The Greek non-profit organisation Oxbelly has announced the participants in the 2024 Oxbelly Retreat, which was held from 22-30 June in Costa Navarino, Greece. The annual gathering of international storytellers focuses on the exchange of ideas, the deepening of their craft, and the broadening of artistic horizons through intercultural dialogue. The 2024 edition featured programme tracks for writers in film, television and literature, welcoming fellows from around the world. Oxbelly continued to innovate beyond conventional artist programmes by incorporating cross-programmatic opportunities for fellows, advisors and special guests, thereby expanding the writers' approaches to storytelling, and fostering cross-pollination between the film, literary and TV industries.

The Screenwriters programme, guided by Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy), supported ten screenwriters developing their sophomore features, focusing on refining their craft and expanding their distinct cinematic styles. The Episodic Writers programme, led by Jen Blake (Joyland) and Jörg Winger (Deutschland 83), brought together ten aspiring writers working on their first original series. This strand encouraged experimentation in the episodic format and utilised the collaborative nature of a writers' room to enhance their pilot scripts. The Fiction Writers programme, under the direction of Chigozie Obioma (An Orchestra of Minorities), nurtured ten emerging fiction writers dedicated to honing their craft, strengthening their literary voices and engaging in intercultural storytelling dialogues.

The 2024 Oxbelly advisors and special guests included a diverse array of prominent figures, such as Michael Almereyda, Ritesh Batra, Jen Blake, Nazrin Choudhury, Willem Dafoe, Merve Emre, Maureen Fazendeiro, Eva HD, Miguel Gomes, Isabella Hammad, Marielle Heller, Fanny Herrero, Barry Jenkins, Elnathan John, Charlie Kaufman, Alejandro Landes, Gonzalo Maza, Imbolo Mbue, Chigozie Obioma, Nicole Perlman, Klaudia Reynicke, Fiammetta Rocco, Kristen Roupenian, Vera Santamaria, Simon Van Booy, Lulu Wang, Anna Webber, Anna Winger, Jörg Winger, Femke Wolting and many more.

The dates for the 2025 Oxbelly Retreat will be announced in late autumn, at which time applications for each fellowship will open. There is no cost to apply, and all expenses for fellows are covered. Oxbelly was founded in 2015 by producer Christos V Konstantakopoulos. The 2024 Oxbelly Retreat was supported by founding partner Faliro House, hotel partner Costa Navarino, and the Captain Vassilis & Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation.

Here are the 30 2024 Oxbelly Fellows who were selected from over 1,600 submissions from 110 countries:

Screenwriters

Helen Beltrame-Linné (Brazil) - Daughters of the Sea
Martika Ramirez Escobar (Philippines) - Daughters of the Sea
Iuli Gerbase (Brazil) - Exotic Necks
Ahmad Ghossein (Lebanon) - The Side Effects of Trusting Life
Georgis Grigorakis (Greece) – Nektar
Sophie Jarvis (Canada) - Taking the Waters
John Magary (USA) – Recess
Subhadra Mahajan (India) – Moh
Tonia Mishiali (Cyprus) – Maya
Dimosthenis Papamarkos (Greece) - Nektar

Episodic

Steve Anthopoulos (Australia) - Band of Boyfriends
Linh Duong (Vietnam) - Dark Night, White Light
Robert Goldsbrough (UK) - Pink Press
Avi Heikkinen (Finland) - The Fog
Yorgos Iliopoulos (Greece) – Bucks
Solina Riekkola (Finland) - The Fog
Mais Salman (Jordan) – Unfollowed
Theo Toksvig Stewart (UK) - Isle of Many
Yorgos Teltzidis (Greece) – Bucks
Jana Zeineddine (Jordan) - Unfollowed

Fiction

Fayssal Bensalah (Algeria)
Savannah Bowen (USA)
Erato Ioannou (Cyprus)
Aziza Kasumov (Germany)
Marco Kaye (USA)
Chido Muchemwa (Zimbabwe)
Hassan Muhammad (Nigeria)
Charles Muhumuza (Uganda)
Makena Onjerika (Kenya)
Zhu Yi (China)