Cannes Critics’ Week’s Next Step is currently ongoing. The programme was created 11 years ago to assist filmmakers with short films that have screened at Critics’ Week to make their first feature films. And, for this year, Ethiopian director Beza Hailu Lemma is the sole African filmmaker selected. His feature film project is titled The Last Tears of the Deceased.
The film tells the story of a young Ethiopian orthodox priest, who investigates his own death in the 1980s and subsequent resurrection. His investigation leads him through his country’s beliefs and contradictions.
Lemma’s career has been marked by a series of critically acclaimed films, including Ballad of the Spirits (2016), Katanga Nation (2022), and Alazar (2024). The last screened at Visions Du Réel, IDFA, and won the Silver Foal award for Best Documentary short at FESPACO.
With this selection, Lemma joins a programme that has contributed to 96 features, 39 of which having been completed. “Year after year, Next Step has patiently built itself up as a natural extension of Critics Week,” said Thomas Rosso, director of Next Step and Critics’ Week Program Manager.
“Six months after Cannes, the workshop is playing its triggering role to perfection, as it did for Molly Manning Walker, Felipe Gálvez and Morad Mostafa. Today, it’s a much-appreciated revealer, complementing other labs or residencies.”
Selected projects for 2024 Cannes Critics’ Week’s Next Step
Alongside Beza Hailu Lemma, the 2024 Next Step residents include:
1. Arvin Belarmino (Philippines) – With the film, Ria, exploring Manila’s punk scene and expropriation.
2. Dawid Bodzak (Poland) – Episode, a continuation of his Clermont-Ferrand Grand Prize-winning short Tremors, which revolves around a teenager’s mental breakdown.
3. Mathilde Chavanne (France) – A la recherche du miraculeux, a comedy about a theater director and an artistic workshop.
4. Pablo Giles (Mexico) – Fuerzas Básicas, about two brothers’ strained relationship.
5. Isadora Neves Marques (Portugal) – Dna at the Speed of Light, a queer love story.
6. Guil Sela (France) – Life is a beach, about a clumsy lifeguard.
7. Valentina Homem (Brazil) – Under the Baobab Tree.
The ongoing Next Step residence will close on December 13 and began on December 8. One project will receive the Next Step Hildegarde Prize. It comes with a cash endowment and a Cannes 2025 invitation.
