The London-based writer-director Ajuán Isaac-George is taking his film project Duppy to the Croisette, where it will be shown as part of the Proof of Concept strand at the Frontières Platform. This selection places the film among the most watched projects in Cannes’ genre-focused industry program and signals attention from producers and distributors interested in bold, culturally specific horror. The announcement underscores a growing appetite for stories that combine local mythic textures with universal emotional stakes, as Isaac-George prepares to expand from shorts into his first full-length narrative.
Duppy is presented as a co-production between the U.K. and Jamaica, set in Jamaica during what the filmmaker identifies as the island’s most violent year, 1998. The plot follows a 12-year-old named Rainbow, who is left in rural care with her grandparents and navigates intense feelings of abandonment. In an attempt to regain control over her life and to retaliate against a strict religious grandmother, Rainbow calls forth a hostile spirit, unknowingly binding herself to a shapeshifting demon. The film frames this supernatural bond as a catalyst for a deeper exploration of childhood grief and uncontrolled emotion.
Story, tone and cultural roots
The project treats Jamaican folklore as the emotional and narrative backbone of the film, translating island myth into a cinematic language of dread and intimacy. Isaac-George describes the piece as a character-led horror: the terrors emerge from a child’s attempt to assert agency rather than from conventional jump scares. Critics and programmers have already noted that while Jamaica’s cultural exports are globally recognized, its supernatural traditions are seldom the focus of cinematic horror; Duppy aims to fill that gap. The story is less about spectacle and more about how unresolved loss, loneliness and a young mind’s need for power can be corrosive when combined with mythic forces.
Cultural specificity with universal reach
By centering on folklore, the film seeks to be both regionally authentic and emotionally resonant for wider audiences. The term duppy (a word from Caribbean spiritual vocabulary referring to a restless spirit) is invoked not simply as a plot device but as a lens through which themes of family, faith and survival are examined. The filmmaker’s approach is to let local belief systems inform character choices and cinematic atmosphere so that the narrative feels grounded in place while speaking to universal fears about loss, control and the consequences of childhood decisions.
Production, collaborators and festival trajectory
Duppy was developed with support from industry platforms and is produced by My Accomplice with U.K. producers Aleksandra Bilić and Dorottya Székely. Jamie Clark is listed as executive producer, and the project is co-produced in Jamaica by Mental Telepathy with Robert A. Maylor attached as a co-producer. The film was introduced to industry delegates at Film London’s Production Finance Market in 2026, a showcase that connects emerging filmmakers with financiers and co-producers. Presentation at that market helped secure international partners and positioned the project for its Frontières Platform slot.
Director’s previous work and momentum
Isaac-George’s move into features follows a string of festival-recognized short films. His short narrative Snowfalls in the Summer premiered at the 2026 BFI London Film Festival and screened at the Oscar-qualifying Hollyshorts, while his short documentary Seventeen, which documents a group of roller skaters during a formative summer, debuted at the 2026 BFI London Film Festival. Those screenings provided professional validation and helped the director attract collaborators who believe in his sensibility and in the film’s potential to find an audience at genre festivals and specialty distributors.
Frontières, market context and expectations
The Frontières Platform is organized by the Fantasia International Film Festival in partnership with the Marché du Film and is widely regarded as the leading international market for genre co-production between Europe and North America. The platform takes place at the Palais des Festivals over May 16-17, where producers, distributors and financiers converge to discover projects that combine strong creative vision with commercial viability. Within Frontières, the Proof of Concept section highlights projects at a stage where a clear creative sample or strategy can persuade potential backers to commit; Duppy fits that profile as both a culturally rooted and marketable genre picture.
Industry figures have remarked on the rarity of Jamaican projects that mine local myths for genre storytelling, noting that Duppy could open doors for similar films. The selection at Frontières is likely to increase the project’s visibility among international partners and to accelerate its packaging and financing. Final credits and collaborative roles remain those announced by the producers, and further updates are expected as the director moves toward production. Contribution on reporting for the industry announcement was made by John Hopewell.
