Cannes Critics’ Week Selects Eight Filmmakers for Its Feature Development Program, Next Step (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy

6 December 2024 at 6:24 am·4-min read

Cannes Critics’ Week has picked the projects that will be part of the 11th edition of Next Step, a programme aimed at helping filmmakers whose short films played at Critics’ Week develop their feature debut.

Since its creation 11 years ago, Next Step has accompanied the development of 96 feature projects, with 39 already completed. Recent Next Step alumni that stood out in the festival circuit include Molly Manning Walker with “How to Have Sex;” Chilean director Felipe Gálvez with “The Settlers;” Valentina Maurel with Locarno winner “I Have Electric Dreams;” as well as Matthew Rankin with Universal Language” which won Directors’ Fortnight Audience Award and represents Canada in the Oscar race.

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In 2025, seven new features developed at Next Step are expected to roll out at major festivals, notably Morad Mostafa’s “Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore” which won Venice’s industry prize, Final Cut, for a film in post production. Next Step works hand-in-hand with Critics Week, a sidebar dedicated to first and second films which runs alongside the Cannes Film Festival.

“Year after year, Next Step has patiently built itself up as a natural extension of Critics Week,” said Thomas Rosso, director of Next Step and Critics’ Week Program Manager.

“Six months after Cannes, the workshop is playing its triggering role to perfection, as it did for Molly Manning Walker, Felipe Gálvez and Morad Mostafa. Today, it’s a much-appreciated revealer, complementing other labs or residencies,” said Rosso, who worked for more than 10 years at Why Not Productions, the Paris-based banner behind Jacques Audiard’s and Arnaud Desplechin’s films. He also pointed out Next Step has become a recognized label given “the number of projects that come to light every year speaks for itself.”

The 2024 Next Step residents are Filipino director Arvin Belarmino with “Ria,” a deep dive into Manilla’s punk scene and the peril of expropriation; Polish director Dawid Bodzak with “Episode,” a continuation of his Clermont-Ferrand Grand Prize-winning short “Tremors” which revolves around a teenager’s mental breakdown suspected to be a demonic possession; Mathilde Chavanne with “A la recherche du miraculeux,” a French bittersweet comedy about a theater director implementing an artistic workshop in Junior High; and Mexican director Pablo Giles with “Fuerzas Básicas,” about the strained relationship of two brothers, set against the backdrop of professional soccer.

The remaining Next Step residents are Ethiopian director Beza Hailu Lemma with “The Last Tears of the Deceased,” about a young Ethiopian Orthodox priest investigating his own death; Brazilian director Valentina Homem with her film “Under the Baobab Tree;” Portuguese director and visual artist Isadora Neves Marques with “Dna at the Speed of Light,” a queer love story; and French director Guil Sela with “Life is a beach,” about a clumsy lifeguard falling in love on a summer beach.

The upcoming Next Step residence will take in Paris and Normandy from December 8-13 with consultants such as French director Julie Lecoustre (“Zero Fucks Given“), Georgian helmer Elene Naveriani (“Blackbird, Blackbird Blackberry”) and Marie Dubas, producer of Camera d’Or winner “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” as well as “Viet and Nam” and “Mongrel” which played at this year’s Cannes.

One of the projects will receive the Next Step Hildegarde Prize which comprises a cash endowment and an invitation to participate in Cannes in 2025. Past recipients include Manning Walker (“How to Have Sex”), Mykko Myllylathi (“The Woodcutter’s Story”) and Chinese director Zou Jing whose feature project “A Girl Unknown” was recently boarded by Arte France.

Critics’ Week has also launched in 2023 a spinoff program called Next Step II, focused on rewriting and score composition, in partnership with the orgs Sacem, CNC and Fabrica Providenza in Corsica. Its first residents include Greek director Konstantina Kotzamani whose first feature “Titanic Ocean” will come out next year; and Brazilian filmmaker Lillah Halla who won the Hubert Bals Fund prize with her new feature project “Golden Balls” after premiering her first feature “Power Alley” at Critics’ Week in 2023.

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