Since 2014, La Semaine de la Critique has been supporting talented short-film directors in making their first feature film through its Next Step programme, designed for filmmakers who have previously presented a short film at La Semaine de la Critique. After presenting their short film in Cannes, they are invited to come to Paris in December to take part in a workshop. Over the course of a week, international consultants will advise them on their script, their film score, and on how to launch their film on the market. It is also an opportunity to initiate possible collaborations with French co-producers, sales agents, and distributors during professional meetings in Paris. Since 2022, the collaboration with the Morelia Film Festival has been strengthened by welcoming a Mexican filmmaker to the Next Step programme. For the 2025 edition, a new partnership will be inaugurated with Projeto Paradiso, featuring the invitation of a Brazilian project.
In 10 years, 96 directors from 39 countries have benefitted from the Next Step support programme. We are proud of the journey of the 38 completed films to date, the latest ones being UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE by Matthew Rankin, Public Choice Award at the Directors’ Fortnight 2024; SOME RAIN MUST FALL by Qiu Yang; ARCADIA by Yorgos Zois screened at the Encounters section of 2024 Berlinale; and MY WONDERFUL STRANGER by Johanna Pyykkö at the 2024 Göteborg Film Festival.
In 2025, Egyptian filmmaker Morad Mostafa will have the world premiere of his first feature AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY at Un Certain Regard; the film was developed with the 2023 Next Step programme after his short film I PROMISE YOU PARADISE had been selected. 6 other features will premiere in 2025: FORASTERA by Lucía Aleñar Iglesias, THE VISITOR by Vytautas KATKUS, GORGONÀ by Evi Kalogiropoulou, DON’T LET ME DIE by Andrei Epure, AND SOMEONE ELSE by Vincent Tilanus, and ANEKUMEN by Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe. Finally, 6 other feature films will go into production in 2025.
In 2024, the Next Step Award - which includes a 2,500€ prize and an invitation to the Cannes Film Festival for the director with the most promising feature film project - was presented to Chinese director ZOU Jing for her project A GIRL UNKNOWN. In recent years,, the winners have been: HOW TO HAVE SEX by Molly Manning Walker - Un Certain Regard Award 2023 - and THE WOODCUTTER STORY by Mikko Myllalathi, selected at La Semaine de la Critique in 2022.
This year’s jury members are Priscilla Bertin, producer at Silex Film; Stefano Centini, producer at Volos Films; and Gabor Greiner, Head of Acquisitions at Films Boutique. The winner will be announced in May at the Cannes Film Festival.
With the support of CNC, SACEM, and SACD.
Next Step II
A second workshop dedicated to scriptwriting and music composition.
On its third edition, Next Step II will be held in October at Casell’arte in Venacu, Corsica, with the support of SACEM. This second - purposefully hybrid - workshop is an opportunity for 5 international filmmakers and 3 composers to meet around the critical stage of rewriting the script. The residents spend a week in the company of consultants and experts and are encouraged to envision the sound design and music as an integral part of the script. Two projects developed as part of Next Step II are soon to be completed: FORASTERA by Lucía Aleñar Iglesias, and TITANIC OCEAN by Konstantina Kotzamani.
Critique & Création
Created in 2023, the Critique & Création Fund is an initiative supporting public-interest actions led by the French Union of Film Critics.It is designed to welcome patrons and donors who wish to foster and promote critical thinking among younger generations, and support emerging talents in world cinema.