Urucu
Media under the mentorship of Berlinale Talents, in partnership with Nirox, Durban
FilmMart, Restless Talent Management, The French Institute in SA and Francais’s
Cinemas du Monde proudly present REALNESS, a screenwriters residency for a new
generation of African cinema.
From
June to August 2016, 5 screenwriters will be invited to a 7 week residency to
develop a new draft of their next screenplay.
Here
is what you can expect:
Week
1
The
residency kicks off on 16 June 2016 with an introductory week at Durban
FilmMart. Residents will have the chance to watch films, attend seminars and
present their projects to industry professionals for feedback. Each resident
will prepare a public presentation of their project at the end of the week.
Week
2-6
Residents
will be transported to the Nirox artists residency at the Cradle of Humankind
where they can work on their screenplay in tranquillity. Top international script
consultants will help them. They can also expect workgroups with fellow
writers, curated film screenings, producer-led case studies and discussions
with industry speakers.
Week
7
Residents
will be debriefed and have follow up Skype sessions with their consultants.
After leaving the residency writers will be invited to submit a new draft of
their screenplay by 30 September 2016. The most promising project will be invited
and funded to participate at the prestigious La Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde
in Cannes, 2017.
Residents
will receive a stipend of R15 000 and all food and accommodation will be
covered during their stay. Residents
will be responsible for their own travel costs to and from the residency.
Efforts will be made to help with sponsorship from country culture desks and
other interested institutions.
Submissions
Deadline
31 January 2016 or until 120 applications have been received whichever comes
first.
Applicants
must submit 1 PDF dossier containing:
A
motivation for wanting to participate in REALNESS (1 page)
A
synopsis of the proposed feature project (1 page)
A
treatment of the proposed feature project (6 pages)
A
draft of the screenplay
A
writer’s note of intention (1 page)
A
short biography (1 paragraph)
2
links to samples of previously produced work uploaded to Vimeo. If selected
residents will be required to donate one copy of their previous work to the
Nirox film library.
All
submitted work must be in English. The
call is open to screenwriters from across Africa.
This
edition by Fred Felton
Twitter
@fredfelton
