Published: June 20, 2023| 11:00 AM

The eighth edition of the program Future Frames – Generation NEXT of European Cinema, organized by the European Film Promotion and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, will help ten emerging European film directors launch their careers in the film industry. The selected participants, chosen among film students and graduates, will showcase their films to the festival audience and engage in an intensive program that will introduce them to the film industry and media. Acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Smoczyńska will be the mentor of this year’s group, providing an exclusive private master class for the young filmmakers.

This year, the Future Frames program has entered into a new partnership with leading multi-national lottery operator Allwyn as well as US-based talent agency UTA and management company Range Media Partners. Representatives from UTA and Range Media Partners will provide feedback and guidance to the filmmakers and ultimately select one participant, who will receive a special scholarship sponsored by Allwyn. This scholarship will enable the recipient to go to Los Angeles and learn from the best in the film industry.

Agnieszka Smoczyńska
Agnieszka Smoczyńska debuted in 2015 with The Lure – genre-bending, horror-musical mashup which won awards around the world, at dozens of international festivals, including Sundance Film Festival Porto, Sofia, Montreal, Vilnius. The Lure is a part of the prestigious Criterion Collection and was theatrically released in US via Janus Film. Her second feature film Fugue premiered at Cannes as a part of the prestigious Critics' Week section. In 2023, it was released in the US in theatres. In 2022, her English-language debut, The Silent Twins starring Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. Smoczyńska took part in the European Cinema: Ten Women Filmmakers to Watch program. She was also a winner of the Global Filmmaking Award sponsored by the Sundance Institute. In 2022 she was among five directors to watch at Cannes Film Festival. 

The 2023 Future Frames Selection

Czech Republic: Anna Izabela Wowra | Stuck Together 
Denmark: Amalie Maria Nielsen | The Shift 
Germany: Sophia Mocorrea | The Kidnapping of the Bride 
Italy: Giulia Regini | Cut From the Same Cow 
Lithuania: Rinaldas Tomasevicius | -15 
The Netherlands: Joris Tobé | Frantic Attempts 
Portugal: Inês Pedrosa e Melo | Home, Revised 
Slovak Republic: Monika Mahútová | Standing Still 
Spain: Christian Avilés | Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays 
Switzerland: Kim Allamand | Heart Fruit

About Allwyn

Announced as a main partner in April 2023, Allwyn, a leading multi-national lottery operator, will support the Future Frames initiative for three years. As a main partner of KVIFF, Allwyn will host the Allwyn Future Frames Lounge on site and bring the ten emerging European talents together with industry leaders, including overseas talent agency UTA and management company Range Media Partners. Allwyn’s new celebration evening will commemorate the work of all ten selected directors. In addition, introduced this year through partnership with Allwyn, one fortunate director of the group will be afforded a scholarship to Hollywood.

"We look forward to welcoming all the talented directors to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this year, selected as part of the Future Frames initiative. We are also very much looking forward to welcoming one of the ten directors on the newly established scholarship to Hollywood, introduced this year in partnership with UTA and Range Media. Changing lives is core to our mission and we are very pleased to be affording talented directors the opportunity to work with the very best in the film industry," said Pavel Turek, Allwyn's Chief Officer of Global Brand, Corporate Communication, and CSR.