Plus Icon
Elsa Keslassy
International Correspondent
@elsakeslassy See All
Cannes Film Festival “Pillion” filmmaker Harry Lighton is one the six international filmmakers selected for the 51st session of The Festival de Cannes’s La Residence, its workshop programme for emerging directors developing their first or second features. Lighton, whose debut feature “Pillion,” starring Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård, premiered at last year’s Cannes and won best screenplay at Un Certain Regard Award, will take part in the Paris-based residency alongside Emma Branderhorst, Joecar Hanna, Saulė Bliuvaitė, Mansi Maheshwari and Oliver McGoldrick, from March 16 through July 31. During the four-and-a-half-month program, filmmakers develop their scrips and network with industry professionals. Amsterdam-based Branderhorst has built a profile through intimate, character-driven shorts including “Under the Skin,” “Spotless” and “Ma Mère et Moi,” all of which screened at the Berlinale. She is currently developing her debut feature, “This Will Not End Well.” Hanna, a Spanish filmmaker of Chinese-Lebanese descent is a graduate of NYU’s Grad Film program, where he received the Black Family Prize, the Ang Lee Scholarship and the Marcie Bloom Fellowship. His latest short “Talk Me,” executive produced by Spike Lee, premiered at Cannes last year and won best short at TIFF, and went on to play at SXSW. Bliuvaitė, a Lithuanian director, screenwriter and editor broke out with her debut feature “Toxic,” which bowed at Locarno in 2024 and won the Golden Leopard. The film landed a nomination for the European Discovery Prix FIPRESCI at the European Film Awards. Bliuvaitė previously co-wrote “Isaac,” which was Lithuania’s Oscar candidate in 2021. Maheshwari is an Indian animation filmmaker made her graduation short with “Bunnyhood” which premiered at Cannes, where it won third prize in La Cinef, before going on to play at Sundance and Clermont-Ferrand. Rounding out the lineup is McGoldrick, an Irish filmmaker and doctor who premiered his short “Three Keenings” at Venice in 2024 and won best short at the Galway Film Fleadh. His next short, “Melter,” executive produced by Spike Lee, is in post-production, while he is developing his debut feature, “Barnyard,” through the Munich Film Up Program and Cannes’ La Résidence.
Related Stories
