Future Frames Launches: 10 Promising Young Directors to Showcase Their Short Films, Featuring the Czech 3 MWh

Organised by KVIFF and European Film Promotion, the Future Frames - Generation NEXT of European Cinema program aims to help talented European directors kick start their film industry careers.

This year's mentor is Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco, who presented his film Memory at the festival on Friday.

As usual, the Karlovy Vary IFF program team selected ten outstanding students and graduates of film schools to showcase their films at the festival. The films be presented in several blocks at the Small Hall of the Thermal Hotel. Monday's programme opens at 3 p.m. with the first three films: Slovak director Katarina Gramatová’s documentary A Good Mind Grows in Thorny Places portrays the life of a 12-year-old Romani boy who, already living independently, earns the admiration of his friends. Icelandic filmmaker Anna Maria Jóakimsdóttir-Hutri’s documentary Who Stands Up for Alvar critiques the social system that fails to hear or help those who need it most desperately. In The Love Servant, director Emanuela Muzzupappa tells the story of little Pinuccia, who, after surviving a deadly illness thanks to her mother’s prayers, begins to dress as Saint Rita, believing she channels the saint’s miraculous powers. The film explores the clash between a child’s world and the demands of fame and privilege.

At 6 p.m., Strangers in the Night by Matthias Krepp will be screened, following the intertwined stories of three couples on one momentous New Year’s Eve. Next, Bogdan Alecsandru’s If I Float, unfolds in the intimate setting of a swimming pool, where the tense relationship between two teenage girls builds to an inevitable confrontation.

On Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., we will present Baldilocks, a 25-minute film by director Marthe Peters, which offers a child's perspective on the painful period of illness Peters endured as a child. Hilke Rönnfeldt’s 15-minute film A Study of Empathy explores how an initially harmless experiment can go awry and the various forms empathy can take, won the Golden Leopard for the Best Short at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival. In Cura Sana, a short film by Lucia G. Romero, a 14-year-old Jessica struggles to break free from her dysfunctional and violent family, yearning for the carefree life of her peers.

The final two films of the program will be presented on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The Complaint, a tragicomedy by William Sehested Høeg, explores the conflicting perspectives on teambuilding activities—some see them as annoying duties, others as opportunities to escape work, and still others as frenetic exercises. The film delves into the corporate world where friendships and careers collide. 3MWh by Marie-Magdalena Kochová, representing Czech artists in the Future Frames program, questions the limits of electricity consumption and contemplates the experience of disconnecting from the modern world.

The participants also benefit from a tailored mentoring program that includes training, networking, and promotion. Additionally, the young filmmakers can make use of the creative and networking space of the Allwyn Future Frames Lounge in the Thermal

Hotel, where they can meet with representatives of UTA and Range Media Partners to receive valuable feedback and advice. Following these sessions, one director will be selected by UTA and Range Media Partners to receive a special scholarship for studying in Los Angeles.

The Future Frames program runs until 3 July. The whole programme HERE.