On the occasion of its forthcoming fifth edition, When East Meets West is launching First Cut Lab (FCL), a programme designed for long feature films in the editing phase from Eastern Europe and Italy. Selected producer/director teams will work together with top festival programmers, sales agents, creative producers and editors, and will go through an intense process centred on their films, embracing a variety of issues such as storytelling and rhythm in editing, festival strategy, marketing plans and audience focus. 

The programme will include group sessions, where selected participants will receive expert feedback and tailor-made advice from a consulting editor. The main goal is to foster the artistic potential of the selected rough cuts and, at the same time, to increase the sales, festival and circulation potential of the completed films. 

FCL will take place in Trieste (Italy) on 19/21 January 2015 alongside the co-production market When East Meets West. FCL-selected participants will have access to the full WEMW programme and meet more than 250 film professionals from all over Europe. The lab will be led and coordinated by Matthieu Darras (TorinoFilmLab), Alex Traila (Transilvania International Film Festival) and Alessandro Gropplero (WEMW).

Applications must be submitted via email to fcl@wemw.it by Wednesday 8 December 2014. For further details, guidelines and an application form, please visit: www.wemw.it. 

Participation in FCL is free of charge, and each participant will be offered two nights’ accommodation in Trieste. FCL is organised by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, in cooperation with EAVE, and supported by Creative Europe, CEI – Central European Initiative and the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.