From the pile of 172 applications received 10 have been picked up to shape the class of 2023 counting 1 animation, 1 documentary and 8 fictions, for a total of 7 debuts and 3 second films.
As stated by the Head of Studies Violeta Bava and the curator Vincenzo Bugno: “Also this year the TFL FeatureLab selection 2023 is about discovering exciting contemporary cinema: definitely an immense pleasure. But the TFL isn’t only about selecting projects. It’s about understanding their present and future potential, talking about cinema and developing strategies for the visibility of the future films. It's about understanding their souls, going deeper to their essential identity, creating the conditions for a human and professional experience with the participants. We are going to work with the projects during the next months and will share these artistic universes, enjoying an important growing process together with directors, producers, writers, tutors”.
As anticipated by Screen International, it’s time to meet the 21 of them, coming from 10 different countries (Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Myanmar, Romania, Singapore, Spain) around the globe:
LIONEL – 1st feature film (creative documentary)
Logline: A distant father tries to get closer to his son, Lionel, suggesting a road trip to France. At the end of the journey, Lionel will have to decide if he accepts or rejects his father forever.
Writer/Director: Carlos Saiz (Spain) - M
Producer: Ana Valls (Spain) - F
Production Company: BLUR (Spain)
MILK TEETH – 2nd feature film (fiction)
Logline: As she begins to discover what really happened to her kidnapped sister, Maria, a young girl, encounters a strange world, threatening to take control of her, and the only way to fight against it is to rely on her friends and her imagination.
Writer/Director: Mihai Mincan (Romania) - M
Producer: Radu Stancu (Romania) – M
Production Company: deFilm (Romania)
RENOIR – 2nd feature film (fiction)
Logline: 11-year-old Fuki experiences the turbulence of loneliness, sexual curiosity, and the pain of her dying father over one summer in Tokyo.
Writer/Director: Chie Hayakawa (Japan) – F
Producer: Eiko Mizuno-Gray (Japan) - F
Production Company: Loaded Films (Japan)
SEALSKIN – 1st feature film (fiction) | previously ScriptLab 2022
Logline: In a world where women are vanishing, Flora will do anything to save her friend.
Writer/Director: Irene Moray (Spain) - F
Producer: Marta Cruañas Compés (Spain) - F
Production Company: Vilaüt (Spain)
SKIN COAT – 1st feature film (Animation)
Logline: A son forces his male lover to wear a woman’s skin coat in order to enter his village to see his ageing parents. After the death of his father, the short visit turns painfully unbearable for the trio who have to make sacrifices to protect the ones they love.
Writer/Director: Wei Keong TAN (Singapore) – M
Producer Yi Peng TEOH (Singapore) – M
Production Company: Giraffe Pictures (Singapore)
THE BEER GIRL IN YANGON – 1st feature film (Fiction)
Logline: Lily, a teenage girl works as a hostess in a sleazy beer station after her father got arrested while dealing with uneasy relationship with her mother, avoiding from falling through the tempting world of underage prostitution, and her bisexuality as she is caught between a mysterious elderly man and a young co-worker girl.
Writer/Director: Sein Lyan Tun (Myanmar) - M
Producer: John Badalu (Indonesia) – M
Production Company: Hore Pictures Production (Indonesia)
THE MELTDOWN – 2nd feature film (Fiction)
Logline: The disappearance of Hanna (16), will mark the end of the innocence and childhood of Ine´s (11), unveiling dark secrets.
Writer/Director: Manuela Martelli (Chile) - F
Producer: Alejandra García (Chile) – F
Production Company: Wood Producciones (Chile)
THE SPLENDOUR OF LIFE - 1st feature film (Fiction)
Logline: At the luxuriant countryside, Marie doubts her love for her partner as Noe´e mourns her father. In a suffocating city, Eva tries to anchor herself while Jeanne plans to leave. Moved by a significant encounter, they will all seek meaning in their way of inhabiting the world. The Splendour of Life is a sensual and poetic invitation to live life to the fullest.
Writer/Director: Marianne Métivier (Canada) - F
Producer: Geneviève Gosselin-G (Canada) - F
Production Company: Le Foyer Films (Canada)
THE VISITOR - 1st feature film (Fiction)
Logline: End of summer. Danielius (30) makes a brief return to his hometown to sell the old flat in the wake of his dad's death. But his visit takes longer than expected as Danielius, having nowhere to rush, attempts to reconnect with his hometown.
Writer/Director: Vytautas Katkus (Lithuania) - M
Co-writer: Marija Kavtaradze (Lithuania) – F
Producer: Marija Razgutè (Lithuania) - F
Production Company: M-Films (Lithuania)
THE WHITE HOUSE - 1st feature film (Fiction) | previously Up & Coming Italia 2021 & Alpi Film Lab 2022
Logline: Felicetta feels marginalized by her family and context in which she lives. One day, a powerful Camorra boss asks her for shelter. Their encounter will undermine their certainties. Until he disappears unexpectedly, destroying the illusion of an impossible relationship. He will return but something has changed.
Writer/Director: Francesco Romano (Italy) - M
Producer: Raffaella Pontarelli (Italy) – F
Production Company: Amarena Film (Italy)
From June until November 2023 a group of internationally renowned professionals will consult the participants. Besides the consolidated trainers already part of the TorinoFilmLab training experts, the directors Laura Citarella and Michelangelo Frammartino will meet the teams during the first workshop held in Madrid thanks to the partnership with Comunidad de Madrid, Ayuntamiento de Madrid and Madrid Film Office.
Let the FeatureLab begin!