445 applications turned into 27 participants: 22 writers/directors bringing 20 projects and 5 story editor trainees, all coming from 21 different countries. Considering the fruitful results of last year, this edition will unfold mixing online training and residential activities, specifically in Erfurt (Germany), Helsinki (Finland) and our home-based in Turin (Italy).
ScriptLab is led by the Head of Studies Eva Svenstedt Ward, curated by Amra Bakšic Camo and script consultants Isabelle Fauvel (France), Laura Piani (France), Razvan Radulescu (Romania) and Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten (Sweden), plus Gino Ventriglia (Italy) that will specifically work on the 4 comedy feature film projects.
As stated by the Head of Studies: “Our belief in the importance of cross-cultural creative collaboration is, in the face of recent geopolitical events, following on the years of global pandemic, reinforced and vibrant. We aim to enable and encourage filmmakers to support each other in telling their stories, from their unique perspectives, in their own voice irrespective of nationality, ethnicity, gender identification or age. ScriptLab works at the source of these fiction feature film stories, developing them through peer-to-peer conversations and group discussions. This work feels increasingly meaningful”.
We are also happy to have with us five industry professionals who will follow the process as Script Editor Trainees: Rasha Hosny (Egypt), Anna Ruohonen (Finland), Luiza Paiva (Brasil/Portugal), Joy Jorgensen (Germany) and Cécile Tollu-Polonowski (France/Germany).
Down below is an overview of the ScriptLab projects of 2022.
You’ll hear a lot about all of them.
AMOEBA by Siyou Tan (Singapore) | 1st feature film
16-year-old Choo tries to form a girl gang with three rebellious classmates, drawing inspiration from the Chinese secret societies that ruled the streets of colonial Singapore.
ARROGANCE by Ville Jankeri (Finland) | 3rd feature film
The story of a man who lives a carefree, unemployed life, safe from judgmental eyes, but becomes plagued with ambition, writes a book of his life, and becomes an object of loathing for the whole nation.
A YEAR WITHOUT SUMMER by Flurin Giger (Switzerland) | 1st feature film
In 1815, a volcano on a small island in Indonesia erupts. Its ash covers the entire world and with it, a little Ice Age begins. This causes the last big hunger crisis in Europe. A young farmer’s daughter and her family fight for their day-to-day survival.
BLEACH by Kaltrina Krasniqi and Doruntina Basha (Kosovo and North Macedonia) | 2nd feature film
Fatime (50s), a cleaner from Prishtina outskirts, gets a new job in a city office where she quickly gets close to her new boss, Elvira (40s), a charismatic entrepreneur running the company.
FIVE TIMES MY FATHER FORGOT HIS BAG by Dragomir Sholev (Bulgaria) | 3rd feature film
The life of Dimitar and his family, captured in five stories that took place in three different eras spanning 40 years.
I DON’T KNOW WHERE I’M GOING by Sofia Bost (Portugal) | 1st feature film
1985. Luísa, a Portuguese young woman, arrives in Montpellier to live with her boyfriend. She’s pregnant but can’t decide how she feels about it or whether to tell Christian. As time goes by, Luísa is looking for a direction for her life.
IMPORT by Paul Shkordoff (Canada) | 1st feature film
The life of an American basketball player descends into free fall when he’s unexpected cut by his European team.
LOS ALGODONES by Santiago Fábregas (Mexico/Italy) | 1st feature film
Megan lives in Cottonwood, Arizona. Her interests include pickling, bowling and protecting our borders. When she is named Citizen of the Year and invited to the Governor’s Gala, she believes her life couldn’t get any better.
PETTY THIEVES by Mate Ugrin (Croatia/Italy) | 1st feature film
Young loner Rio gets by with seasonal jobs and petty thefts in resorts on the Adriatic coast. His carefree everyday life is thrown off balance by Andrea, a mysterious seasonal worker who becomes his partner in crime.
RAPESEEDS IN FLOWER by Aron Szentpeteri (Hungary) | 1st feature film
After working abroad for many years Gyöngyi (40) and István (45) return to their hometown in the middle of the Hungarian plains.
SEALSKIN by Irene Moray (Spain) | 1st feature film
Flora is a janitor who, after losing her granny with whom she grew up with, forms a strong bond with Helga, a PhD candidate whose body is turning transparent. With the help of Bonian, Flora throws herself into taking care of her friend, helping her to get out of a toxic relationship, before she completely vanishes.
SHE MAKES AND UNMAKES by Jonas Bak (Germany) | 2nd feature film
A couple from opposite ends of the world longs for a place somewhere in between, a perfect place that may never exist. In the struggle to rebuild their lives, love becomes pivotal. Can it alone counter their harsh realities?
SUMMER AND ALYAH by Isabelle Schapira (Belgium) | 1st feature film
Summer, 13, lives with her sister Alyah, 15, at their aunt’s following the death of their mother. The two girls were raised in a survivalist cult whose precepts have never been questioned.
THE BOY AND THE FIGHT OF SPIDERS by Jarell Serencio (Philippines) | 1st feature film
In the Southern Philippines, a carefree, spider-obsessed young boy Jun, (12) cares about catching the toughest spider to show off to his friends on their routine spider derby.
THE EXILES ALSO DIE OF LOVE by Marie Le floc’h (Belgium/France) | 1st feature film
Wael has been living in Lorient with his daughter Reem for six years, following the arrest and imprisonment of his wife Sousan, a well-known actress who was very involved in the Syrian revolution.
THE OUTSIDE by Victor Moreno and Judith Alzola (Spain) | 3rd feature
Three astronauts suffer a mysterious accident in their way back to the Earth. While they are fighting against extreme weather conditions in the middle of the desert where they have landed, they will become witnesses and accomplices of the origin of life on the planet.
THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE by Mo Harawe (Austria) | 1st feature film
The story follows a Somali family and their daily struggles during a scorching hot and windy summer. All of this is inseparable from the socio-political situation of a country living with civil wars, natural disasters and a post-colonial legacy.
UNTIL THE DAY ENDS by Jelena Maksimovic (Serbia) | 3rd feature film
Until the day ends, Lena will escape the family that makes her miserable, and she will meet Stefan, sharing with him the desire to be accepted, to be free.
WARRIOR by Masha Kondakova (Ukraine/France) | 1st feature film
After several years at the front, Sasha, a female sniper in the Ukrainian army, returns to her native village, determined to forget the war. But she discovers that her father, a forest ranger, has been killed by illegal loggers who are destroying the forest. Desperate, alone against all, she launches a fight, her last fight.
WHAT BRINGS ME TO YOU by Khalil Cherti (France/Morocco) | 1st feature film
Hicham and Lilia, a mixed couple well integrated in their Muslim community, are struggling to have their first child. They begin their Medically Assisted Procreation journey with energy but the ordeal of infertility puts their relationship to the test and reveals underlying intimate flaws.
ScriptLab is co-funded by Creative Europe – MEDIA Sub-programme of the European Union and it is realised in partnership with German Films and Focal; with the collaboration of MDM - Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, hosting the March module, with The Finnish Film Foundation and The City of Helsinki, hosting the June module.