REPORT: FeatureLab and ScriptLab @ TFL Meeting Event 2024
- We take a closer look at a handful of projects presented at the 17th Meeting Event of the TorinoFilmLab in the context of its two oldest programmes
The 17th Meeting Event of the TorinoFilmLab (21-23 November, read the news) has presented projects in the advanced stage of development and close to shooting in the FeatureLab programme, and others in very early development in the ScriptLab programme, in front of an audience of about 200 professionals.
War, migration, political and personal conflicts, identity – the themes at the centre of many of the 10 projects in FeatureLab reflect the state of the world and the issues that pervade it, today more than ever. “Last year, from this very stage, I said that we were facing difficult times, and that here, we were not in a bubble”, programme director Violeta Bava recalled. “Unfortunately, things haven’t improved. But if cinema can make us understand something more about our human and existential conditions, then I am convinced that these 10 projects are very necessary, especially in these times.”
As for the 16 projects in ScriptLab, they come from 19 countries and address the most varied, original and impactful topics. The participants have worked on these projects (8 debuts, 5 second works and 3 more mature ones) while focusing on their screenplays for 9 months, guided by 5 tutors and 4 aspiring story editors, over 5 workshops online and in residency – all under Head of Studies Eva Svenstedt Ward and curator Amra Bakšić Čamo.
Our closer look at a handful of the presented projects:
FeatureLab
Legacy - Aliaksei Paluyan
Production: Paulina Toenne (Tamtam Film/Lava Films)
“Being first or second works, many of these projects have a strong connection with the personal story of their authors”, FeatureLab curator Vincenzo Bugno explained, “and in some regions, shooting a film can be very dangerous. Our respect therefore goes to filmmakers in exile who do their best to tell stories that they couldn’t tell in their country.” Such is the case for Belarusian director Aliaksei Paluyan, whose documentary Courage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aliaksei Paluyan and Jörn M…
film profile] was presented with success at the 71st Berlinale and who is now at work on his first fiction feature, Legacy. Set in Minsk in 2020, in a Belarus on the brink of revolution, the film follows Pavel, a 25-year-old boy who distances himself from the Lukashenko regime although his father, by contrast, has been actively supporting it for decades. After the rigged election, Pavel decides to react and takes to the streets, even though this could put his family at risk. What happens when the people responsible for a terrible injustice are your closest family members and you risk losing them if you choose to fight against it? Legacy is a co-production between German company Tamtam Film and Polish outfit Lava Films, who have received a MEDIA Co-Development Fund; the total budget is €3 million (€480,000 are already secured) and they are looking for a co-producer in Lithuania; the start of shooting is planned for between autumn 2025 and spring 2026.
Antonivka - Kateryna Gornostai (Ukraine/Lithuania)
Production: Vika Khomenko (Moon Man, Just a Moment)
Another project coming from a troubled area is Antonivka, the second feature by Ukrainian filmmaker Kateryna Gornostai (Stop-Zemlia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kateryna Gornostai
film profile], Crystal Bear of the Generation 14+ jury at the 2021 Berlinale) set in the near future, in which the war is over and Ukraine has won. “I’m curious to know how people will learn to coexist with the ghosts of war after its end and how they will manage to once again enjoy the privilege of dying in peacetime”, the director stated. The film, which revolves around the theme of the loss of loved ones, nevertheless offers a light and humoristic tone, and a cast of local non-professional actors. Produced by Kiev company Moon Man and co-produced by Lithuanian outfit Just a Moment, Antonivka is looking for other co-producers with a total budget of €780,000, €68,000 of which are already secured.
A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra - Jacqueline Lentzou (Greece/Romania/France)
Production: Annabelle Aronis (Avion Films, MicroFilm, Paraiso Production)
A reflection on death brings together different projects presented this year. “It is a positive confrontation with death, never particularly distressing”, Bugno specified, “in a way, it is a selection that helps us, as much at the personal and the cinematic levels, and which doesn’t lead us to remove contents that are essential to our existence.” Worth mentioning in this regard is the project of Greek filmmaker Jacqueline Lentzou, A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra. The second film of the director behind Moon, 66 Questions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacqueline Lentzou
film profile] (2021, presented in the Encounters section at the Berlinale), in her own words, “starts as a coming-of-age film, becomes a coming-of-death, ends as a mystical experience”. Inspired by a real event which occurred in 2008 in the filmmaker’s neighbourhood, it revolves around Jo, a 15-year-old girl killed by a policeman suddenly and without motive. Shot on 16mm over 24 hours in Athens, the tragic event is a pretext for deeper explorations: is death truly the end of everything? The film, “an ode to life realised using the codes of the dream and music”, is produced by Greek outfit Avion Films and co-produced by Romania (MicroFilm) and France (Paraiso Production). The total budget is €1,5 million, €360,000 of which is already secured.
ScriptLab
Josie Goes to War - Coline Confort (France)
Screenplay: Coline Confort, Perrine Prost
In the first fiction feature by French director Coline Confort, Josie Goes to War (a Swiss production by Bande à part, with a budget between €2,5 and €3 million), 25-year-old Josie falls in love with the most famous Napoleon Bonaparte impersonator during a live reenactment of the battle of Waterloo: a love story in costumes that dives into a sinister world with a comical tone, and where the 19th and 21st centuries collide.
Sants - Mikel Gurrea (Spain)
Screenplay: Mikel Gurrea
Sants is the second feature project by Spanish filmmaker Mikel Gurrea (his debut, Suro [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mikel Gurrea
film profile], won the FIPRESCI award in San Sebastián in 2022), in which a young woman fighting to ensure care for her dying mother joins forces with a gang of religious artifact thieves. The film, between drama and heist movie, is set in Barcelona and steeped in Catholic imagery, and is a production by Spanish outfit Lastor Media, with a planned budget of €2,2 million.
Eva - Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen (Norway)
Screenplay: Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen, Norah Mc Gettigan (Ireland)
The second film by Norwegian filmmaker Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen (Valley of Shadows [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen
film profile]) centres on a 14-year-old who, at the end of WWII in rural Norway, is forced to face the alleged crimes committed by her father, sent to prison with the accusation of having tortured a partisan – a film that asks whether unconditionally loving your parents makes you complicit in their actions. Eva is a production of Oslo outfit Eye Eye Pictures, with a planned budget of €3,5 million.
(Translated from Italian)
