Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #23. The Dreams of a Few – Michel Franco

The Dreams of a Few

Mexican director Michel Franco will shortly move into production on his sixth feature, The Dreams of a Few (Lo que algunos soñaron) described by producer Edgar San Juan as a near-future dystopia. Projected to be one of the director’s most ambitious works to date, as he usually works with a handful of characters in more intimate scenarios, his latest will be shot with an all Mexican cast in Mexico. The same core behind-the-scenes crew from past Franco productions, including cinematographer Yves Cape, will also be on hand. Franco received immediate attention with his 2009 debut Daniel and Ana, which premiered out of Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. His 2012 sophomore film After Lucia was an international success, winning top prize out of Un Certain Regard at Cannes. He broke into the Cannes main competition in 2015 with his Tim Roth headlined English language debut Chronic (review), which took home the Best Screenplay prize. And 2017’s April’s Daughter (check out our world premiere Cannes coverage), starring Emma Suarez, won a Special Jury Prize out of Un Certain Regard.

Gist: Franco’s dystopic, pseudo sci-fi The Dreams of a Few will focus on the economic disparity between the rich and poor populations in Mexico.

Release Date/Prediction: Franco is slated to head into production in April 2019. Cannes has provided the premiere platform for all of Franco’s features with the exception of 2014’s A los ojos. While this is a bigger production scale for the director, discounting his jury duty in 2017 (where The Shape of Water won the Golden Lion), we could see the filmmaker make an appearance in Venice if post production is fruitful. We expect casting announcements soon enough.