Next Step 2024
Since 2014, La Semaine de la Critique has been supporting talented short-film directors who have presented a short film at La Semaine de la Critique towards making their first feature through the Next Step programme. After presenting their short film in Cannes, filmmakers are invited to come to Paris for a workshop. For a whole week, international consultants will advise them on their script, their score, and on how to launch their film on the market. It also entails professional meetings in Paris, which are opportunities to forge new collaborations with potential French coproducers, sellers and distributors. Since 2022, we have taken Morelia Film Festival’s invitation to Cannes a step further by inviting a Mexican filmmaker to participate in the Next Step programme. Over 10 years, 89 directors from 36 countries have benefitted from the Next Step support programme.
We are delighted to see that, to this day, 35 features have been released, the most recent ones being Some Rain must Fall by Qiu Yang and Arcadia by Yorgos Zois screened at the 2024 Berlinale, section Encounters, My Wonderful Stranger by Johanna Pyykkö at the 2024 Göteborg, The Permanent Picture by Laura Ferrés at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival and Sky Peals by Moin Hussain at the 2023 Venice Critics’ Week. 4 feature films previously developed at Next Step workshop premiered in Cannes in 2023, amongst them How To Have Sex by Molly Manning Walker, Un Certain Regard Prize.
In 2023, the Next Step Hildegarde Award, with its 2,500€ endowment and an invitation to the Cannes Film Festival for the director with the most promising feature film project, has been awarded to Liar Man by Manolis Mavris, from the 9th Next Step edition, by a jury composed of 4 industry experts. In 2024, the jury is composed by Roxane Arnold, head of distribution at Pyramide Films ; Marion Delord, Hildegarde’s executive director ; Markus Duffner, Head of Locarno Pro and Ioana Stais, Head of sales and acquisitions at Heretic. The awarded project will be unveiled during the Cannes Film Festival.
With the support of 
Next Step Vol. II
A second workshop where script writing and film music creation come together
The 2024 edition of Next Step Volume II will be held in September, with the support of SACEM and SACD, in partnership with Providenza, the agri/cultural fabbrica created by Antoine Viviani in a gorgeous chestnut grove between the villages of Piève and Rapale in Northern Corsica.
This second, deliberately hybrid, workshop is an opportunity for 5 international filmmakers and 3 composers to meet during the vital stage of script rewriting. Residents will spend a week reworking their script and score, with the help of consultants and experts. Directors will also be encouraged to think about their score very early on, as an integral part of the writing process, and a rich artistic counterpoint
With the support of
Created in 2023, the Critique & Création Fund supports endeavours led by the French Union of Film Critics. It is designed to welcome patrons and donors who wish to foster and promote critical thinking among young generations, and support burgeoning young talents worldwide.