Frontières is proud to continue its collaboration with the Gender Equity in Media Society Vancouver. The Genre Film Lab is an accelerator program designed to support the development of Canadian feature film genre projects by women and gender diverse creators and with support from Creative BC, Telefilm Canada and Warner Brothers Discovery Access Canada, GEMS will present five projects at an advanced stage of development.

The Shorts to Features session, which is open to international submissions, will showcase three short filmmakers developing their feature-length adaptations. This year's selection includes projects from Sweden, Mongolia and Canada.

THE GENRE FILM LAB

DISCO'S NOT DEAD (Canada)
Director: Panta Mosleh
Writer: Toby Marks
Producers: Kay Shioma Metchie, Panta Mosleh
Genre: Horror

Disco’s Not Dead is about a jaded waitress who must battle to survive when the nightclub she works at is overrun with zombies.

DORMANT (Canada)
Director: Jenny Lee-Gilmore
Writer: Jenny Lee-Gilmore
Producers: Eloise Cameron-Smith, Mike Johnston
Genre: Supernatural Thriller

A university student’s vivid nightmares and increasingly overwhelming fatigue leaves her exposed to a supernatural presence entangled in a sinister campus secret.

LOVE ME THERE (Canada)
Directors: Sara Caspian & Zehra Nawab
Writer: Sara Caspian
Producer: Zahra Faraji
Genre: Psychological Thriller

After a harrowing incident leads to the loss of custody of her newborn, Ellie, a first-time mother battling postpartum depression, embarks on a grueling fight to regain custody leading her onto a path of self-discovery and healing.

TERRIBLE THING (Canada)
Director: Mily Mumford
Writer: Mily Mumford
Producers: Cole Vandale, Nic Altobelli.
Genre: Horror/LGBTQ+

After inheriting a bible camp from their estranged grandfather, Gabe, and idealistic youth counsellor, must battle a supernatural force that has taken over the camp, and feeds on the shame of all who enter it.

TO THE SEA (Canada)
Director: Vanessa Magic
Writer: Vanessa Magic
Producer: Junitta Brownridge
Genre: Fantasy, Drama

In a coastal town, a determined marine biologist who clings to hope for her missing husband’s return faces a startling revelation when he suddenly reappears six months later, changed by the sea.

SHORTS TO FEATURES

HEADACHE (Sweden)
Director: Björn Schagerström
Writer: Agnes Jeppsson & Björn Schagerström
Producer: Patrik Nylander Nilsson
Genre: Science Fiction

When Frank gets reassigned to the Department of Consumption against his will by Claudia to look after their daughter he didn’t know he had, he instead manages to get them all outside the community of society where he discovers the shocking truth - and now the very future of human existence lies in his hands.

THE STOLEN CHILD (Canada, QC)
Director: Sebastian McKinnon
Writer: Sebastian McKinnon
Producer: Sebastian McKinnon
Genre: Fantasy

As war ravages the Human Kingdom, a daring Poet must lead three mystical heroes deep into the Faerie State to find a lost prince, return him to the throne and restore the peace.

WHERE THE MOUNTAIN WOMEN SING (Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan, Germany, Denmark)
Director: Juefang Zhang
Writer: Juefang Zhang
Producer: Patrick Huang, Kathleen I-Ying Lee
Genre: Dark Thriller, Cult, Folklore, Feminist Horror, Fantasy

A filmmaker travels to the cyberpunk village in Mongolia, where a shamanic ritual to select the 'Mountain God's Wife' unfolds, only to discover she is marked as the next sacrifice.

The Frontières International Co-Production Market is funded by Telefilm Canada, SODEC, the Government of Quebec, the City of Montreal, Wallimage and the Netherlands Film Fund.