The Gan Film Foundation has been supporting first and second screenplays for more than three decades now and it’s no secret that the majority of these projects end up being selected for premiere film festivals and are often part of the award conversation – it says something about the strength of the original source. This year’s winners will be worth keeping tabs on.
The Cineuropa folks took the plunge detailing the five projects receiving support and at the top of the list we find Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux’s sophomore project – La couleuvre noire which will move into production in March of next year in Colombia. Dublin Films’ David Hurst is producing.
Louise Hémon‘s debut L’engloutie (which sees Galatéa Bellugi topline) will move into production next month. Take Shelter’s Margaux Juvénal is producing. We can expect these two films tio be ready for 2025.
A pair of films that are now in post and will be ready for ’24 launch and received some coin are Lawrence Valin‘s Little Jaffna and Frédéric Farrucci‘s Un mohican. And finally, Ugo Bienvenu’s animated feature film project Arco received a Special Prize – produced by Remembers’ Félix Givry.
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
