EXCLUSIVE: The 15th Frontières Co-Production Market (July 22-25) in Montreal will host its first Thai project Cher featuring the star from the Death Whisperer trilogy as well as Gro(ceries) from the UK’s Sophie King, who is at the vanguard of an increased presence of female filmmakers.
Running in conjunction with Fantasia International Film Festival (July 16-August 2) and boasting a record 194 submissions this year (136 from official selection and 58 for Shorts To Features), the market comprises conference panels, pitching sessions, one-to-one meetings, and roundtable networking.
Official Selection features 12 entries by men and eight by women and includes Songsak Mongkolthong’s Thai project Cher starring Rattanawadee Wongthong and produced by Hans Audric Estialbo of Fearfolks, and Rachvin Narula and Kulthep Narula of Benetone Films. The action horror centres on a police officer who encounters a vengeful forest spirit.
From the UK comes King’s Gro(ceries), which took part in Glasgow Film Festival’s Funny features Lab earlier this year and tells of a woman raised by vampires who learns to her chagrin that she is human. Rosanna Eden-Ellis and Catherine Joy White of Five By Five Films are producing. The UK contingent includes Faye Jackson’s cult conspiracy horror They produced by Carley Armstrong.
Vegard Dahle’s Norwegian zombie comedy Grandmonster produced by Jon Vatne won the inaugural Fiction Norway pitching prize in 2024 and follows an American dropout who battles a zombie outbreak and budget cuts at her grandmother’s Norwegian nursing home; Apoorva Satish’s romantic zombie comedy Cold Feet (Czech-Fr-Pol-India) centres on a couple at their Czech-Indian wedding whose guests transform into flesh-eaters and is produced by Michal Sikora.
Isaac Ezban’s Mexican sci-fi road movie Delivery centres on a lonely truck driver who meets a girl in a border town and is produced by Natalia Contreras and Alejandra Cardenas; psychological thriller Third Wheel (S Afr-Neth) from Zoe Ramushu tells of a people-pleaser who confronts ghosts from her past at her pre-wedding retreat and is produced by Ellen Havenith and Reabetswe Moeti-Vogt; and comedy fantasy Humpty: American Dream (Can-USA) follows a singing egg-man who ventures into the Kingdom of Orange County to save his kidnapped wizard father. Maxwell Nalevansky, whose dark comedy Rats! played at 2024 Fantasia, is directing and his producer is Taylor Nodrick.
Genre Film Lab comprises five female Canadian entries, among them two Vancouver Genre Film Labs selections: Nathalie Therriault’s 1917 Quebec-set folk horror Loup-Garou, about the secret love between two farmer’s wives; and Jean Parsons’ erotic survival thriller To The North, in which a Yukon homesteader in a stale marriage encounters a man in the woods after her husband goes missing.
Shorts To Features picks include Jasmine De Silva’s dark comedy body horror Eternal Valley from the UK, about a jealous teen who pursues the ultimate makeover when her popular best friend and beauty queen dies; and Edson Jean’s US-Jamaican folkoric horror Sea Spirits, in which a guilt-ridden mother refuses to abandon the search for her daughter lost at sea.
“We’ve seen submissions grow every year for the past four years, with a new record of 136 projects submitted for main selection and 58 for shorts to features,” said market director Annick Mahnert. ”Filmmakers are inspired and are no longer afraid of sharing their vision, however unconventional or distinct it may feel. We’ve also noticed a significant rise in submissions by female filmmakers.”
The Frontières Co-Production Market is funded by Telefilm Canada, SODEC, Rendez-Vous Canada, Government of Quebec, City of Montreal, Buma Music in Motion, and Netherlands Film Fund. For the first time in September, Frontières is teaming up with TIFF: The Market to showcase three Canadian and two international projects.
Full list of selections and directors
Official Selection
Any Means Necessary (Can), George Mihalka
Aurora Comes Homes (Can), Gloria Mercer
Birth (Est), Oscar Lehemaa
Cher (Thai), Songsak Mongkolthong
Cold Feet (Czech-Fr-Pol-India), Apoorva Satish
Delivery (Mex), Isaac Ezban
Grandmonster (Nor), Vegard Dahle
Gro(ceries) (UK), Sophie King
Humpty: American Dream (Can-USA), Maxwell Nalevansky
Injured Reserve (Can), Tyler Mckenzie Evans
My Missing Half (Phil-Japan), Rodiell Veloso
Ring Leader (USA-Can), Jason Lapeyre
The Fall (USA-Fr), Alexandre O. Philippe
The Great Canada Day Massacre (Can, QC), Elza Kephart
The Mire (Fin-Nor-Swe-Latvia), Marika Harjusaari
They (UK), Faye Jackson
Third Wheel (S Afr-Neth), Zoe Ramushu
Violent Delights (USA), Jack Warren
XX (Neth), Nina Noel Raaijmakers
You Were Never Here (Austria-Can), Johannes Grenzfurther
Genre Film Lab
Loup-Garou (Can BC, QC), Nathalie Therriault
Severed (Can BC), Lauren Marsden
Stacy’s Mon (Can ON), Marushka Jessica Almeida
To The North (Can BC), Jean Parsons
Wifey (Can ON), Cassidy Civiero
Shorts To Features
Echoes (Australia), Gemma Lee
Eternal Valley (UK), Jasmine De Silva
Noodles, Our Love Was Instant And Forever (Phil), Whammy Alcazaren
Reset (USA), dirs. Celine Tien, Jerry Hsu
Sea Spirits (USA-Jam), dir. Edson Jean
Music Pitches
Erica Wong Ping Lun (Can)
Ethan Lawrence (Can)
Michiel Marsman (Neth)
Raphael Reed (Can).
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