Projects
Projects
The Exposure
Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Thomas Imbach
Produced by: Thomas Imbach; Andrea Staka; Okofilm Productions, Zurich; Dan Wechsler; Prestige Films, London
Country of production: Switzerland/United Kingdom
Language: German
“Never will I sell myself. I’ll give myself away.” Lili, daughter of a gambling lawyer, is torn between family ruin and personal disgrace.
The Laundry
Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Zamo Mkhwanazi
Produced by: Philippe Coeytaux - AKKA Films / Zamo Mkhwanazi - KUDE Media / Jim Stark
Country of production: Switzerland – South Africa
Original title: Uhlanjululo
Language: Zulu , Afrikaans and English
Runtime: 100'
South Africa 1968. Khuthala hates the family-owned laundry. But as the apartheid government cracks down on Black business ownership, Khuthala is torn between chasing his music dreams and fighting the injustice that threatens the business that is the sole means of support and glue of his family.
Do you Believe in Angels, Mr. Drowak? (Working Title)
Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Nicolas Steiner
Produced by: Pascal Nothdurft & Marc Müller-Kaldenberg; Zieglerfilm Baden-Baden (Germany); Katrin Renz tellfilm (Switzerland)
Country of production: Germany & Switzerland
Original title: Sie glauben an Engel, Herr Drowak? (working title)
Language: German
Runtime: 110'
Welcome to the grim world of Hugo Drowak. A misanthrope, boozer, and stinking old good-for-nothing. We invite you on a fanciful journey replete with romance, gloom, and poetry. A story about longing. Starring Luna Wedler, Karl Markovics, Lars Eidinger, Dominique Pinon, Jan Bülow
A FACE TO BE LOVED
Original title: Jag har ett ansikte för att bli älskad
Directed by: Angelica Ruffier
Produced by: Brynhildur Þórarinsdóttir, Marta Dauliūtė (MDEMC, Sweden)
Country of production: Sweden
Runtime: 80'
Expected release: February, 2026
Production stage: Development
Budget: €417 000 (19% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents, Distributors, Buyers, Co-Producers
Synopsis:
While emptying her childhood home after her estranged father’s death, Angelica recalls a fierce and solitary love she had for her history teacher, Miss S. As her list of duties never seems to diminish, an intense desire grows in Angelica: to meet her again.
Director’s profile:
Angelica Ruffier is a screenwriter, director, and documentary filmmaker, born in Luleå Sweden, raised in France and living in Sweden since 2017. Angelica holds a master’s degree in documentary film direction from Stockholm University of the Arts (2021-23) and has also completed the documentary program at Biskops Arnö Folk High School (2017-18). She also possesses a degree in graphic design from École Supérieure d’Art et Design Grenoble-Valence in France (2010-13). Angelica has directed, edited, and produced the short films “From Here and Back Again” (2019), “Stranger” (2020), and “People at the Recycling Market ” (2023). Since 2019, she has been developing the documentary “The Strikers” in collaboration with Helena Molin and Olga Ruin, as well as the documentary “A Face to Be Loved,” both under the production company MDEMC.
Producer’s profile:
Brynhildur Þórarinsdóttir (born in Iceland 1991) holds a bachelor’s degree in film studies from Stockholm University and a master’s degree in film production from Stockholm University of the Arts. She has produced the shorts “Babes Roll Out” (2017), “Real Mother” (2018), and “Donkeyland” (2023), and also worked as a production manager in the film and TV industry. She is currently serving as an associate producer at the Swedish production company Garagefilm International.
Marta Dauliūtė (born and raised in Lithuania 1984) holds a master’s degree in film directing and production from the Valand Academy. Since 2010, she has been co-running the production company MDEMC and has directed and produced several films that have been screened at Hot Docs, DOK Leipzig, Kasseler Dokfest, Transmediale and Thessaloniki IFF amongst other. She has also been working as an intimacy coordinator since 2020.
ONLY ON EARTH
Original title: Only on Earth
Directed by: Robin Petré
Produced by: Malene Flindt Pedersen, Signe Skov Thomsen (Hansen & Pedersen, Denmark); Carles Brugueras, Marieke van den Bersselaar (Polar Star Films, Spain)
Country of production: Denmark, Spain
Runtime: 90' / 58'
Expected release: January, 2025
Production stage: Post-production
Budget: €1 069 035 (70% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, Gap Financing, Buyers, Distributors
Synopsis:
A journey deep into southern Galicia, one of Europe’s most vulnerable wildfire zones, during the hottest summer ever measured. Humans and animals alike struggle to cope as inextinguishable fires draw closer. Wild horses have roamed the Galician mountains for centuries and are indispensable when it comes to fire prevention by grazing but they are vanishing in today’s clash between human progress and nature.
Director’s profile:
Robin Petré is a Danish film director based in Copenhagen. Her work revolves around our coexistence with nature while placing the audience at eye level with the animal world, and her award-winning films have screened at numerous festivals around the world. Her feature-length debut FROM THE WILD SEA (2021) premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival with a nomination for the Berlinale Documentary Award, and received the Grand Prix at the Global Science Film Festival among other awards. Her short film PULSE (2016) was awarded the Silver Dove for An Outstanding Artistic Contribution at DOK Leipzig. Robin Petré was among the Jurors of the 2022 IDA Awards. She’s an alumna of Berlinale Talents (2022), Nordic Film Lab (2020) and IDFAcademy (2019). She holds an MA in Documentary Film Directing from Doc Nomads (2015).
Producer’s profile:
Malene Flindt Pedersen is co-owner and producer at Hansen & Pedersen. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, she has produced and co-produced a number of internationally renowned documentary films. Malene is Chairwoman of WIFT Denmark and on the board of the Danish Producers’ Association. From 2006-2012 she was Head of development of Short and Documentary at the Danish Film Institute. Signe Skov Thomsen holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature, has a background in publishing and has worked with documentary production for 8 years; the past 6 years in close collaboration with Malene Flindt Pedersen. Signe is an EAVE Producers Workshop graduate and alumna of IDFAcademy. The film is co-produced by Carles Brugueras and Marieke van den Bersselaar from the Polar Star Films, one of Spain’s most prominent Spanish documentary production companies on the international market.
From All Sides
Category: Queer Screen Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Bina Bhattacharya
Produced by: Bina Bhattacharya and Alexander McGhee - Gemme de la Femme Pictures Pty Ltd Bina Bhattacharya and Alexander McGhee - Gemme de la Femme Pictures Pty Ltd
Country of production: Australia
Original title: From All Sides
Genre: Comedy, Coming-of-Age, Drama, LGBTQ+
Language: English
Runtime: 118'
A multiracial bisexual married couple and their teenage children find themselves beset from all sides as they navigate work, school, sex, friendships, romances and their colourful neighbours in the outer suburbs of Sydney.
Arms Of A Man
Category: Queer Screen Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Rohan Parashuram Kanawade
Produced by: Neeraj Churi | Lotus Visual Productions, UK
Country of production: India, UK, France
Original title: Sabar Bonda
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: Marathi with English Subtitles
Runtime: 120'
Completed in: 2024
A thirty-year-old city-dweller compelled to spend ten-day mourning of his father in the rugged countryside of Western India tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, he must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.
Strange Creatures
Category: Queer Screen Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Henry Boffin
Produced by: Rachel Forbes & Riley Nottingham | Strange Creatures Pty Ltd, Humdrum Comedy Pty Ltd
Country of production: Australia
Original title: Strange Creatures
Genre: Black comedy, Road Movie
Language: English
Runtime: 87'
Completed in: 2024
Two estranged brothers are forced back into each others’ lives when they’re tasked with scattering the ashes of their recently deceased mother in the country town where she grew up.
Under the Influencer
Category: Queer Screen Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Bryn Woznicki (Director); Lauren Neal (Technical Director)
Produced by: Jill Bennett, Katie Hall | Lion & Lamb Studio, Team Stillwell, Fair Play Films
Country of production: USA
Original title: Under the Influencer
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Language: English
Runtime: 103'
Completed in: 2024
When a struggling digital artist has her work appropriated by a popular art curator, will she remain a victim, or become the perpetrator of an even more villainous crime?
Heart of the Man
Category: Queer Screen Goes to Cannes
Directed by: David Cook
Produced by: Blake Northfield | Bronte Pictures
Country of production: Australia
Original title: Heart of the Man
Genre: Coming-of-Age, Drama
Language: English
Runtime: 85'
Completed in: 2024
A young boxing prodigy coming to terms with his sexuality must battle between fulfilling his father’s dream and becoming his own man.