From a pool of 236 applications received from 73 countries, TorinoFilmLab selected 10 fiction projects – 7 debut features and 3 second films –. The 2026 edition brings together 21 professionals: 10 writer-directors, one co-writer and 10 producers, representing Austria, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines and Portugal.
During their path, the 10 creative teams will benefit from the guidance of international mentors, peer-to-peer exchanges, and tailored networking opportunities. Each team will focus on artistic and creative development, alongside production and promotion strategies, supported by international experts, led by the Head of Studies Violeta Bava (Argentina) and the Curator Vincenzo Bugno (Italy). Completing the pedagogical team, the following trainers: Muriel Aboulrouss (DoP, Lebanon), Marta Andreu (creative producer, Spain), Jorge Jácome (editor, Portugal), Chiara Laudani (script consultant, Italy), Miguel Machalski (script consultant, Argentina), Magali Negroni (script consultant, France) Stefano Tealdi (pitching trainer, Italy), Athina Rachel Tsangari (director, Greece) and Jean-Guy Veran (sound designer, France).
The development process unrolls from June to November 2026, including two residential workshops in Turin, Italy - as well as one online module in September. FeatureLab will culminate in the TFL Meeting Event, TorinoFilmLab’s co-production market, where each team will present their project to a curated audience of international producers, sales agents, and other industry professionals invited by TFL. This final event offers participants the chance to build valuable professional connections and compete for a range of prizes, including the TFL Production Awards, Green Filming Awards, and several partner-supported recognitions.
Let’s welcome the selected professionals to the TFL community!
THE PROJECTS
900 TONS - 1st feature film (fiction)
Logline: With newborn twins and opposite schedules, Sandro works nights as a garbage collector and cares for the babies by day, while Cléo works at a supermarket and builds a fragile hairstyling career using Sandro’s long hair for her videos. As she moves forward, he refuses to sell a sports car he can’t afford, renting it out for television shoots and finding increasingly absurd ways to keep the illusion alive.
Writer/Director: Daniel Soares (Portugal)
Producer: Luis Urbano (Portugal)
Production Company: O Som e a Fúria / Portugal
ALMANSTADT - 1st feature film (fiction)
Logline: The absurd drama Almanstadt takes us through a housing estate across different times and timespans. Nestled between urban chic and the idyllic Alpine foothills, the somewhat absurd sociotope itself becomes a protagonist, shaping the lives of six residents and their conflicts as they navigate their search for identity and belonging.
Writer/Director: Thomas Taube (Germany)
Producer: Dominik Eder (Austria/Germany)
Production Company: Oksuperdanke Filmproduktion / Germany
BUMPER CARS - 1st feature film (fiction)
Logline: An 18-year-old plumber living in a small suburban town feels haunted by the accidental death of his best friend. When he meets Isaac, a Romanian fairground worker who stops in the village for a few days, he tries to recreate the relationship he lost.
Writer/Director: Maximilian Bungarten (Germany)
Co-Writer: Massimiliano Camaiti (Italy)
Producer: Felix Herrmann (Germany)
Production Company: Benedetta Films / Germany
HOLY MOTHER - 1st feature film (fiction)
Logline: A trans woman discovers she is mysteriously pregnant. Shunned by society, she flees to her submerged hometown to make sense of the impossible and reconnect with the spirit of her lost twin, where memory, nature, and body begin to merge.
Writer/Director: Sinung Winahyoko (Indonesia)
Producer: Fadhila Dwi Ristianty (Indonesia)
Production Company: Krosskultur Media / Indonesia
ISABEL - 1st feature film (fiction)
Logline: Isabel, a young agronomist working in the Guatemalan jungle, recognizes her estranged father in an old documentary about migrants in the United States. Amid shocking revelations about his past, she discovers that once he reached the U.S., he longed for his family to join him. Restless dreams push her on a journey across landscapes and memory to piece together the truth and try to reconnect with him.
Writer/Director: Giorgio Giampà (Italy)
Producer: Lorenzo Cioffi (Italy)
Production Company: Zoe Films / Italy; LaDoc / Italy
NAME AND SURNAME - 1st feature film (fiction)
Logline: Upon returning to Bogotá after a failed attempt to get away from his father, Willy (17) is in for a surprise: the home in crisis from which he had fled has changed. Brand new apartment, new car, piles of cash...However, when Willy discovers the violence and lies of his father's new street money lending business he tries to run away again. But the more he tries to drift apart from his father, the more he becomes like him.
Writer/Director: Duván Duque Vargas (Colombia)
Producer: Capucine Mahé (France)
Production Company: Evidencia Films / Colombia
STAR GIRLS - 2nd feature film (fiction)
Logline: At a squatter village in Kuala Lumpur, four young women from across Southeast Asia reunite after bonding through a gaming chat group. When one of them quietly vanishes, the others stay behind, unaware she had planned to end her life.
Writer/Director: Chee Sum Chia (Malaysia)
Producer: Jing Xuan Chua (Malaysia)
Production Company: The Commonist / Malaysia
THE VOID IS IMMENSE IN IDLE HOURS - 1st feature film (fiction)
Logline: When 19-year-old Rosemary is the last to see a young boy before he disappears, she finds herself alongside his grieving mother, Agnes, in search of him. In the stillness of their shared days, they are drawn to confront their unspoken grief and forgotten dreams.
Writer/Director: Sam Manacsa (Philippines)
Producer: Chad Cabigon (Philippines)
Production Company: NextLives / Philippines; Kawan Kawan Media / Indonesia
UNFINISHED PAINTING - 2nd feature film (fiction)
Logline: Maria Ana’s body began to disappear. Having dedicated all her life to restoring ancient paintings, Maria Ana is now faced with the impossibility of restoring her own body. Her cancer weighs heavily on her husband and children. On New Year's Eve, Maria Ana and Death meet for the first time. And from that day on, they establish an unusual friendship. There seems to be no one else that could appease Maria Ana’s concern: How to die well?
Writer/Director: Catarina Vasconcelos (Portugal)
Producer: Pedro Fernandes Duarte (Portugal)
Production Company: Primera Idade / Portugal
WORSE TOGETHER - 2nd feature film (fiction)
Logline: In the middle of a breakup she doesn’t fully understand, Iris descends into the abyss of nightlife with her closest friends.
Writer/Director: Luis De Filippis (Canada, Italy)
Producer: Jessica Adams (Canada)
Production Company: JA Productions Inc. / Canada
Read the dedicated article on Screen International.
FeatureLab is organised by TorinoFilmLab – Museo Nazionale del Cinema with the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA Sub-programme of the European Union. FeatureLab 2026 is realised in partnership with German Films.