Deadline: 28 April 2024
Submissions are now open for the Development Lab, a division of Alternative Film Labs that offers free educational programs for filmmakers at various stages of their journeys—those who are exploring social issues in their countries, developing their homeland’s film industry, and giving a voice to their local communities.
In 2024, Alternativa Film Labs will once again be held in Central Asia, comprising three film laboratories: the Teen Lab (to be held in the summer in Tashkent), the Impact Lab (to be held in the autumn in Bishkek), and the Development Lab.
The Development Lab is tailored for emerging filmmakers from Central Asian countries who want to enhance their screenwriting and producing skills and establish new professional connections. The goal of the lab is to develop a film project for its further presentation to potential partners and international film institutions, as well as clients and producers in the region. The lab tutors are cinema professionals, ranging from directors of international festivals to successful producers, along with international experts such as Miriam Sassine (Lebanon), a producer at Abbout Productions, director, and mentor at the Doha Film Institute.
The Development Lab includes educational programs in two directions: the producers section and the screenwriting section. The producers section is dedicated to developing the project from concept to the full package of documents for seeking international and regional financing. The screenwriting section focuses on the comprehensive development of a full-length feature film script from the initial stage to the final text. The sections will operate simultaneously through three modules, with the first module scheduled in June in Bukhara (Uzbekistan), followed by the online module in August and the final module in October in Almaty (Kazakhstan).
The Development Lab is designed for cinematographers from Central Asian countries who want to enhance their skills in scriptwriting or film producing, establish new professional connections, and, under the guidance of international experts, write a full-length feature film screenplay and/or create a producing strategy for a project with international potential. The lab comprises two educational programs: the producers section and the screenwriting section. The goal of the lab is to develop a project for its further presentation to potential partners and international film institutions, as well as clients and producers in the region.
The Development Lab is open to emerging filmmakers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan with full-length feature film projects in the early stages of development. Additionally, in each section spots are reserved for participants who do not yet have a film project, including creators from the fields of literature, journalism, playwriting, or vlogging who want to try their hand in the film industry. Such participants will collaborate on their colleagues’ projects. A total of no more than 20 people (no more than 10 in each section) can participate in the lab. The program covers travel expenses and accommodation.
Who can participate?
- Cinematographers with full-length feature film projects in the early stages of development. Authors without projects but with experience in the film industry or creating audiovisual content in literature, journalism, playwriting, video blogging, or art may also participate in the program. Such participants will work on colleagues’ projects.
Eligibility Criteria
- Participants in the sections of the creative laboratory can be any capable citizens, over the age of 18, who meet all the general criteria listed below:
- Citizens of one of the following countries: Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan.
- Individuals proficient in Russian and/or English, enough to understand oral and written speech.
- Individuals having sufficient experience in one or more audiovisual professions as a producer, director, screenwriter or other, confirmed by a CV/filmography (description of previous jobs and projects in the production of audiovisual content, publications in professional press, etc.) and references to previous audiovisual works (of different genres, formats, types, timing, including video clips and experimental formats).
- For candidates in the screenwriting section, sufficient professional experience can be considered: one or more written full-length scripts, one or more implemented short projects, publications, plays published and/or staged in the theater, a verified social media account or video channel.
- For candidates in the producers section, sufficient professional experience can be considered: one or more produced films of different formats, work in the industry for more than 2 years, with proven experience in film production, but not necessarily as a producer and/or director.
- Participants whose films are at the filming stage/have already been completed are not allowed to participate in the laboratory.
- Participation in the laboratory is free. The program covers participants’ travel expenses (by rail or air in the economy category) to and from the program venue, accommodation (single occupancy in a 4-star hotel), consecutive or simultaneous translation from Russian into English and from English into Russian of program classes and materials, access to Zoom accounts of the program for the online module.
For more information, visit EastEast.
