Films by Tamara Kotevska, Jacqueline Lentzou, and Rubaiyat Hossain Featured at Les Arcs Work in Progress Showcase

Macedonian Director Tamara Kotevska to Showcase Film at Les Arcs Film Festival

Oscar-nominated Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska will present her upcoming film at the Les Arcs Film Festival’s Work in Progress showcase later this month. Kotevska’s debut fictional feature, Man Vs Flock, explores the struggle of an elderly farmer fighting to keep his land, which is threatened by plans for a new highway. This film is part of a selection featuring 12 works in progress to be unveiled at the festival.

Kotevska gained international recognition for her documentary Honeyland, which won the Best Documentary – World Cinema award at Sundance in 2019 and was nominated for both Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film at the 2020 Academy Awards. She is also known for her other notable nonfiction works, The Walk and The Tale of Sylian.

Joining Kotevska, director Jacqueline Lentzou will present A Day In The Life Of Jo: Chapter Phaedra, a story inspired by the unexpected death of a teenager in Athens that resonates with enduring themes of loss. This film marks Lentzou’s second project following her first feature, Moon, 66 Questions, which was selected for the Encounters section at Berlin’s 2021 online edition and garnered accolades at several festivals, including Sarajevo and Seville.

Award-winning Bangladeshi producer and director Rubaiyat Hossain will also present The Difficult Bride, a film that delves into a woman’s struggles with body image as she approaches her wedding day. This film is Hossain’s fourth, following previous works Made in Bangladesh (2019), Under Construction (2015), and Meherjaan (2011).

The Work In Progress event aims to connect films in post-production with international sales agents and distributors. Notable past participants include Sound of Falling (Germany) and Little Trouble Girls (Slovenia), both of which have been recognized as potential contenders for the 2026 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.

Scheduled as part of the Industry Village events, the Work In Progress showcase will include the Coproduction Village, the Talent Village for projects in development, and the Music Village. This year, the showcase received 163 project submissions.

The selected projects are in contention for the TitraFilm Award, which offers €10,000 in post-production facilities, the Alphapanda Audience Engagement Award, providing marketing consultancy and a promotional digital asset package valued at €7,000, and the 22D Music Award, which grants €10,000 for music composition.

Additionally, the festival has announced that the Revelation Female Film Composer Award, established in 2022 in collaboration with Sacem and the Lab Femmes de Cinéma, will be awarded to Léonie Pernet, recognized for her soundtracks, including Magma by Cyprien Vial.

Full List of Selected Projects:

• A Day In The Life Of Jo: Chapter Phaedra
  Directed by Jacqueline Lentzou (Greece)
  Produced by Avion Films (Greece), Atalante Productions (Greece), Kelek Film UG (Germany), 4 A 4 Productions (France)

• A Happy Family
  Directed by Jan-Eric Mack (Switzerland)
  Produced by C-FILMS AG (Switzerland)

• Barefoot Bull
  Directed by Petar Krumov (Bulgaria)
  Produced by KLAS Film (Bulgaria), Harald House (Belgium)

• Girl Beast
  Directed by Selma Sunniva (Denmark)
  Produced by Manna Film (Denmark)

• Luzia
  Directed by Leonor Noivo (Portugal)
  Produced by Laranja Azul (Portugal), Terratreme Films (Portugal), Enquadramento Produções (Brazil), Norte (France)

• Man Vs Flock
  Directed by Tamara Kotevska (North Macedonia)
  Produced by Video Studio Petkovski (North Macedonia), asterisk* (Greece), Nukleus Film (Croatia), Filmoskopija (Serbia), Cine Planet (Montenegro), Zeynofilm (Turkey)

• Oasis
  Directed by Jannis Lenz (Germany)
  Produced by Zeitgeist Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Wega Filmproduktionsges.m.b.h (Austria), Third Picture GbR (Germany)

• The Difficult Bride
  Directed by Rubaiyat Hossain (Bangladesh)
  Produced by Les Films de l’Après-Midi (France), Khona Talkies (Bangladesh), Midas Filmes (Portugal), Tandem Production (Germany), Barentsfilm (Norway)

• The First Week of August
  Directed by Filip Mojzeš (Croatia)
  Produced by Wolfgang & Dolly (Croatia)

• The Matriarch
  Directed by Alison Kuhn (Germany, Vietnam)
  Produced by Schiwago Film GmbH (Germany), Tidewater Pictures GmbH (Germany)

• Until The Day Ends
  Directed by Jelena Maksimović (Serbia)
  Produced by Taurunum Film (Serbia), Staragara (Slovenia), PREMIERstudio (Bulgaria), Meander Film (Montenegro) – in collaboration with TorinoFilmLab within the “TFL Coming Soon” initiative

• Weird Elliot
  Directed by Johannes Nyholm (Sweden)
  Produced by HOBAB (Sweden), BALDR Film (The Netherlands)