The Frontières Platform, the dynamic, genre-focused industry showcase co-organised by the Fantasia International Film Festival and the Marché du Film, is gearing up for its 2025 edition in Cannes. Taking place from 17-18 May, the event continues its mission of spotlighting boundary-pushing genre cinema and connecting bold storytellers with global partners.

This year’s line-up embraces genre at its wildest, most daring and most unexpected. From eerie folktales and surreal social satire to sensory-overload sci-fi and culinary nightmares, the selection reflects the immense creative scope of contemporary genre filmmakers.

The Proof of Concept pitching sessions (17 May) will highlight seven projects at advanced stages of financing, all backed by teaser footage designed to pique the interest of financiers, sales agents and producers. The following day, on 18 May, six works in progress will be featured in the Buyers Showcase, targeting international distributors, festival programmers and sales agents, who will get an early glimpse at films nearing completion.

In the Proof of Concept selection, several European productions and co-productions showcase a diverse range of genre storytelling. Dutch filmmaker Richard Raaphorst presents Children of the Moor, a horror-comedy about a family that relocates to a remote farmhouse, where their teenage daughter soon discovers the land is haunted by the spirits of children murdered long ago. From Norway, Vegard Dahle’s Light Years is a sci-fi drama that follows a rebellious astronaut on a journey to recover his lost memories, only to uncover the shocking existence of a daughter he never knew he had.

German director Marc Schießer delivers Taste of Heaven, a psychological horror-thriller centred on Joline, an ambitious chef striving to create her culinary masterpiece at the prestigious fusion restaurant HEAVEN. But as her obsession intensifies and her moral boundaries blur, she realises too late that she may be the final ingredient on the menu. Lastly, from Spain, Carlo Padial’s Who Knows? blends comedy, science-fiction and thriller elements. After a painful breakup, a struggling illustrator moves into a new apartment, only to face eerie nighttime occurrences and memory blackouts. As his anxiety grows and reality begins to distort, he must confront the disturbing presence that seems to be haunting his home.

In the Buyers Showcase, two European projects are featured. Bloodsucker by Kasper Juhl from Denmark is a vampire horror that follows Viktor, who is attacked in the woods and awakens transformed – his body deteriorating, his mind unravelling. Drawn into a hidden world of vampires ruled by the seductive and merciless Celeste, Viktor's thirst for blood intensifies, along with his growing moral conflict. Meanwhile, Motherwitch by Minos Papas is a folk-horror set in 1888 Cyprus. After the tragic loss of her children, a grieving painter’s attempt to bring them back from the dead unleashes the terrifying Kalikantzari. To break the curse and restore balance, she must embrace a new form of motherhood, by protecting and redeeming an abused boy caught in the supernatural chaos.

Here is the full line-up of projects selected for the 2025 Frontières Platform:

Proof of Concept

Light Years - Vegard Dahle (Norway)
Producers: Bente Maalen, Håvard Wettland Gossé

Who Knows? - Carlo Padial (Spain)
Producers: Juan Solá, Maria Rocher, Oriol Maymó, Joseph Díaz

Children of the Moor - Richard Raaphorst (Netherlands/UK)
Producers: Marijn van der Ploeg, Adam Park

Ancestral Beasts - Tim Riedel (Canada)
Producers: Tim Riedel, Tina Keeper, Phyllis Laing, Edmon Rotea, Fawnda Neckoway

Taste of Heaven - Marc Schießer (Germany)
Producers: Tobias Lohf, Melina Pelc, Marc Schießer

Skin Side Up - Robert Ten Eyck (Australia)
Producers: Lauren Simpson, Annie Thiele

Feed - Nancy Urich (Canada)
Producer: Nancy Urich

Buyers Showcase

Bloodsucker - Kasper Juhl (Denmark)
Producer: Lene Børglum

The Stolen Child - Sebastian McKinnon (Canada)
Producers: Catherine Boily, Tara Cowell-Plain, Sebastian McKinnon

Henry’s Ebb - Thomas Mendolia (USA)
Producers: Lucas Ford, Joey LePage

Motherwitch - Minos Papas (Cyprus/North Macedonia/USA)
Producers: Constantinos Nikiforou, Darko Popov, Minos Papas

Turn It Up! - Samuel Scott (Canada)
Producers: Jesse Thomas Cook, Liv Collins, Mike Gillespie

Inheritance - Joel Soh (Malaysia)
Producer: Joel Soh