27 May IEFTA Alumni Beza Hailu Lemma wins Next Step Award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
IEFTA are thrilled to announce that Ethiopian filmmaker and IEFTA Alumni Beza Hailu Lemma has been awarded the prestigious Next Step Award by La Semaine de la Critique at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for his debut feature project, The Last Tears of the Deceased.
The Last Tears of the Deceased is produced by Gobez Media (Canada) in co-production with Les Cigognes Films (France) and Die Gesellschaft DGS (Germany). It is currently in the financing stage, with production support already secured from the Red Sea Fund. Condor will handle French distribution. The project has also received development support from Région Centre CICLIC, Ontario Creates, DW Akademie, and IEFTA, and has participated in international labs with the Realness Institute, Doha Film Institute, Produire au Sud, EAVE, APOST, and Cinéfondation’s Atelier at Cannes.
This recognition builds on the momentum of Beza’s acclaimed short film Alazar, which premiered at La Semaine de la Critique in Cannes in 2024. Since its debut, Alazar has screened at major international festivals including TIFF, Clermont-Ferrand, and Melbourne. As well Alazar received the Silver Stallion of Yennenga at FESPACO 2025, and was awarded the Silver Yusr Award at the 2024 Red Sea Film Festival. International sales for Alazar are represented by Sudu Connexion.
Beza’s feature debut, The Last Tears of the Deceased, shares the poetic tone of Alazar in a haunting exploration of faith, memory, and mysticism. Set in contemporary Ethiopia, the film follows a newly ordained priest on a journey to uncover the truth about his childhood death. As he travels through the highlands, his path drifts between the spiritual and the supernatural, ultimately confronting the fragility of faith itself.
“We’re honoured to support Beza’s voice and vision as he moves into long-form storytelling,” said Tamara Dawit, producer and founder of Gobez Media. “This recognition from La Semaine de la Critique is a strong affirmation of his talent and the film’s artistic promise.”
About La Semaine de la Critique
Since 2014, La Semaine de la Critique has been supporting talented short film directors who have presented a short film at La Semaine de la Critique towards making their first feature through the Next Step programme. After presenting their short film in Cannes, filmmakers are invited to come in December to Moulin d’Andé and then to Paris for our workshop. For a whole week, international consultants will advise them on their script, their score, and on how to launch their film on the market. It also entails professional meetings in Paris, which are opportunities to forge new collaborations with potential French coproducers, sellers and distributors.
