TFL Selections & Awards
TorinoFilmLab announces its ScriptLab 2017 selection!
February 2, 2017
We are thrilled to present you the selection for the 4 ScriptLab actions: original, adaptation, story editing and match point!
Before introducing you the ScriptLab dream teams, we would like to thank all the people who applied to the the brand new TFL programme dedicated to script development for feature film projects at an early stage. We received a total of 519 submissions: we would not have thought of a better way to kick off the programme!
And here's the lucky ones, discover their profiles and projects!
ScriptLab - original line-up
Myrsini Aristidou (Cyprus) - 1st feature
Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria)
Ely Dagher (Lebanon) - 1st feature
Magnus von Horn (Sweden/Poland)
Ondřej Hudeček & Jan Smutný (Czech Republic) - 1st feature
Elad Keidan (Israel)
William Laboury (France) - 1st feature
Jacqueline Lentzou (Greece) - 1st feature
Rim Mejdi (Morocco) - 1st feature
Simón Mesa Soto (Colombia) - 1st feature
Zamo Mkhwanazi (South Africa) - 1st feature
Teodora A. Mihai & Habacuc A. De Rosario (Romania/Mexico) - 1st feature
Kaweh Modiri (Netherlands)
Anita Rocha da Silveira (Brazil)
Laura Samani & Elisa Dondi (Italy) - 1st feature
Ronny Trocker (Italy/Germany)
Michal Vinik (Israel)
ScriptLab - original profiles
Born in Limassol (Cyprus), Myrsini Aristidou attended the NYU Tisch School of the Arts till 2016. Amongst the several shorts she directed, Semele premiered in Toronto, and won Special Jury Prize at Berlinale Generation 2016. Along her participation at TorinoFilmLab, she will be writing FREEDOM at the Cinéfondation Residence in Paris.
A filmmaker and a visual artist, Konstantin Bojanov studied at the Royal College of Art in London, and at NYU. His admiration for Profession Reporter and Scarecrow paved the way towards Avé (Cannes Critics’ Week 2011). Light Thereafter premiered in IFFR's Hivos Tiger Award Competition 2017. NIGHTS AND DAYS shall be his 3rd feature.
Ely Dagher holds a Master of Arts from the Goldsmiths College of London. The surreal animated short film Waves’ 98, in which Ely re-imagined his youth in Beirut, got him a Golden Palm in 2015. HARVEST, his debut feature project, will make a stop at the Berlinale’s Script Station 2017 before entering TFL’s ScriptLab.
Swedish Magnus von Horn studied Film Directing at the Polish National Film School in Lodz. After several successful shorts such as Echo and Without Snow, his unsettling debut, The Here After, premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2015. The Polish-speaking film SWEAT is his 2nd feature.
Ondřej Hudeček got his education from watching episodes of South Park & attending film courses at FAMU in Prague. His last short Peacock, which he co-wrote with Jan Smutný, won Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2016. BOHEMIAN RAPSODY, inspired by the life of 19th century author Ladislav Stroupežnický, will be his feature debut.
A graduate from the Sam Spiegel Film School, Elad Keidan directed the mid-feature film Anthem that won the Cannes Cinéfondation 1st Prize in 2008. His debut, the absurdist pedestrian comedy Afterthought, was part of Cannes official selection 2015. 500 YEARS A DAY is his 2nd feature.
William Laboury studied editing at La Fémis. 2016 was a rather prosperous year for him: as a director, he had two shorts awarded in Clermont-Ferrand (Hotaru – Labo Special Jury Award; Play Dead – Canal+ Award), whereas two features he edited got selected in Cannes (Heaven Sent and Le Parc). RED MERCURY is his 1st feature.
Born in Athens, Jacqueline Lentzou is a London Film School graduate. She directed the mid-feature Fox (Youth Jury Award - Locarno 2016); her short Hiwa will soon compete at the Berlinale 2017. ON THE NAME OF A FATHER: SELENE66, her debut film, is to be produced by Blonde Audiovisual Productions.
Simón Mesa Soto was born in Medellin (Colombia), where he also studied Audiovisual Communication, before moving to the UK, and the London Film School. His shorts Leidi and Madre were both presented at Cannes’ official selection, respectively in 2014 - winning the Golden Palm - and in 2016. AMPARO is his feature debut.
In 2015 Rim Mejdi graduated from the ESAV film school in Marrakech, the same city where she was born. Her short Out of Town was screened in various festivals, such as Carthage, Montpellier, or Locarno. She’s currently producing a feature documentary, and working on her debut film, PLUM SEASON.
Zamo Mkhwanazi got credited as writer and/or director on various acclaimed South African drama series in the 2000’s, such as The Lab or A Place Called Home. Her short The Call premiered in Clermont-Ferrand in 2015, and she was part of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Factory 2016. LAUNDRY is her debut feature.
Born in Bucharest, Teodora Ana Mihai moved to Belgium in 1989, and later studied in the United States. Her documentary Waiting for August got multiple awards (Best Film in Karlovy Vary, Hot Docs, etc.). Mexican novelist Habacuc Antonio De Rosario is the co-writer of LA CIVIL, which will be Teodora’s debut feature film.
A Dutch filmmaker of Iranian descent, Kaweh Modiri wrote & directed Bodkin Rhas, an hybrid of fiction and documentary that won the FIPRESCI Prize both at Rotterdam and Viennale festivals in 2016, as well as the main Prize of Krakow Off Camera Festival. Baldr Film will produce MITRA, his 2nd feature.
A native of Rio de Janeiro, Anita Rocha da Silveira explored her hometown and its people in several of her films, including her debut Kill Me Please that premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2015. Her next feature effort however, MEDUSA, will take place in a middle-sized city in the inlands of Brazil.
Before taking directing courses at the Centro Sperimentale in Rome and making films, Laura Samani was dedicating her energy on a thesis about Twin Peaks. She will be writing her gothic debut SMALL BODY together with Elsa Dondi, who already collaborated on Laura’s short The Sleeping Saint (Cannes Cinéfondation 2016).
Ronny Trocker grew up in the Italian Dolomites, studied at Le Fresnoy (France) and at the Universidad del Cine (Argentina), and now lives between Brussels & Berlin. His debut, The Eremites, premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2016. ZORRO, his 2nd feature, will get first industry exposure at the Berlinale Co-Production Market 2017.
YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING proclaims Michal Vinik, also the title chosen for her 2nd feature film, a dark comedy. Writer for TV series at several occasions, Michal teaches screenwriting & directing at the Tel-Aviv University, the same institution where she studied herself. Her debut Barash premiered in San Sebastián in 2015.
ScriptLab - adaptation line-up
Rok Biček & Kristian Novak (Slovenia/Croatia)
Josh Kim & Edward Gunawan (South Korea/USA/Indonesia)
Jessica Woodworth (Belgium/USA)
ScriptLab - adaptation profiles
In 2013 Slovenian film director Rok Biček received much attention for his feature debut Class Enemy that premiered in Venice and was nominated for the LUX Prize. The same year, Croatian writer Kristian Novak’s second novel DARK MOTHER EARTH was published, and was immediately widely acclaimed. The two men are working together on adapting Kristian’s novel with the backing of production company Antitalent.
Josh Kim is a Korean-American filmmaker whose Thai-speaking debut feature, How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), premiered at the Berlinale in 2015. Edward Gunawan in an Indonesian writer, actor, and producer. Josh and Edward are co-writers on the adaptation of the sci-fi novelette Folding Beijing (Hugo Award 2016 winner) - by Chinese female writer Hao Jingfang. THE FOLDING CITY will be Josh’s 2nd feature.
An American-Belgian filmmaker, Jessica Woodworth is known for the award-winning Khadak, Altiplano, The Fifth Season, and King of the Belgians. All films were made in collaboration with Peter Brosens, and either premiered in Cannes or Venice. A graduate in literature from Princeton, Jessica now takes up the challenge of adapting Dino Buzzati’s The Tartar Steppe with the project FORTRESS.
ScriptLab - story editing line-up
Deema Azar (Jordan)
Staša Bajac (Serbia)
Anna Ciennik (France)
Maya Fischer (Israel)
Danuta Krasnohorska (Poland)
Ruben Thorkildsen (Norway)
ScriptLab - story editing profiles
After several years working as training manager for the Royal Film Commission of Jordan, Deema Azar co-founded the production company TaleBox in 2016. She also consults for the Doha Film Institute as a reader.
A Serbian scriptwriter based in Berlin, Staša Bajac was credited, amongst others, as co-writer of Nikola Ljuca’s debut Humidity (Berlinale 2016). She is also jury member for development grants at the Film Center Serbia.
Graduated in production from La Fémis, Anna Ciennik has been working in different capacities (line-producer, post-production supervisor, reader, etc.) for various French and British companies. She’s associated producer at Kometa Films since 2015.
Maya Fischer has been working as Head of Development for Green Productions since 2014, notably involved on Eitan Anner’s A Quiet Heart (Grand Prize, Tallinn 2016). She was previously artistic director of the Tel Aviv Student Film Festival.
Acting as partner producer for companies based in Warsaw and Bratislava, respectively CoLab Pictures and Artichoke, Danuta Krasnohorska is currently leading the development of a TV series for Canal+ Poland.
Founder of Ape&Bjørn, Ruben Thorkildsen has produced 8 features and 2 TV-series to date. His long-term collaboration with director Martin Lund notably led to The Almost Man (Crystal Globe for Best Feature Film, Karlovy Vary 2012).
ScriptLab - match point line-up
Nicole Gerhards (Germany)
Flaminio Zadra (Italy)
Cristina Zummáraga (Spain)
N.B.: Selected scriptwriters for ScriptLab - match point will be announced in March 2017.
ScriptLab - match point profiles
A TorinoFilmLab alumna, Nicole Gerhards studied film production at the DFFB in Berlin, and Theatre & French in Paris. She founded NiKo film in 2006. Amongst her various credits, she produced or co-produced Emily Atef’s The Stranger in Me, Visar Morina’s Babai, Paula Markovitch’s The Prize, or Mohamed Diab’s Clash. She is at the initiative of adapting German author Nana Rademacher’s debut novel for the screen. WE WERE HERE follows 15-year-old Anna in dystopian Berlin of 2039.
A Rome-based producer, Flaminio Zadra is the co-founder of Dorje Film that was established in 2004. The company has been a long-term partner on Fatih Akin’s films, including the features The Edge of Heaven, Soul Kitchen, or the documentary Crossing the Bridge. More recently, Flaminio produced the micro-budget film Blanka (Venice 2015), set in Manila and directed by Japanese Kohki Hasei. Flaminio aims at developing a contemporary adaptation of Giacomo Puccini’s opera TURANDOT.
Graduated in English and in Theatre from Madrid and Harvard universities, Cristina Zummáraga founded Tormenta Films in 2012, where she produced Operación E (dir. Miguel Courtois) and En tierra extraña (dir. Icíar Bollaín). Previously, she worked as line or executive producer on films by Steven Soderbergh, Julio Medem, and Wim Wenders. Cristina has received 2 Goya Awards for Best Production Supervision. She’s presenting the project VICTORIA at ScriptLab - match point.