North of Portugal is hosting Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight project

The next edition of The Factory, organized by the Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight, will take place in the North of Portugal. The project foresees the premiere at the French festival of four short films produced in the country by a team composed of Portuguese directors and local foreigners and technicians.

With the support of the Porto City Council and Filmaporto — film commission, at the North of Portugal Factory four directors from the northern region — André Guiomar, Mariana Bártolo, Mário Macedo and Melanie Pereira — were invited to work with four foreign filmmakers – Alex Mironescu (Romania), Dornaz Hajiha (Iran), Guillermo Garcia Lopez (Spain) and Mya Kaplan (Israel) — in writing and directing four short films.

Shooting begins in March with the support of local technical teams and production of Bando à Parte.

The films will premiere worldwide at the opening of the 55th edition of the Directors' Fortnight, which takes place between May 16 and 27 in France.

During the festival, the eight selected filmmakers will have the opportunity to present their filmography and a feature film project in development to members of the international industry.

This artistic residency, created in 2013 by Dominique Welinsk, takes place annually in different countries to promote the work of emerging directors and stimulate cinematic cultural encounters.

Past editions include Taipei Factory, Nordic Factory, Chile Factory, South Africa, Lebanon Factory, Tunisia Factory and South East Europe.