In a year marked by complex global tensions and unprecedented societal transformations, LIM evolves into LIM², expanding both its reach and ambition. This evolution sees a total of 16 projects selected for the main development programme, alongside 56 additional projects joining a new online track, bringing together 61 writers and directors from over 35 nationalities. The increase in participation reflects the growing desire among filmmakers to explore humanist narratives that respond to the challenges of today’s interconnected world.

LIM²’s methodology emphasises immersive development and collective exploration. Filmmakers are guided by new devices and practices generated through the programme’s StoryTANK, designed to deepen narrative proposals, foster collaboration, and interrogate contemporary social, political and environmental realities. The process enables authors to refine their personal vision while benefiting from the insights of an international, multidisciplinary community.

Antoine Le Bos stated: “In the context of a world that is teetering on the brink of unpalatable power dynamics and new forms of dependency, the LIM team takes the bull by the horns. In 2026, LIM becomes LIM², and its working methods are profoundly transformed. Thanks to the applied research work generated by its European Think-Tank (the StoryTANK) in the past 7 years, a new generation of devices will allow authors and filmmakers to immerse themselves in practices of deepening and densifying narrative proposals. These tools respond to fierce individualism through collaboration between sensibilities and mutual aid between peoples. Through new methods of spatialisation of ideas and sounds, LIM² accompanies the authors and filmmakers in their factory of singular worlds, consistent and necessary, worlds that no generative AI will be able to imitate.”

The 2026 selection demonstrates a commitment to stories of profound personal and societal resonance. In A Minor Issue, Zhannat Alshanova (Becoming [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], selected in Locarno’s Filmmakers of the Present) follows a 27-year-old architecture student in London struggling with her final project on the eve of graduation. Flourishing Desert, by Jaanika Arum, transforms a neighbourly dispute over gardens into a surreal meditation on alienation, as bees become unexpected arbiters of modern chaos.

Evi Cats’ Where Waves Crash in Their Own Time captures fleeting love and movement in a port city at the continent’s edge, offering a quiet reflection on distance and connection. Varia Garib and Kirill Komar’s Yuragim is included as a collaborative project between the two filmmakers, who have previously worked together on Aysu and Mosquito.

The selection also confronts social and political tensions with nuanced storytelling. Cody Farren’s A Threat of Rain traces a fractured friendship and the legacy of trauma in contemporary Ireland, while Kristina Spassovska’s The Reptiles explores the haunting remnants of totalitarian surveillance in Bulgaria. Mohamad Yassine’s Zeinab examines faith, adolescence and othering within Lebanon’s diverse religious landscape.

Historical, cultural, and experimental narratives are equally represented. Julia Bünter’s Gothon reimagines the life of Swiss mystic Marguerite Bays, probing faith and madness, while Aristotelis Maragkos’ Pocketful of Strawberries investigates memory and obsession through a collage approach. Martynas Norvaisas’ The Room interrogates inherited patterns of human interaction, and the Latvian duo Elizabete Lukšo-Ražinska and Alise Zariņa confront identity and belonging in Not My War.

Meanwhile, Anna Buryachkova (Forever-Forever [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Anna Buryachkova
scheda film], selected in Venice’s Orizzonti) and Olga Sidorina Wilkins’ Gimme Shelter captures the intimate coming-of-age of a generation in Ukraine, and Rusudan Gaprindashvili’s Second Hands traces migrants’ search for meaning through objects collected from the deceased. Daria Kashcheeva’s Nameless continues her exploration of animation and live action, building on her award-winning short films that combine puppetry and human performance. Kevin Koch’s Dogwhistle is set in a rural German town, where 19-year-old Erik struggles with his place in the community and Carlos Martínez-Peñalver’s Night Glow follows Lou, a post-punk singer and radio host in a city hollowed by tourism, investigating the disappearance of a musician while navigating the challenges of personal and family life.

You can find further details about the 61 authors selected for the LIM² 2026 online programme here.

The complete list of LIM² authors and projects for 2026:

Zhannat Alshanova (UK, Kazakhstan) – A Minor Issue
Jaanika Arum (Estonia) – Flourishing Desert
Julia Bünter (Switzerland) – Gothon
Anna Buryachkova (Ukraine) – Gimme Shelter
Olga Sidorina Wilkins (Ukraine) – Gimme Shelter
Evi Cats (Belgium) – Where waves crash in their own time
Cody Farren (Ireland) – A Threat of Rain
Rusudan Gaprindashvili (Georgia, Germany) – Second Hands
Varia Garib (Austria, Uzbekistan) – Yuragim
Kirill Komar (Germany) – Yuragim
Daria Kashcheeva (Czech Republic) – Nameless
Kevin Koch (Germany) – Dogwhistle
Elizabete Lukšo-Ražinska (Latvia) – Not My War
Alise Zariņa (Latvia) – Not My War
Aristotelis Maragkos (Greece, UK) – Pocketful of Strawberries
Carlos Martínez-Peñalver (Spain) – Night Glow
Martynas Norvaisas (Lithuania) – The Room
Kristina Spassovska (Bulgaria) – The Reptiles
Mohamad Yassine (Lebanon, France) – Zeinab