Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival will proudly present thriller The Televangelist at Cannes Marché du Film’s prestigious Fantastic 7 finance market this month.

Fantastic 7, now in its fifth year, showcases seven upcoming projects from the global genre industry, presented by seven different film festivals, to an international film industry network during the Cannes Film Festival, enabling its participating filmmakers to pitch to distributors, investors, and production representatives.

In addition to NZIFF, other festivals represented in Fantastic 7 include SXSW Film & TV Festival (USA), Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia), Cairo International Film Festival (Egypt), Guadalajara International Film Festival (Mexico), Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Estonia) and Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (South Korea).

Written and directed by Tom Levesque and produced by Eva Trebilco and Matt Noonan, The Televangelist is a psychological thriller/black comedy and is a New Zealand/Canada co-production. When internet televangelist Hendrick Powell believes a rival preacher is behind his dwindling social media enterprise, he sets out on a journey of theatrics and blackmail to reclaim his online followers whatever the cost.

Tom’s debut feature film Shut Eye premiered at NZIFF 2022 in Auckland, and NZIFF General Manager Sally Woodfield says, “NZIFF is delighted to be putting forward The Televangelist at this year’s Fantastic 7 and are exceptionally proud to endorse its producers Eva Trebilco and Matt Noonan, and filmmaker Tom Levesque. 

“We were impressed by Tom’s debut feature last year and we believe he and his team are ones to watch. Aotearoa has a long tradition of producing excellent horror, thriller and fantasy genre films and we’re so pleased to put our support behind Kiwi talent at a global level.”

NZIFF Incredibly Strange collection programmer Ant Timpson said The Televangelist caught his attention some time ago. “After seeing what Tom did with little resources for his debut feature Shut Eye, it is exciting to think what he could do with a script like The Televangelist – a wild black-comedic thriller with grounded contemporary foundations.”

The Televangelist director Tom Levesque said it was “terrific” to have the opportunity to present at Fantastic 7 in Cannes. “Being able to pitch at one of the world’s most prestigious film markets will be invaluable as we look to bring this genre bending story of The Televangelist to life.”

Fantastic 7 takes place on Sunday 21 May (NZ time) with Tom and Eva heading to Cannes this week alongside Matt Noonan to present The Televangelist at Fantastic 7 in person. It is the first time NZIFF’s selected project has been able to be presented in person. The NZIFF Fantastic 7 selection is supported by The New Zealand Film Commission who provide a grant towards travel and accommodation.

This is the third year NZIFF has taken part in Fantastic 7. Previous projects were The Rule of Jenny Pen (2021) and The Cage (2022).