Up-and-Coming European Producers Pitch Their Projects in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)

European Film Promotion is playing host at the Cannes Film Festival to 20 up-and-coming European producers, selected for its Producers on the Move program. Variety invited the producers to share details of their upcoming projects.

Katharina Posch, Austria
“I’m Not Here to Make Friends”
Director: Julia Niemann
“I’m Not Here to Make Friends” is a sleek and sunny psycho thriller about a reality TV show set on a remote island. Playing with elements of horror and satire it asks the question: Why do we want to be seen so badly?

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Elisa Heene, Belgium
“Nightshade”
Director: Leni Huyghe
“Nightshade” by Cinéfondation talent Leni Huyghe is a psychological thriller about Leanna, a chemist, who starts experimenting with the poisonous plant Nightshade and discovers its hallucinatory powers. Leana gets addicted and loses herself in a dreamlike world, where the midwife Marta is accused of witchcraft.

Kalin Kalinov, Bulgaria
“Axis of Life”
Director: Atanas Hristoskov
“Axis of Life” is an English-language dystopian drama. Danish actor Lars Simonsen (“The Bridge,” 2013) is entrusted with the lead role while Clive Russell (“Game of Thrones”) and Italian actress Marina Suma are also part of the cast. The project is in post-production.

Tibor Keser, Croatia
“Spacehead”
Directors: Marina Andree Škop, Vanda Raýmanová
Siblings Milan, 13, and Alice, 10, move to an isolated house in the countryside to support Milan with his autistic episodes. When their parents mysteriously disappear, Alice seeks help from local kids, introducing them to her extraordinary brother. Together, they embark on a life-changing detective adventure – live action meets animation, intended for young cinemagoers.

Tonia Mishiali, Cyprus
“Maya”
Director: Tonia Mishiali
Rebellious psychiatrist Maya visits her family’s isolated village for the first time, only to enter a patriarchal microcosm complete with superstitions and fables of goblins in the woods. She is soon led to big discoveries about the myths and… herself.

Kristýna Michálek Květová, Czech Republic
“Year of the Widow”
Director: Veronika Lišková
Veronika Lišková’s fiction debut, “Year of the Widow,” is about a young newly widowed woman on her journey to emancipation. It is a co-production with Slovakia and Croatia, supported by Eurimages and set to premiere later this year.

Delphine Schmit, France
“Three Times Jenny”
Director: Milena Beurer-Doenst
A drama set in the fashion industry, following the journey of a young model in three episodes of her life, from rural France to the Paris fashion week, ending as a low-class model in China, where she understands the darker truths existing behind the glamour.

Fabian Driehorst, Germany
“Struwwel” (animation)
Director: Frédéric Schuld
“Struwwel” is the nickname of an 11-year-old girl. After many years, she re-discovers the book her father once wrote for her when she was little. Magic happens, time stands still, and she gets an incredible Super-Weakness: statically charged, her hair stands on end, but she can’t touch anyone without hurting them. “Struwwel” is an animation feature for the whole family and inspired by Germany’s most famous picture book “Struwwelpeter.”

Maria Kontogianni, Greece
“Hystera”
Director: Asimina Proedrou
The lives of three Greek women in Athens intertwine as a series of incidents makes them radically question their identity, in a story about motherhood, gender roles and breaking free.

Sara Nassim, Iceland
“200 Kópavogur”
Director: Grímur Hákonarson
Grímur Hákonarson, who won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2015 with “Rams,” delivers a 1960s-set story about two brothers who are some of the first inhabitants of a new suburban town in Iceland. The film follows them as they build themselves a house from the ground up. One day the older brother asks his younger brother for a favor, a favor that is going to have a deep impact on both of their lives.

Evan Horan, Ireland
“Breed”
Director: Kate Dolan
“Breed” tells the story of Jess and Emer, a young lesbian couple, who travel back to Emer’s rural hometown to see her dying father. However, shortly after they arrive Jess discovers she’s pregnant, with no idea how that’s possible.

Giedrė Žickytė, Lithuania
“A Tale of Two Mothers”
Director: Giedrė Žickytė
The remarkable story of a woman marked to die, but who survived with honor and dignity, guided by the love and faith instilled by her two mothers—one lost to the Nazis, the other to the Soviet Gulag.

Katarzyna Ozga, Luxembourg
“Droneland” (series)
Showrunner: Nicolas Steil, Sigi Kamml
In a European future where citizens are under constant surveillance by thousands of drones, two Europol agents investigate the mysterious murder of a politician and uncover a devious conspiracy threatening to shake the European Union to its core.

Angela Nestorovska, North Macedonia
“Tenant”
Director: Marko Gjokovikj
When a charismatic and controlling roommate’s true nature is unveiled, three friends are drawn into a tense battle of psychological warfare, uncovering dark secrets within themselves as they fight for their individuality and freedom.

Anita Rehoff Larsen, Norway
“Is the Sea There? Tell It to Come In”
Director: Victor Kossakovsky
This is the second film in Victor Kossakovsky’s projected “Empathy Trilogy.” As with “Gunda,” the much-lauded first film in the trilogy about the sentience of non-human animals, Kossakovsky has created a unique cinematic vision. He invites viewers to enter a suspenseful, unforgettable experience aimed at preserving the human capacity to love and reminding us to re-dream the future.

Isabel Machado, Portugal
“Postcards for the Future”
Directors: Christine Reeh-Peters, Isabel Machado
“Postcards for the Future” is a kaleidoscopic film essay blending real footage and AI-crafted animation, inspired by Donna Haraway’s insights and her visionary “Camille Stories,” about a future of responsibility to inhabit the multispecies place called Terrapolis.

Dragana Jovović, Serbia
“In the Shadow of the Horns”
Director: Ognjen Glavonić
The second feature fiction by Ognjen Glavonić, following “The Load,” which played in Directors’ Fortnight in 2018. During his last year of high school, Vuk is trying to record an album with his black metal band and maintain a shaky friendship with his best friend, Igor. They try to overcome the prejudices and condemnation emanating from their environment.

Wanda Adamík Hrycová, Slovak Republic
“Flight from Kabul”
Director: Sahraa Karimi
Zibaa, a successful Afghan filmmaker, is planning her wedding with Samir but their plans are horribly destroyed when the Taliban unexpectedly seize Kabul. Because Zibaa’s life is at risk, Samir suggests escaping to the conservative south. Zibaa’s sister-in-law begs her to save her nieces and flee the country. Caught between her love and the girls’ future, Zibaa has only one hour to decide.

Eva Åkergren, Sweden
“The Curse – A Love Story”
Director: Amanda Kernell
Eva Åkergren is working on Amanda Kernell’s third feature film. With this film they return to Sápmi and follow a young female reindeer herder during her first year after her father’s death.

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