Tomb of Dreams
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| Tomb of Dreams | |
|---|---|
 French Poster | |
| Tombe des rêves | |
| Directed by | F. J. Ossang |
| Written by | F. J. Ossang |
| Produced by | Bruce Satarenko Thibault Elie |
| Starring | Alexis Manenti Elvire Pascal Greggory Rurik Sallé |
| Cinematography | Sean Price Williams |
| Edited by | Walter Mauriot |
| Music by | MKB Fraction Provisoire, Jack Belsen and Nicolas Becker |
Production companies | Morituri Films OSS/100 Films & Documents |
Release date |
|
Running time | 25 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Tomb of Dreams (French: Tombe des rêves) is a 2026 French fantasy short film written and directed by F. J. Ossang. Starring Alexis Manenti, Elvire and Pascal Greggory, it follows a couple who withdraw to an isolated house on the coast of Brittany, where they encounter mysterious figures resembling the undead. Shot principally in black and white on Super 16 mm film by cinematographer Sean Price Williams, it was produced by Morituri Films and OSS/100 Films & Documents.
The film had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival on August 10, 2026, in the out-of-competition program. It subsequently screened in competition at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival and the Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest.
Plot
Louis and Lénore return to their home region and settle in an isolated house overlooking the sea, hoping to escape the turmoil of the outside world. At dusk, strange figures begin appearing in the surrounding landscape. Louis becomes increasingly troubled by their presence, uncertain whether they are real or manifestations of his dreams. As the figures draw closer, their initially ambiguous behavior turns threatening.
Cast
- Alexis Manenti as Louis
- Elvire as Lénore
- Pascal Greggory as Doctor Lucien
- Rurik Sallé
Production
Development and financing
Tomb of Dreams originated in an invitation from Christophe Taudière of France 2 to Ossang to reinterpret the zombie-film genre. The project was developed as a coproduction between Morituri and Ossang's OSS/100 Films & Documents, with support from the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC), France Télévisions and the Brittany regional government. In September 2024, Brittany awarded Morituri €15,000 toward the production under its Innovation, Research and New Writing program; the project was then described as a 20-minute short. The completed film runs 25 minutes.
Ossang originally conceived the story as taking place in the Cantal region, where he was born, but moved the setting to Brittany after scouting locations. He was particularly taken with the Manoir de Men Meur and its surroundings near Le Guilvinec. In a later interview, he connected his interest in the Breton coastline to his reading of Jean Epstein's writings and films associated with the region.
Filming and cinematography
Principal photography took place in Finistère in late January 2026. Filming was scheduled around Le Guilvinec for January 22 and 24 and between Camaret-sur-Mer and Roscanvel for January 26–28. A contemporary report confirmed filming in the center of Le Guilvinec on January 24. Ossang reunited with Manenti and Greggory, both of whom had appeared in his 2017 feature 9 Fingers.
Working with American cinematographer Sean Price Williams, Ossang shot the film on Super 16 mm. Actor Rurik Sallé described the use of in-camera fades, created by closing the shutter during filming rather than adding them in postproduction. Although predominantly black and white, the finished film incorporates limited color imagery, including at its beginning.
The film's music is credited to Ossang's group MKB Fraction Provisoire, Jack Belsen and Nicolas Becker, who also handled sound editing.
The production encountered heavy rain and two storms, which Ossang said left the coastal locations unusually deserted. He regarded the severe weather as an unexpected contribution to the film's atmosphere.
Ossang drew on both the threatening undead of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) and the earlier Haitian tradition of zombie narratives. He cited White Zombie (1932) and Jacques Tourneur's I Walked with a Zombie (1943) among the films that informed his interest in the genre. In an interview with Swiss broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse, he related the figure of the zombie to contemporary forms of alienation and loss of autonomy.
Release and reception
Tomb of Dreams premiered on August 10, 2026, in the Fuori Concorso program at Locarno. It was subsequently selected for the Made in France short-film competition at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival, with screenings in September and October, and for the international short-film competition at the Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest in October. The film was also made available for a limited period on the Italian MYmovies ONE platform as part of Ravenna's online programming, with Italian subtitles, until October 27, 2026.
Reviewing the film for Cineccentric after its Locarno premiere, Lida Bach praised its atmospheric cinematography and its evocation of early fantastic cinema, citing visual affinities with The Phantom Carriage and Vampyr. She found its combination of gothic imagery, social satire and theatrical dialogue engaging, although she criticized aspects of the performances, awarding it two and a half stars out of five.
Writing for the Italian publication Cineclandestino after the Ravenna screening, Stefano Coccia awarded the film 7.5 out of 10. He emphasized the shifts between desaturated color, black and white and an ochre-toned final image, and interpreted the encounter with the undead as a meditation on the dehumanization of contemporary society. Coccia also identified echoes of Romero, Robert Bresson and Edgar Allan Poe in Ossang's imagery and dialogue.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Le Vern, Romain (August 6, 2026). "[TOMBE DES RÊVES] L'emballant retour de FJ Ossang qui parle au Chaos de ses zombies oniriques". Chaos (in French).
- 1 2 3 Le Vern, Romain (January 17, 2026). "INFO CHAOS. F.J. Ossang tourne « Tombe des Rêves », Alexis Manenti, Elvire et Pascal Greggory au casting". Chaos (in French).
- 1 2 "Tombe des rêves" (in French). Festival européen du film fantastique de Strasbourg. 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Tombe des rêves". MYmovies ONE (in Italian). 2026.
- 1 2 Coccia, Stefano (October 28, 2026). "Tombe des Rêves". Cineclandestino (in Italian).
- ↑ Bretagne Cinéma: Projets aidés 2024 (février–septembre) (PDF) (Report) (in French). Région Bretagne. September 30, 2024.
- ↑ "Tomb of Dreams". Socinety. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
- 1 2 "« Je suis tombé sous le charme » : au Guilvinec, la cité de la pêche se transforme en cité de la peur pour le nouveau court-métrage de Frédéric-Jacques Ossang, avec le césarisé Alexis Manenti". Le Télégramme (in French). January 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Des figurants recherchés pour un court-métrage au Guilvinec et dans ses alentours". Le Télégramme (in French). January 18, 2026.
- ↑ "Recherche figurant(e)s pour le film Tombe des rêves". Facebook (in French). Ville de Camaret-sur-Mer. January 17, 2026.
- ↑ Rencontre avec Rurik Sallé : Auteur, Acteur, Musicien (Interview) (in French). May 13, 2026. Event occurs at 42:16.
- 1 2 3 Tombe des rêves de F. J. Ossang. Vertigo (Radio interview) (in French). RTS Première. August 13, 2026.
- ↑ "Tombe des rêves". Locarno Film Festival. Retrieved November 8, 2026.
- ↑ Bach, Lida (August 22, 2026). "Tomb of Dreams". Cineccentric.