The 79th edition of Cannes Film Festival (12th – 23rd May) is approaching and will welcome, in the Un Certain Regard competition, THE MELTDOWN (El Deshielo) by Manuela Martelli, Chilean director and actress. Manuela debuted in 2022 with 1976, her first feature, at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
The film is her second feature, developed within TFL FeatureLab 2023 together with producer Alejandra García (Wood Producciones). The project was awarded the € 50,000 Co-production Award, supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA Sub-programme of the European Union.
In 1992 Chile, nine-year-old Inés bonds with teenage German skier Hanna at a remote mountain hotel. When Hanna mysteriously disappears, the investigation reveals long-buried secrets in this post-dictatorship mystery drama.
Selected at the 65th Semaine de la Critique, VIVA, is the first feature by Spanish director Aina Clotet, who developed the script through TFL Next – Feature Film in 2021 and also stars in the lead role. The film is produced by Ikiru Films and co-produced by Funicular Films – both Spanish companies – and is sold by the French company Loco Films.
After coming face to face with death, 40-year-old Nora is consumed by an urgent need to feel alive. She dives into passionate relationships with two very different men, Tom and Max, whose opposing natures reflect her own inner conflict. But when neither can fill the void, Nora is forced to face the truth: she will have to confront a deeper fear driving her hunger for life.
At the 58th Quinzaine des Cinéastes:
- 9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN, second feature by the Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse, which received the TFL Co-Production Fund’s support in 2025 (€ 50,000). His first fiction film is produced by Kick the Machine (Thailand), co-produced by E&W Films (Singapore), Petit Chaos (France) and Needle in the Haystack (Norway), with sales agent Playtime (France).
A family takes their grandmother to 9 temples in 1 day, hoping to prolong her life. Through the day, their relationships are tested along the way.
- TOO MANY BEASTS, first feature by the Italian-Swiss Sarah Arnold, who worked at the script during ScriptLab 2019. The film is a French production that involves 5à7 Films with France 3 cinema and Playtime – that is also the sales agent.
With tensions running high in rural France as the wild boar population explodes, Fulda, a volatile cop, decides to take matters into his own hands.
Congratulations to three alumni, who previously took part in TFL labs and will reach Cannes with new projects: in Competition, László Nemes with his third feature, Moulin; at the Quinzaine, Jorge Thielen Armand with Death Has No Master; finally, in the Midnight Screenings’ programme, Roma Elastica by Betrand Mandico.
In the picture: a still from Viva.