– This year’s selection ventures into cult hysteria, post-apocalyptic survival and dark folklore, with seven projects backed by seven major film festivals worldwide
Ting by Maximilien Dejoie
The Fantastic 7 initiative returns to Cannes for its eighth edition, reaffirming its dedication to championing genre storytelling and spotlighting emerging voices from across the globe. Co-organised by the Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia and the Marché du Film, the showcase will take place on 17 May, offering genre filmmakers a key platform where they can present their works to international industry professionals.
Each year, seven projects are selected by seven prominent film festivals known for their commitment to genre cinema. Fantastic 7 aims to connect these filmmakers with potential co-producers, financiers, sales agents and distributors, fostering collaborations that can elevate their projects to the global stage.
This year’s edition welcomes prolific Japanese auteur Takashi Miike as the Fantastic Godfather. With a career spanning nearly 150 films, Miike has continuously redefined genre boundaries, moving effortlessly between horror, yakuza cinema, comedy and drama. From the disturbing Audition to the cult classic Ichi the Killer, his work epitomises the daring, inventive spirit at the heart of Fantastic 7.
The 2026 selection leans into themes of transformation, belief systems and existential survival, exploring unsettling realities through a wide spectrum of tones, from dark fantasy and horror-comedy to speculative fiction and mystery. The projects reflect how contemporary genre cinema continues to interrogate personal and collective anxieties through bold, imaginative storytelling.
Two of this year’s projects are European-backed, drawing on folklore, faith and historical trauma. Dead Ground by Spain’s Marta Medina del Valle unfolds as a folk-horror tale of a vanishing village, while Ting by Italian filmmaker Maximilien Dejoie (I’ll Stand by You) channels grief into a monstrous embodiment set against a war-torn Europe. All seven filmmaking teams will pitch their projects live at Palais K, aiming to advance development, secure partnerships and position their movies within the international marketplace.
Here is the full line-up of projects selected for this year’s Fantastic 7:
Rock, Paper, Sea – Randa Ali (Egypt)
Producer: Cats Films
Presented by the Cairo International Film Festival
Ting – Maximilien Dejoie (Italy/UK)
Producers: Roberto Cavallini, Wilfried Gufler, Mattia Puleo, James Heath
Presented by PÖFF – Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
Last Mankind – Huh Gun (South Korea)
Producers: Heo Gyu-beom, Baek Si-won, Kim Dong-min
Presented by the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Dead Ground – Marta Medina del Valle (Spain)
Producers: Luis Ferrón, Alejandro Millán
Presented by Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia
The Veil – Gabriel Motta (Brazil)
Producer: Aletéia Selonk
Presented by the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF)
Metalhead vs The Witnesses – Wicho Rivera, Cabe Tejeda (Mexico)
Producer: Hiram Chaparro
Presented by the Guadalajara International Film Festival
The Coward at Kettle Creek – Noah Stratton-Twine, Jake Kuhn (USA)
Producer: Right-Off Films
Presented by the SXSW Film & TV Festival
