17/01/2023 - The new script-development programme is welcoming four feature-film projects with LGBTQ+ characters and/or themes that are central to the story

Screenwriter, director and script consultant Lucia Kajánková (far right), the tutor on the new MIDPOINT Intensive Queer programme

The MIDPOINT Institute has launched MIDPOINT Intensive Queer, a brand-new professional script-development programme created to encourage diversity in terms of topics and to support filmmakers in queer storytelling. The four-day programme is intended for international creative teams (writers, directors and producers) who are developing their feature-length fiction film projects with LGBTQ+ characters and/or themes that are central to the story.

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Soňa Morgenthalová, programme coordinator, explains: “The idea of a workshop with such a focus has been on our minds at the MIDPOINT Institute for quite some time, mainly because of the growing number of queer projects applying for our Feature Launch programme. Then, last October, we were shocked by what happened in Bratislava, where two people died after a shooting at an LGBT bar. This unprecedented event was the trigger for me to start shaping the idea, and thanks to our Slovak partners, we will be able to organise the workshop in Bratislava in March. I hope this will not be only symbolic, but also a practical gesture to bring attention to queer topics in film storytelling and support the LGBTQ+ community.”

The programme is accepting four feature-film projects in development, the teams behind which will work closely in one group. The core of the programme is intensive script analysis through group work and individual consultations. After the workshop, tailor-made, online consultations with the group leader will follow in accordance with the needs of each project. The workshop will take place from 14-19 March in Bratislava, and a series of follow-up online consultation sessions will happen afterwards.

Lucia Kajánková is a screenwriter, director and script consultant as well as a festival programmer and lecturer based in Prague, and she will be the tutor on the programme. She offers her insight into the workshop: “In the past decade, we have seen a fantastic rise – in both the festival scene and in cinematic as well as online distribution – in queer characters, stories and themes that have been increasingly front and centre. We are moving on from superficial stereotypes and characters whose only key narrative attribute is their sexuality or gender. At the same time, we recognise the crucial importance of continually giving a voice to queer characters in a wide variety of genres, of telling queer stories that reflect the diversity of our experience in the past and present. I strongly believe that the impact in terms of representation and changing society through authentic and empathetic films can be tremendous, especially when it goes hand in hand with artistic qualities and pushing the boundaries of audiovisual storytelling. I hope the focused workshop will be one step further in achieving this, and as an openly queer filmmaker myself, I strongly appreciate having a workshop that asserts its queer focus loud and proud in Bratislava."

The call is already open, with the deadline set as 1 February. Further details about MIDPOINT Intensive Queer 2023, along with the application form, can be found here.