15 projects selected for the Cannes Cinéfondation Atelier
- Otto the Barbarian by Ruxandra Ghitescu, Teenage Jesus by Marie Grahtø Sørensen and Summer E5 by Emily Young are representing Europe
A total of 15 feature-film projects hailing from 14 countries have been selected for the 13th edition of the Cinéfondation Atelier, which is set to unspool as part of the 70th Cannes Film Festival (17-28 May 2017). This year, Europe will be represented by three female directors, two of whom are working on their feature debuts: Otto the Barbarian [+see also:
film review
interview: Ruxandra Ghiţescu
film profile] for Romania’s Ruxandra Ghitescu (selected for the Berlinale Talents in 2016 and singled out with this project at Sarajevo last summer, winning the CineLink Award from the Macedonian Film Agency) and Teenage Jesus by Denmark’s Marie Grahtø Sørensen. They will be accompanied on the Croisette by the project Summer E5 by British director Emily Young, who unveiled her feature debut, Kiss of Life (winner of the 2004 BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a Writer, Director or Producer), in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2003 before presenting Veronika Decides to Die in 2009.
Also of note are projects from Israel (Yona Rozenkier’s Decompression), Palestine (Alam by Firas Khoury) and Syria (The Translator [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf
film profile] by Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf).
The other titles selected for the 2017 Atelier are Sew the Winter to My Skin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jahmil X T Qubeka (South Africa), Go Youth by Carlos Armella (Mexico), Candy Town by Yannillys Perez (Dominican Republic), Bedridden by Byamba Sakhya (Mongolia), Day After Tomorrow by Kamar Ahmad Simon (Bangladesh), Ningdu by Lei Lei (China), City of Small Blessings by Chen-Hsi Wong (Singapore) and two Vietnamese projects: Cu Li Never Cries by Phan Ngọc Lan and Taste by Le Bao.
Established in 2005 with the aim of encouraging creative cinema and fostering the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers by helping them to round off the funding of their films, the Atelier has been of benefit for the past 11 years to 186 projects, of which 145 have already been completed and 18 are currently in pre-production. It will enable the films and directors selected for 2017 to be present on the Croisette with their producers from 19-25 May and to meet professionals interested in their projects during individual sessions. The Project Book and sign-up sheets will be available at the beginning of April on the Cinéfondation website.
(Translated from French)
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