Cannes Critics’ Week has unveiled the ten participants selected for the 12th edition of its Next Step program, supporting the first feature films of directors who previously showed their shorts in the section focused on emerging filmmaking talents.
Participants this year include France-based Irish-British filmmaker Róisín Burns, whose short film Wonderwall played in the Cannes parallel section earlier this year.
Her project is set against the backdrop of her native city of Liverpool and revolves around a 17-year-old soldier who deserts his post during the Iraq war.
Further participants include Estonian director Anna Hints, whose 2023 documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood won a directing award at Sundance as well as Estonia’s first-ever European Film Award and represented the country at the 96th Academy Awards.
She participates with her first solo fiction feature Black Hairy Beast about the challenges of an Indian dancer living in Estonia with his partner against a backdrop of the country’s folklore and culture. (scroll down for full list of participants and projects).
All ten filmmakers will participate in a one-week workshop running from December 6 to 12.
The first part will be spent at the Moulin d’Andé artists residence in Normandy, where they will be advised by international consultants on their screenplays as well as meet composers for discussions on the musical universe they are planning for their films.
At the end of the workshop, the group heads to Paris for a day of meetings with French professionals to present their projects, establish initial contacts, and build connections for future collaborations.
One of the 10 participants will also win an opportunity to take part in a residency at the Moulin d’Andé–CÉCI, and the Next Step Prize, worth €2,500 and including an invitation to the Cannes Film Festival.
Since its launch in 2014, Next Step has welcomed 97 filmmakers from 39 different countries. Thirty-eight feature films have since been produced and screened at major festivals, most recently Aisha Can’t Fly Away by Morad Mostafa (Un Certain Regard 2025), The Visitor by Vytautas Katkus (Best Director Award at Karlovy Vary).
Full-List of Projects Selected for 12th Edition
Happy Hardcore
Dir. Róisín Burns
Synopsis: Liverpool, 2004. Sean, 17, deserts his post in the midst of the Iraq war and returns to England. On the run, he finds his sister – the person dearest to him. Hunted by the army, he is forced to hide in a tunnel. Days go by. Soon, the violence and loneliness he tried to escape catch up with him.
Nabor
Dir. Marinthia Gutiérrez (Mexico)
Synopsis: Tijuana, late 50’s; young Martha Elba discovers love, shame, and family secrets in a home plagued by jealousy and her father’s nights in cabarets. Amid the turmoil of teenage desire and disillusions, she witnesses her parents’ relationship slowly disintegrate. Her gaze becomes that of a generation awakening, witnessing the end of innocence and the birth of doubt.
Black Hairy Beast
Dir. Anna Hints (Estonia)
Synopsis: During a folklore festival in Estonia, Mahesh, an Indian dancer, and Liis, a local journalist, fall madly in love. But as Mahesh tries to find his place in his lover’s country, he sees a shift in his body and identity, awakening a cursed mythological creature within. Their love soon grapples with society’s gaze and the wild instincts they find within.
Story of August
Dir. Robert-Jonathan Koeyers (Netherlands)
Synopsis. Over three summers, following her parents’ divorce, August, a lively and determined teenager, spends her holidays with her father in a seaside town in transition. As time goes by, she discovers the cracks and silences within her family, while searching for her own place. She learns to face the emotional legacy they have left her and to break the cycle of family trauma.
Erika
Dir. Marie Larrivé (French)
Synopsis. Brittany, 1999. Sylvia, 68, a retired computer engineer, is gravely ill. She has entrusted her life to Dr. Dubois, who, according to village rumors, has discovered a miracle cure against cancer. But as the storm of the century approaches the coast, Sylvia begins to question her doctor’s methods.
l’Expérience Impossible
Dir. Carmen Leroi
Synopsis. Théo is passionately in love with Eve, twenty years his senior. When Eve falls gravely ill, Théo is devastated. “I wish I were her age and had met her twenty years earlier”, he says. A strange doctor, whom he has found for Eve’s treatment, takes him at his word and sends him back to 2004, where he is to live in the body of another version of himself…
Fantasma Neon
Dir. Leonardo Martinelli (Brazil)
Synopsis. In Rio de Janeiro, João, a bicycle delivery worker, dreams of purchasing a motorbike to improve his life and support his family. Since his mother died, he has become the sole provider of the family, taking care of his brother Luiz, who harbours a secret as well. When an accident at work triggers protests among the delivery staff, his belief about merit and solidarity wavers. Caught between ambition and loyalty, João discovers the cost of his dreams in a city where singing is also an act of resistance
Saturday in Copacabana
Dir. Bruno Ribeiro (Brazil)
Synopsis. During a night out in Copacabana, a thirty- something pianist, prone to inner turmoil, runs into an old flame just as a major turning point is looming in her life. The bustling streets, music, and the memories stir emotions she thought were forgotten. At dawn, she must choose between the comfort of the present and the pull of an unfinished past.
Pray To The Thunder
Dir. Ananth Subramaniam (Malaysia)
Synopsis. In a Tamil town in Malaysia, dominated by an authoritarian priest, Thunder, a rebellious young woman, channels her anger by performing with her punk band on the village stage, normally reserved for the priest’s religious processions. Their music electrifies the youths and stirs the wrath of traditionalists, igniting a confrontation between modernity and superstition. As tensions rise, Thunder discovers a mystical power that threatens to tip this already delicate balance.
Ladrones de Cuadros
Dir. Juan Pablo Villalobos (Mexico)
Synopsis. After witnessing a murder, Arcadio – a disillusioned painter turned delivery man in Mexico City – narrowly escapes an attempt on his life and finds refuge at his grandmother’s home in the state of Oaxaca. As days go by peacefully in the village, he meets a mysterious Finnish art conservator and claims some of his grandmother’s paintings as his own – until the strange, unsettling killer finally tracks him down.