This time, from the 675 applications received from 91 countries, we picked 22 professionals: 16 writers/directors, 2 co-writers and 4 aspiring story editors - coming from 20 different countries: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.
And for those who like numbers: the 16 selected projects include 7 debut features and 9 second features. The class comprises 13 women, 2 non-binary individuals, and 7 men.
The ScriptLab path will be led by Swedish screenwriter and script consultant Eva Svenstedt Ward (Head of Studies) and Serbian producer Amra Bakšić Čamo (Curator). They will work with 4 internationally renowned mentors who will support the working groups throughout the year: Anna Ciennik (France), Nadja Dumouchel (France), Miguel López Beraza (Spain), and Selina Ukwuoma (United Kingdom).
The participants will be engaged in 5 sessions from April to November 2025, in Belgrade, Berlin and Turin, until the TFL Meeting Event, our co-production market.
Let’s meet them!
THE PROJECTS:
BLACK HAIRY BEAST by Anna Hints (Estonia), co-writer/co-director Tushar Prakash (India) – second feature
CHOSEN CITY by Maria Belen Poncio (Argentina) – first feature
GOLDFISH by Aditya Ahmad (Indonesia) – first feature
GRASSHOPPER by Micah Magee (Denmark/USA) – second feature
HE IS CAT by Anette Sidor (Sweden) – first feature
HEARTH by Matthew Puccini (USA) – first feature
HISTORY OF ILLNESS by David Gašo (Croatia) – first feature
HOLD ME (IF YOU WANT) by Mounia Akl (Lebanon) – second feature
HOLD STILL by Shalini Adnani (Chile/United Kingdom/India) – second feature
ISMAELILLO by Tommaso Santambrogio (Italy) – second feature
RADICAL HOPE by Steffi Niederzoll (Germany), co-writer Sina Ataeian Dena (Iran/Germany) – second feature
SUMMER ECHO by Miwako Van Weyenberg (Belgium) – second feature
WALK SLOW by Yvonne Zhang (United Kingdom) – first feature
WOLF DAYS by Emilija Gašić (Serbia) – second feature
WORDS THAT BURN by Alois Sandner Díaz (Spain) – first feature
WRECKING BALL by Clara Stern (Austria) – second feature
THE STORY EDITOR TRAINEES:
One professional assigned to each group to work together with a tutor and get an insight into the development process of a feature film, focusing on the early scriptwriting stage: Cora Frischling (Germany), Shaza Moharam (Egypt), Nandita Solomon (Malaysia) and Chiara Dainese (Italy).
More about it in the dedicates Screen International article!
ScriptLab is organised by TorinoFilmLab - Museo Nazionale del Cinema, with the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA sub-programme of the European Union. ScriptLab 2025 is realised in collaboration with Film Center Serbia - which will host the first workshop in Belgrade and supports the participation of a Serbian project; with Der Divan – Das Arabische Kulturhaus - which will host the second workshop in Berlin; and with VAF – Flanders Audiovisual Fund - which will support the participation of a Flemish project.