-Jourdàa (France)
A mad love story composed of eight stories revolving around mania and addiction to love.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore
Dir. Morad Mostafa (Egypt)
A mystical reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet exploring the experiences of African immigrants in Egypt, through a 26-year-old woman struggling for survival in Cairo’s Ain-Shams neighborhood.
Luna On Two Planets
Andreas Slaviček (Croatia)
Absent-minded young photographer Luna lives between fantasy and reality, juggling several day jobs in the hope of one day landing her dream job.
Under My Skin
Dir. Inès Teixeira (Portugal)
A 17-year-old embarks on a relationship with a man ten years her senior while on holiday at her grandmother’s home in Serra do Açor but discovers on re-meeting him in Lisbon that he has not been honest with her.
Dovetail
Dir. Vincent Tilanus (the Netherlands)
An openly gay teenager navigates mixed emotions following the revelation his father has been hiding past relationships with men, while on a U.S. wedding anniversary road trip with both his parents.
Una Chica Triste
Dir. Fernanda Tovar (Mexico)
The situation spirals out of control when a teenager seeks to avenge her best friend after the latter is raped at a party.
A Girl Unknown
Dir. Jing Zou (China)
Exploration of the 1980 and 90s phenomenon of abandoned girls in China, through the life of a woman from six-years-old through to her 30s, living in three different families.
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