EXCLUSIVE: Projects from Bêtes Sauvages and Lunar Pictures are among the 10 features selected for the inaugural Matchmakers Global South Lab.
Delivered by UK production companies DreamCoat Films and Mairare, the lab is for UK-based producers working on feature fiction projects seeking co-production with countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Each producer will attend a programme of sessions led by industry experts from the UK, including the National Film and Television School; and from the Global South. The producers are also attending this week’s European Film Market (EFM, February 12-18) as part of the lab, supported through a partnership between the British Council and Brazilian philanthropic organisation Projeto Paradiso.
Maria Carlota Bruno, producer of the Oscar-winning I’m Still Here; and Agustina Llambi-Campbell, producer of Oscar-nominated Argentina, 1985, have joined the lab to give production masterclass sessions. Previously announced mentors include UK producer Emily Morgan and Brazilian-Algerian filmmaker Karim Ainouz, whose Rosebush Pruning had its world premiere in Competition in Berlin on Saturday, February 14.
Three projects are aimed at co-production with Latin America, with five aimed at Africa and two at the Caribbean. An additional Brazilian project has been selected by Projeto Paradiso.
Producer James Watson of Bêtes Sauvages is participating in the lab with If That’s What You Say, in which a cisgender French actress travels to Rio de Janeiro to research her upcoming role playing a local transgender hero. Watson, a 2024 Screen Star of Tomorrow, previously produced Mikko Makela’s Sundance 2024 title Sebastian.
Lunar Pictures producer Danielle Goff, a 2023 Screen Star, is in the lab with Fields, in which, following an unexpected death in her community on the Fields estate, Pastor Mimi is exposed to an otherworldly threat named The Beast. Fields is aimed at co-production with Africa, with If That’s What You Say aimed at co-production with Latin America.
The participants were selected by a jury of Finite Films & TV producer Chiara Giavarini, Egyptian producer Rasha Hosny, Somali-Austrian filmmaker Mo Harawe, and Julia Breta, director of television sales for UK-Ireland at StudiocanalUK.
“The strength, ambition and originality of our 2026 cohort confirms why this work matters,” said Matchmakers co-founder Joseph a. Adesunloye. “These are producers building projects that are culturally grounded, internationally resonant, and ready to travel.”
“Our focus has always been on empowering producers to navigate international co-productions,” said Matchmakers co-founder Luiza Paiva. “This cohort demonstrates the extraordinary range of voices and perspectives that can emerge when producers are supported to work across regions in a genuinely collaborative way.”
Matchmakers Global South Lab 2026 projects, participants
Latin America
S.E.A.N.C.E, prod. Dario Bocchini
The Ice Giant, prod. Natalia Guarin
If That’s What You Say, prod. James Watson
Africa
Not Like Us, prod. Samira Musa
Courage, prod. Chipo Chung
The House (That Itiafa Built), prod. Oreka Godis
Fields, prod. Danielle Goff
Pigeons And Plantain, prod. Lincia Daniel
Caribbean
Queen Nanny, prod. Emma Grazette
Sticks + Bones, prod. Lesley-Anne Macfarlane
Projeto Paradiso project
The Testimony Of Manicongo, prod. Chica Andrade
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