‘Passionate, Innovative and Ambitious’: Future Frames Unveils Exciting New Voices at Karlovy Vary

Once again, 10 promising directors are making their way to Karlovy Vary Film Festival thanks to European Film Promotions Future Frames Generation NEXT of European Cinema initiative, ready to burst onto the international film scene.

Over the past few years, we have established a reliable label with Future Frames, says Sonja Heinen, EFPs managing director, adding that the goals have remained the same: spotlighting talent, creating visibility for the emerging directors, and helping them access the market.

Being selected gives them a certain stamp of approval. They get a platform to exchange and experience, and are equipped with coaching which they can use later in their career, adds Nora Goldstein, project director.

Polish director Agnieszka Smoczyska, behind Sundance award-winner The Lure and Cannes title Silent Twins, is this years mentor.

Getting access to the EFP network also means being welcomed into a family from all parts of Europe, says Goldstein.

We constantly evaluate what we are doing. This doesnt mean we want Future Frames to grow, but we want it to be more and more visible internationally. This year, we have a new collaboration with talent agents from the U.S. who get to meet our filmmakers.

We are looking for exciting new voices who can represent European diversity in filmmaking. Young filmmakers who are passionate, innovative and ambitious, Heinen says.

Kim Allamand

Heart Fruit (Switzerland)

Zurich University of the Arts

Lives and works in Zurich. His short films have been screened at numerous festivals including San Sebastian, Locarno and Karlovy Vary. Heart Fruit is an episodic short comedy about the imperfections of long-term relationships and things that make them so difficult to sustain.

I am interested in alternative ways of telling a story. I am just finishing my first experimental short Bios Beneath Blind and preparing my first feature film First Days. Heart Fruit was made during the pandemic. During that time, I thought a lot about the people who were close to me and those far away. Through this project we were able to recapture what was denied to us: physical contact, intimacy, kissing, dancing and partying.

Christian Avils

Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays (Spain)

ESCAC

Born in Barcelona in 1997, Avils is also a writer and composer. In his first short film, which sees British teens dreaming of finally soaking up the sun, he delves into themes of teenage spirituality, magic and even suicide.

My film is about the kind of magic and rituals that happen in plain sight, right before our very own eyes, without anyone noticing. Im drawn to the occult, I would say, exploring teenage spirituality and modern ways of worship. Internet and pop culture are great sources of inspiration for me as well, and something I always go back to.

Monika Mahtov

Standing Still (Slovak Republic)

FTF VSMU

Mahtov has recently graduated after studying directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where she co-wrote and directed several shorts. Standing Still, about a mother and a daughter, is a fragile drama with comedic elements, she states.

In my shorts I usually seek refuge for the so-called black sheep. I am trying to understand people, even though they might be anti-heroes in the eyes of society. Thats what interests me the most and what connects most of my films. In Standing Still, I am talking about unwanted sacrifices and the fear of repeating the same mistakes. Its also about finding freedom and our own place in the world.

Sophia Mocorrea

The Kidnapping of the Bride (Germany)

Filmuniversitt Babelsberg Konrad Wolf

Currently developing first feature Marriage by Abduction, in her Sundance awarded short produced by Sarah Valerie Radu Mocorrea shows a couple who have built their relationship on a foundation of equality. But their beliefs are put to the test when its time to say I do.

My mother is Argentinian and my father German. I like to explore the extremes between cultures, I like to analyze, question and deconstruct them by using a critical and humorous approach. The Kidnapping of the Bride has served as a way to explore the universe of my first feature Marriage by Abduction, where I use the custom of bride theft to address the questions around true emancipation of our socialization.

Amalie Maria Nielsen

The Shift (Denmark)

18Frames

Copenhagen-based Nielsen likes to focus on characters struggling with the societys and their own gender expectations. In The Shift, presented at Berlinale, Milo lives at a home for maladjusted girls. Its employee is the only person who observes their gender transition.

I am driven by the need to question human behavior in a modern setting and interested in our ever-changing understanding of sexuality, boundaries and intimacy. The Shift is a personal story. I was raised by a single mother and throughout my childhood, I grew attached to several male figures. These relationships often left me confused, with a lot of mixed feelings. At some point, they would end. I always considered them cursed.

Ins Pedrosa e Melo

Home, Revised (Portugal)

Nova University Lisbon

Documentary filmmaker and editor from Lisbon, based in San Francisco. Graduate from Stanford Universitys Documentary Film Video Production MFA program. Her film is a love letter to making cinema out of other peoples home images, she says.

I try to examine individual, psychological dimensions of societal and historical traumas. I like to delve into archival materials, oral histories and documentary evidence to ground the stories I tell, and then reimagine and repurpose this evidence in creative, meaningful and ethical ways. These days, a lot of my work focuses on bridging the gap between documentary and fiction, and in making art that carefully walks that line.

Giulia Regini

Cut from the Same Cow (Italy)

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia

In her short, Regini focuses on Sergio, who has remained at home to help his father run the familys butcher shop. His brother decided to leave, but when he suddenly comes back, Sergio starts to believe that the rift in the family still can be healed.

One day, by complete chance, I came across a butcher shop where two brothers were challenging each other to cut a piece of meat under the watchful eye of their father. I wanted to tell their story and spent my whole summer there. Still, after that, I decided to play with that reality a little. As a director, I want to continue taking inspiration from life. I am fascinated by the poetics of stalking.

Joris Tob

Frantic Attempts (The Netherlands)

HKU University of the Arts Utrecht

Interested in exploring current and important themes, Tob shows a man who hopes that a weekend course will help him deal with his chronic inability to finish things he has started. Frantic Attempts was named best graduation film by Dutch film critics.

Its a tragicomic journey through a coaching weekend for personal growth in which I explore our never-ending search for control. My goal is to make films that would feel fresh, that would merge conventional European arthouse with American, more commercial style of filmmaking. I love to tell stories about our human shortcomings and our darkest side.

Rinaldas Tomaeviius

-15 (Lithuania)

Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater

Tomaeviius takes on Alexei, released on parole after 15 years in prison. But his sense of guilt keeps him from growing closer to his daughter, who has become a prostitute. This project is about real experiences, feelings and emotions, notes producer Lineta Lasiauskait.

Ten years ago, I defeated addiction, but drugs left their mark: today, I have to use crutches. There are different people living among us. Their lifestyle or rules may seem unacceptable, but they also have feelings and dream of love and happiness. Its only through our efforts and empathy that we can help those who find themselves at the margins. Its a long and difficult process, but these struggles can be overcome.

Anna Wowra

Stuck Together (Czech Republic)

FAMU

Student at FAMU, Polish-born Wowra is also a graduate of the Wajda School in Warsaw. In Stuck Together, small-town friends discover that one of them has reached the second round in a casting call for a modeling job, and envy soon kicks in.

I tend to focus on social and cultural themes, with an emphasis on ethical issues in the context of the modern world. I am based in the Czech Republic but I was born and raised in Poland. Currently, Im working on my debut feature In Good Faith, about abortion crackdowns in Poland [as seen] from the perspective of a pregnant teenager. Its a cross-genre film based on recent events, produced by Tom Pertold for Perfilm.