EFM Frontières Focus Unveils First-Ever Lineup, Showcasing Global Genre Visionaries at Berlinale 2026
- Horror Movies Uncut
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EFM Frontières Focus Unveils Its First Lineup, Spotlighting Global Genre Voices and Bold New Visions
Per Variety, the inaugural EFM Frontières Focus has revealed its first-ever lineup — a five-title showcase of international genre filmmaking selected from nearly 100 submissions. Designed to highlight the depth, artistry, and commercial strength of modern horror, fantasy, and hybrid genre cinema, the Focus launches as part of the 2026 Berlin Film Festival market.
Frontières Executive Director Annick Mahnert described the response as “heartwarming,” and the final selections reflect a wide creative range: folk horror rooted in post-war trauma, Irish sexual fantasy, an outrageous D.B. Cooper myth remix, a dream-world grief dramedy, and eco-supernatural horror with body-morphing terror.
For sales agents and distributors, this curated slate signals exactly what the market wants: high-production-value genre films with strong identities, global voices, and international appeal.
THE FIVE PROJECTS SELECTED FOR THE 2026 EFM FRONTIÈRES FOCUS
WITH BLESSINGS ON YOUR WAY (Kan Muftić, U.K./Bosnia-Herzegovina)
A Bosnian folk horror steeped in collective PTSD, the film follows Tarik — a reclusive war survivor banished to the forest after supposedly awakening malignant forces. When he returns home transformed, reality and trauma collide. Muftić, known for his work as a concept artist (Bioshock 2) and animation director (Kiss Me First), makes his live-action feature debut.
TOUCH ME (Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair, Ireland)
From the director of SXSW standout Don’t Go Where I Can’t Find You, Touch Me centers on Marianne, a florist terrified of skin-to-skin contact — until a serial killer’s spree awakens a darker desire. Ní Ghrioghair positions the film as a psychological, sensual exploration of women’s relationships with violence, bodily autonomy, and desire.
ORIENTAL SNATCH (Chris Tex & Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, U.S./Brazil)
The most outrageous project in the lineup — a genre-blending retelling of the real 1971 D.B. Cooper hijacking, promising to reveal “all the answers” to the unsolved case. Tews, co-creator of cult hit Hundreds of Beavers, describes it as an action-adventure mystery-horror romance. Concept art includes an armor-plated Nazi alligator, so subtlety is clearly not the mission.
NADINE PICK UP THE PHONE (Vanessa Magic, Canada)
A dreamy, grief-driven comedy-drama about a woman who begins sharing her lucid dreams with a mysterious young man — unlocking buried family secrets in the process. Magic describes her tactile, handcrafted filmmaking style as a response to modern digital overload. Selected for Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch program.
SPLIT ROCK (Ryan Glover, Canada)
An eco-supernatural body-horror thriller about a geologist whose mind and body deteriorate after unearthing a magnetic boulder in the Saskatchewan badlands. Shot on 16mm with practical effects and anamorphic lenses, Glover’s follow-up to his Shudder-acquired The Strings promises a “unique and truly disturbing” experience. The film is already in post-production.
GENRE FILMMAKING ON A GLOBAL RISE
EFM Frontières Focus is positioned as a companion to Cannes’ Frontières Platform and Montreal’s Frontières Market — but with a dedicated emphasis on films that are already shot or actively advancing toward production. As Mahnert notes, genre is thriving in an era where filmmakers can harness new tools, cheaper effects, and hybrid storytelling to push boundaries in unexpected ways.
Berlinale Pro’s Tanja Meissner says the initiative puts genre “firmly in the spotlight” at a time when creativity, visibility, and budgets in the space are expanding.
For the five chosen directors — emerging talents already praised for originality — the Focus offers a major launchpad in one of the world’s most competitive festival markets.
This year’s lineup shows exactly why genre filmmaking continues to lead international sales: it’s bold, culturally specific, hybridized, and unpredictable. And if these five films are any indication, the next wave of global genre storytelling is going to be intense, imaginative, and deeply human.
HMU will continue tracking the EFM Frontières Focus slate as these projects move toward completion and the Berlin market begins.