Chosen by a jury presided over this year by Katell Quillévéré, five young filmmakers have been selected for the 21^st edition of the directors’ residency Emergence, a unique platform in Europe that will offer them the opportunity to shoot scenes for their first features under the mentorship of an established director, with artistic support and access to professional production resources.

Steve Achiepo was selected with Le Marchand de sable (co-written by Romy Coccia di Ferro), which centres aroundDjo, a 36-year-old black bus driver in the town of Cergy-Pontoise. Scarred by years in prison, he lives modestly with his daughter in his mother’s house. But, after helping his aunt put a roof over her head in a moment of crisis by rooting out a vacant commercial property, Djo does a volte-face and becomes a slumlord, seduced by the profitability of the operation and the chance to make a better life for his daughter... (Producer: Saïd Hamich for Barney Production).

Loïc Barché will be working on Retour à la nuit, which follows the misadventures of a thirty-something man who returns to the village of his childhood to defend a project to bury nuclear waste. There he is reunited with his father, his best friend from boyhood and his first love, but his arrival soon draws out all the suppressed tensions of a society fixated on economic growth... (Producer: Lucas Tothe and Sylvain Lagrillière for Punchline Cinéma).

Hélène Merlin was selected with Cavale, a film about a 14-year-old girl who lives in a mansion and believes her family to be totally normal, until the equestrian centre where she rides during the holidays opens her eyes to new opportunities and allows her to forge healthier bonds. Her father, however, wants to take it away from her, and so she runs away... (Produced by François Kraus and Denis Pineau-Valencienne for Les Films du Kiosque).

Céline Rouzetis busy with En attendant la nuit, featuring a 15-year-old boy with a strange complaint that his family tries desperately to conceal in the charming suburban enclave they have just moved to. But, as he grows up, his difference becomes impossible to hide, and people begin to talk...(Produced by Candice Zaccagnino, Eliane Antoinette and Olivier Aknin for Reboot Films).

Also among the winners is Lawrence Valin, with Elaam. Written by Valin himself in partnership with Marlène Poste and Malysone Bovorasmy, the plot revolves around a police lieutenant who infiltrates the Neruppu, the gang that presides over Paris’s Tamil quarter. Being of Tamil origin himself and adopted, he has no knowledge of his culture and, as he works his way through the gang’s ranks, he gradually comes to identify with those he has been charged with taking down... (Produced by Simon Bleuzé et Marc Bordure pour Agat Films).

Since it was founded by Elisabeth Depardieu, Emergence (now led by Nathalie Bessis with producer Laurent Lavolé playing a supporting role as artistic director) has helped nurture first features by directors including Mia Hansen-Love, Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour, Léa Fehner, Katell Quillévéré, Julie Bertuccelli, Joachim Lafosse, Pierre Schoeller, Antonin Peretjatko, Vincent Mariette, Leyla Bouzid, Morgan Simon and Sébastien Betbeder. Set to arrive in cinemas soon are A Clever Crook [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by David Roux (which premiered at Locarno and is due for release in France on 23 January 2019). Meanwhile, among the projects in post-production three films in particular stand out: Little Man [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Laurent Micheli
scheda film] from Belgian director Laurent Micheli and The Bare Necessity [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Erwan Le Duc
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