European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) are delighted to offer an extended industry programme to the ten participants selected for EFP FUTURE FRAMES. This year's mentor, the Mexican award-winning filmmaker Michel Franco, will hold an exclusive masterclass on 2 July. Thanks to the renewed support of the multinational lottery operator Allwyn and collaboration with the American talent agency UTA and Range Media Partners, the programme provides a comprehensive experience for the emerging filmmakers.
After two intensive online meeting and pitching days, the group of emerging talents will be offered an extensive on-site industry programme from 30 June to 2 July at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This includes exclusive meetings with the KVIFF programmer and individual meetings with four representatives from UTA and Range Media Partners. They will be on hand to provide participants with important feedback and advice, and will also subsequently select one FUTURE FRAMES director for a special scholarship and study trip to Los Angeles.
In an exclusive masterclass, the award-winning Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco will focus on one of his very successful early films, After Lucia, and discuss it with the ten emerging directors. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the top prize. The very low-budget film was also selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards®.
Michel Franco is an award-winning filmmaker who was born in Mexico City in 1979. The films he has written, directed, and produced have helped put Mexican cinema in the global spotlight. His most recent feature film, Memory, premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival in Competition and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor (Peter Sarsgaard), will be screened at this year's KVIFF. His other films include Sundown (in Competition, 2021 Venice Film Festival), New Order (Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, Competition, 2020 Venice Film Festival), April’s Daughter (Special Jury Prize, Un Certain Regard, 2017 Cannes Film Festival), Chronic (Best Screenplay, Competition, 2015 Cannes Film Festival ), and After Lucia (Prize Un Certain Regard, 2012 Cannes Film Festival). He has also produced films under his Teorema banner including Lorenzo Vigas’ Desde Allá (Golden Lion, Competition, 2015 Venice Film Festival), David Zonana’s two first features Mano de Obra (Official Selection, 2019 Toronto International Film Festival) and Heroic (Official Selection, 2023 Sundance Film Festival).
“We couldn’t be happier to have as a mentor of the jubilee Future Frames year Michel Franco, an award winning director whose career is an example to any aspiring filmmaker, be it in Europe or anywhere in the world”, says KVIFF's Artistic Director Karel Och.
“This year, the ten filmmakers will once again benefit from the extensive industry programme tailored to their individual needs, strengthening them in their future careers as directors. It promises to be an inspiring time that this year's selection will certainly remember”, says EFP’s President and Head of the Czech Film Center Markéta Šantrochová.
“Allwyn is proud to again be supporting the Future Frames programme during its tenth anniversary. The calibre of this year’s selection speaks to the incredible directing talent that exists in Europe, and we look forward to helping one young director propel their career internationally with a scholarship to Hollywood in partnership with UTA and Range Media. With each director having the chance to meet and work with one another throughout the festival, alongside leading peers in the film industry, it is a programme where everyone wins”, says Pavel Turek, Allwyn's Chief Officer of Global Brand, Corporate Communication, and CSR.
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EFP FUTURE FRAMES – Generation NEXT of European Cinema, in collaboration with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), is made possible thanks to the support of Creative Europe – the MEDIA Programme of the European Union and Allwyn, a leading multi-national lottery operator, as well as the participating national film promotion institutes, EFP's member organisations: Austrian Films, Cinecittà (Italy), Czech Film Center, Danish Film Institute, Flanders Image (Belgium), German Films, Icelandic Film Centre, Romanian Film Development, Slovak Film Institute, Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales / ICAA (Spain), The main media partner is Variety, with Cineuropa and Fred Film Radio as additional media partners.
