XYZ Films has unveiled New Visions, an initiative designed to spotlight bold new voices alongside established talent striking a new path in the international cinema space.
The initiative will serve as a curated collection of films that “exists to discover and support the next generation of great filmmakers at the inception of their career, and to give established talents room to do something smaller, more intimate, or challenging outside of the usual box of independent filmmaking,” XYZ said in a statement.
The slate will launch in Cannes with Directors’ Fortnight selection “In Flames,” a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn and executive produced by Shant Joshi. As revealed by PvNew, XYZ had boarded the title last year. In the Karachi-set film, after the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and phantasmal. They must find strength in each other if they are to survive the malevolent forces that threaten to engulf them.
Additional titles in the initial New Visions slate include Czech science fiction title “Restore Point,” directed by Robert Hloz and produced by Jan Kallista, which will have footage screened at the Cannes market as part of the Fantastic 7 lineup and Paul Duane’s upcoming Irish folk horror “All You Need is Death.”
XYZ has also hired Manon Barat as a dedicated sales executive working alongside long time head of international acquisitions Todd Brown to oversee the new slate of global sales titles. Barat was previously a sales and marketing executive with Barcelona-based Film Factory Entertainment, where she worked on Jayro Bustamante’s “Volcano,” later handling the festival plan for the Guatemalan director’s follow-up “Tremors and festivals and sales for his third feature, the Golden Globe-nominated “La Llorona”; Fernando Trueba’s 2020 Cannes selection “Forgotten We’ll Be” and Carlos Vermut’s 2022 Toronto selection “Manticore,” among many others.
Brown said: “What we’re saying with the New Visions slate is that no matter how XYZ may continue to grow and change we are never going to allow ourselves to lose our roots. With this new initiative we are very proactively creating a space for our next generation of talent to shine, a space for both new talent and established voices looking to challenge and redefine themselves. We couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds and thrilled to have Manon joining us on the journey.”
Barat added: “I’ve always considered XYZ to have one of the most creative and bold slates and it is an honor to join the team. I am thrilled to be on board for this specialized slate which will be talent-driven and actively looking for bold filmmakers who I believe will be the leaders of their generation.”
