Use the search bar to find projects, completed films, and TFL community members.

TFL Next

TFL Next Green Narratives 2025

Call for applications closed!

The programme that supports story editors, writers and directors interested in crafting inclusive and environmentally conscious narratives.

Main info

This workshop is designed to support writers, directors, and story editors interested in developing feature film projects that authentically integrate inclusive environmentally conscious storytelling. By inspiring new creative perspectives and promoting social and environmental awareness, the programme aims to open a dialogue around alternative and regenerative narratives in the cinema of the future.

 TFL Next Green Narratives aims at:

- Offering support to filmmakers with a feature film project, in the treatment phase, who want to incorporate climate themes, social inclusion, and/or sustainability into their narratives without loosing their unique artistic voice.

- Training a new wave of story editors equipped with the skills to assist writers in integrating climate-conscious themes while respecting creative autonomy and maintaining the emotional and commercial viability of the story.

- Challenging traditional narratives through inspiring meetings and discussions while actively considering alternative dramaturgical avenues. Participants will be encouraged to rethink and question storytelling structures in order to embrace climate-positive, regenerative, diverse, and inclusive narratives that move beyond dystopian clichés to inspire alternative modes of thinking and create hope and agency.

The workshop focuses exclusively on treatment development, ensuring that participating writers refine their projects with support from dedicated story editors and experienced mentors. Writers will receive bespoke editorial guidance on developing stories which at their core integrate climate dynamics, sustainability themes, and socially relevant elements in their films.

By engaging with climate storytelling experts, script tutors and filmmakers, participants will develop narratives that not only reflect today’s environmental challenges but also offer visions of sustainable, inclusive futures.

 

The structure

The workshop will be structured into 3 different ONLINE modules:

- 1st session: 9th – 13th June 
- 2ndsession: 30th June – 4th July
- 3rdsession: 1st – 5th September 

The TFL Next Green Narratives workshop is more than a training programme, it’s a creative incubator for filmmakers ready to challenge storytelling conventions and shape cinematic worlds that reflect today's urgent realities. Participants are expected to engage fully, embracing sustainability and inclusion as core principles in their narrative development.

The TFL Next Green Narratives workshop is a dynamic and immersive programme combining masterclasses, collaborative exercises, and hands-on mentorship. The focus is on the development of each selected project, through group and individual sessions, to strengthen the story dramatically, support the social and climate related ambitions of the writer, while  actively maintaining creative autonomy.

20 feature film projects at an early development stage presented by international scriptwriters or writers/directors together with a producer (if on board) will be selected and divided into 5 groups. Each of them is guided by a tutor with a wide international experience as a script consultant.

On top of this, the 5 story editors will benefit on a hands-on training and join a specific group, which involves 4 projects, with the main tutor who acts as well as a mentor to the story editor trainee.

 

Who can apply

The programme has been designed for two different targets:

- 20 scriptwriters, with a feature film project at early development stage:
The online workshops are open to scriptwriters, directors and producers coming from all over the world. The project can be presented individually or in a team (maximum 2 participants per team) and must be in the shape of a feature film project at an early development stage.


- 5 story editors editors, narrative experts:
Professional Story Editors interested in being trained for work on feature film projects with an international perspective, developed both through group and individual sessions.

The working language of all workshops, meetings and events is English; thus, a good knowledge of English is essential to participate.

Participation fee

750 Euro (+ VAT, if due) per each Story Editor;
1,700 Euro (+ VAT, if due) per team of participants (max 2 participants).

Upon selection, participants must send a proof of the payment within the following 2 days, to confirm their seat.

TorinoFilmLab doesn’t foresee any scholarships for this workshop. Thanks to the support of Climate Spring one story editor trainee coming from the Climate Spring network, will receive a scholarship covering the participation fee.

More details will be given after the selection process will be closed.

In many countries, public institutions provide scholarships for this kind of training, and TorinoFilmLab can provide a selection letter to facilitate the request.

Workshop online sessions

- 1st session: 9th – 13th June 2025
-  2ndsession: 30th June – 4th July 2025
- 3rdsession: 1st – 5th September 2025

How to apply

STORY EDITORS:

The requested materials – to be submitted all together in one PDF, and all in English – are:

- a motivational letter explaining why you would like to attend a workshop with this particular focus (3 pages maximum, In font Times New Roman - 12);
- a document in which you describe if/ how you already work as script consultants (3 pages maximum, In font Times New Roman - 12);
- a CV (3 pages maximum, In font Times New Roman - 12);
- a YOUTUBE link (with NO password) to 2’ video presentation – in ENGLISH - where the applicant presents her/himself, explaining the main reason why she/he decided to apply to this programme.

FEATURE FILM PROJECTS:

The requested materials – to be submitted all together in one PDF, and all in English – are:
- project logline (2 lines max, In font Times New Roman - 12) - please note that this logline will be used for communication purpose and to announce the eventual selection of the project in the programme;
- project synopsis (3 pages max, In font Times New Roman - 12);
- project treatment (10 pages max, In font Times New Roman - 12);
- director's/scriptwriter's intention note (1 page max, In font Times New Roman - 12);
- 3 pages max with: the CV of all project team members (the ones who want to attend the workshop in case of selection), a link (with NO password) to previous work (30’ max)
- a link (with NO password) to 2’ video presentation (it must include all the project team members; in this video you are asked to present yourself/yourselves and explain why you’re interested in applying to TFL Next Green Narratives);
- materials about the audio-visual approach: still pictures, video mood board, etc. (1 page max, In font Times New Roman - 12).

The aim of the workshop is to foster the development of sustainable and inclusive fictional narratives, and applicants are encouraged to explain their interest in these principles in their applications.
 
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

24th April 2025


Click on 
"APPLY NOW!" to access the application form and submit your candidature (before starting the application process, you need to create an account on the TFL platform). In the application form, candidates will also be asked to fill out a questionnaire about the status of their project.

Applications that don’t respect the above-listed criteria will be rejected!

For more information please contact: fiore@museocinema.it

The selection

THE PROJECTS


A TOUCH OF PARADISE
(Tunisia)
Houcem Slouli (Writer/Director), Sarra Ben Hassen (Producer)
Slim and Cyrine, a young couple living in Gabès, a once-lush Tunisian oasis now plagued by industrial pollution. Their lives mirror a city struggling to preserve its fertility and memory.

BEHIND THE ICE WALL (Norway)
Andrea Eckerbom (Writer/Director), Vittoria Røkke Passalacqua (Producer)
The collapse of the Antarctic Ice Wall reveals a hidden land beyond. Two brothers flee their violent home in search of hope, guided only by childhood imagination.

CHRONICLES OF NATURE AND CITY (Italy)
Fabiana Balsamo (Producer), Aurora Ovan (Writer/Director)
Nature and City are in conflict. On both sides, everyone is convinced that they cannot coexist peacefully. Luna wants to prove otherwise.

CUERPO CERRADO (Panama)
Maria Burnes (Director), Nayita Adames (Producer)
A tsunami devastated the region centuries ago, leaving scars that still linger. Returning home to bury her mother’s ashes, Nicole uncovers a deeper threat—her grandmother’s strange affliction and a mining project erasing the past.

DIRT AND WATER (Chile)
Irene Mercadal (Writer/Director), Fran Zayas (Producer)
An ambitious conservationist travels to a remote town in the south of Chile to save its endangered wetlands. As she becomes entangled with the local townsfolk and stalked by mysterious aquatic beings called the Sumpal, she questions whether she’s there to save the wildlife or be an accessory to their destruction.

ELSEWHERE (Sweden)
Issraa Elkogali Häggström (Writer/Director)
A riveting tale of coming into one’s own through remembrance at a time of war and loss.

ENCOSTA (Brazil)
Victor Ribeiro (Director), Gisele Mirabai (Screenwriter)
Camilla wants to escape the countryside where she spends the summer with her aunts, but stays to defend the last green land amidst the coffee monoculture that they plan to set on fire.

FLOOD (Lithuania)
Jorūnė Greičiūtė (Writer/Director), Rūta Petronytė (Producer)
During their vacation on a secluded island, the couple hears a rumour about an upcoming flood. As fear and unease grip the woman's heart, it becomes increasingly difficult to connect with her partner.

GHOST OF THE CURRENTS (Thaiwan)
Patiparn Boontarig (Writer/Director), Kalil Pitsuwan (Co-Director/Writer)
After a devastating flood, a man returns to his Mekong riverside village, where the villagers blame a vengeful “River Ghost” for the disaster, but when he encounters the spirit of his lost lover, he learns that the true force haunting the river is something far greater.

LAGOON BLUES (Lithuania)
Dovydas Draksas (Writer/Director)
In a tranquil Lithuanian lagoon resort, an ambitious real estate developer finds himself increasingly isolated as both nature and locals quietly resist his grand illusions of progress.

MADE IN MUD (Spain)
Sergio Grobas (Producer)
At 12, Èlia returns to her childhood hometown to spend the summer with her friend Juna, only to find it lost to tourism.

MIDNIGHT RAMBLER (UK)
Fred Rowson  (Writer / Director)
A detective in a wildfire-ravaged town must wrap her head around the impossible truth that a series of murders may have been committed by a Sasquatch.

NO ROOTS (Brazil)
Joana Oliveira (Writer / Director), Luana Melgaço (Producer)
A little tree enters the lives of three women trying to survive in an intolerant Brazil. As they look for a place to plant it, the seedling grows into a large tree but society doesn't want anything green.

SOVIET WESTERN (Germany)
Samaya Hillenbrand (Writer, Producer), Daniel Guliyev  (Director)
On windswept steppes of the 1980s Soviet Union, two officers stationed at a nuclear missile silo face a moral crisis when a call from the center forces them to launch a strike to a potential danger. After a violent confrontation, the young, idealistic officer hunts her mentor across the vast landscape, only to encounter a world that shatters her beliefs.

STEEL RIVERS (Brazil)
Rani Messias  (Writer / Director)
In a near-future Amazon savannah, a former scientist with the rare gift of finding water joins an underground resistance to revive a dead river - while evading the corporate militia that hunts her kind.

TERRA! (Italy)
Paolo Marchione (Writer/Director)
A journalist investigates an extraterrestrial landing in a small village in the Italian hinterland. He will discover a community of aliens—people living in complete harmony with the planet. 

THE CATCH (India)
Rishi Chandna (Writer / Director)
Convinced his fortunes are about to change, a struggling fisherman pins his hopes on a rare, valuable catch, little knowing that an ironic discovery will soon make his prize utterly worthless.

THE SEER (UK)
Bettine Mackenzie (Writer)
In a remote rain-soaked town in Scotland, two lonely outsiders unite to protect a cursed Celtic stone said to hold back a destructive flood. But as modern bureaucracy collides with ancient folklore, they also find themselves quietly transformed by the stone’s strange enchantment.

TIDES  (France-UK)
Stéphanie Joalland (Writer / Director), Sean McConville (Producer)
Brittany, 2055. A mysterious British woman meets a grieving French coastal guide, who will escort her to a remote beach to record the sound of humpback whales and a strong bond develops between them. Only she happens to be an astronaut about to leave Earth for a long mission to Mars.

VALVAS (Peru)
Andrea Hoyos Valderrama (Writer / Director), Juan Daniel Fernández Molero (Producer and Editor) 
Nature does not distinguish; it knows only heat.


STORY EDITING TRAINEES

Cecilia Gragnani (Italy-UK)

Dubravka Turic (Croatia)

Nadia Attia (UK)

In collaboration with
  • Climate Spring

All the updates once a month in your mailbox, subscribe to the TFL newsletter.