ComedyLab is the programme dedicated to the genre, based on the collaboration between international directors/screenwriters with feature projects and writers/performers without one, guided by expert tutors following a tailored approach, focused on the needs of the selected talents. From a pool of 123 professionals – and after a preliminary workshop held in Turin (27th February - 1st March) – we can finally present the participants that will join the year-long programme.
This year, once again, the team of experts who led previous editions to success is confirmed: Alec Von Bargen (USA) as Head of Studies; the Curator Thomas Pibarot (France), who will help participants bring out the commercial potential of their feature films; Philippe Barrière (France) and Laura Piani (France), TFL alumni and expert screenwriters; and the pedagogical consultant Savina Neirotti (Italy), founder of TorinoFilmLab.
Participants will gather in Belgium in April for the first workshop, followed by a second residential one in Poland in June and two subsequent online sessions. Finally, they will meet again in Turin to present their work during the TFL Meeting Event (26–28 November), the lab’s co production market.
Here following the 2026 class, made up of 8 professionals – four women and four men – from Belgium, Canada, France, Lebanon, Norway, Poland, Spain and the United States.
THE COMEDYLAB PROJECTS
Not That Far – writer/director Pablo Léridon (France) - first feature (fiction)
Erwan, seventeen, lives in Brittany and is furious: because of a rapidly worsening eyesight, people are starting to treat him as disabled. It's even worse today: while his classmates, including his crush, are on a school trip, he has to visit an inclusive factory. He thus runs away but is saddled with two losers: Suzanne, a para-athletic role model, and David, a wheelchair-bound whiner. The three of them, to join Erwan's friends, will have to cross the uncanny world of the able.
Plus One – writer/director Zayn Alexandre (Lebanon) - first feature (fiction)
On the night of a family engagement party, a Middle Eastern household spirals into escalating chaos: a bride with oven-mitts taped to her wrists, a predatory guest, a hidden corpse, and a matriarch quietly drowning under years of emotional and physical confinement. A dark comedic portrait of denial, patriarchy, and the absurd ways families hold themselves together.
The 20-Year Curse – writer/director Naomi Ko (USA) - first feature (fiction)
The 20-Year Curse is a dark comedy following Eungee, a suicidal 30-year-old woman, who desperately wants to break her family’s generational curse so she can finally die. Partnered with her estranged father, the two embark on a journey in the material and spirit world to finally break the curse and heal the hurt that has become their only inheritance.
Thunder Tits – writer/director Julie Skaufel (Norway) - second feature (fiction)
When their daughters head abroad for a legendary graduation party, five overinvolved, underprepared mothers decide to “check in.” They lose passports, dignity, and all remaining authority. But gain something far more dangerous: freedom. As mother–daughter relationships implode and bad decisions pile up, the women discover that turning 40 doesn’t mean fading out. It means graduating into chaos. By the end, they earn an honorary title no one saw coming: The Thunder Tits.
WRITERS & PERFORMERS
Kat Geborys (Poland)
Kat is a Polish-British stand-up comedian and writer. She performed all over the world: from Cape Town to London, from Rio to Tokyo, from NYC to Bangkok. Her energetic, fast-paced storytelling contains unexpected punchlines, brutal honesty and a sprinkle of Eastern European pizzazz. She wrote for and acted in Comedy Central PL Mini-Mocks, but you can spot her on ARTE and Buzzfeed too. Her 2024 special Traitor is streaming on Outflix.TV, and she's touring her new hour High & Dry in Europe and beyond. Kat's first pilot – a dramedy On the Rocks is inspired by years working in the alcohol industry and quitting booze that led to a shattering identity crisis.
Jessica González Campos (Spain)
Jessica is an actor, comedian, and writer blending absurdism, character work, and physical comedy. With a decade in theatre and training in clown, mime, improv, and Meisner, she creates work rooted in stillness, tension, and the humour inside sincerity. She is currently developing a workplace satire inspired by her short-form comedy.
Hadi Kubba (Canada)
Hadi is an Arab-Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. His credits include being a two-time finalist for the Boston Comedy Festival, winner of the Laugh Lounge Ottawa Pro Contender Series, Skankfest Vegas, Just For Laughs, opening for Sugar Sammy at his Secret Shows at Theatre Paradox, Best of the Fest at the 2020 Montreal Comedy Series, and the Asian Comedy Festival in NYC. He performs almost every night in Canada.
Jeroen Verdick (Belgium)
Jeroen has been a stand-up comedian over the past ten years. He made two comedy shows and worked for all the mayor flemish TV networks (VTM, play, VRT). He has written scripts and came up with a new TV-show which he hosts himself. He has experience in radio too.
Read the dedicated article on Screen International.
ComedyLab is organised by TorinoFilmLab - Museo Nazionale del Cinema, with the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA Sub-programme of the European Union. ComedyLab 2026 is realised in partnership with VAF - Flanders Audiovisual Fund and Polish Film Institute. Media partner CInecittàNews.