Workshop: My First Script
CLOSED TO PUBLIC
The workshop is conceived as active individual work on a screenwriting project, mentored by two experienced script doctors. Six screenplay projects by directors, writers, or co-writers currently working on their first feature film screenplay have been selected among the applications received through the open call. The workshop is organised in cooperation with the Croatian Film Directors’ Guild.
Script Doctors
Antonio Nuić
A writer and director. He graduated in Film and TV Directing from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, where he has been working as a professor since 2013. He directed a segment of the anthology film Sex, Booze and Short Fuse (2004), after which he went on to write and direct All for Free (2005), Donkey (2009), Life Is a Trumpet (2015) and Mali (2018).
Pjer Žalica
Director, writer, producer, and dean at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. Famous for Fuse and Days and Hours. Wrote the screenplay for The Frog (ZFF 2015). Directed several fiction shorts and documentaries, as well as plays, TV programs, ads and music videos. One of the partners at production company Refresh. His new film May Labour Day is part of this year’s ZFF program Together Again.
David Pope
guest lecturer
A script consultant and screenwriter working internationally. He has collaborated with Oscar and BAFTA nominated producers and screenwriters, as well as national film funds. Recent credits include Truth And Justice (2019) and Take It or Leave It (2018). A consultant for the Rotterdam Lab at CineMart, co-founder of Stowe Story Labs. Script consultant on MIDPOINT Institute programs.
Croatia
Heads in Sacks, Mario Kovač
Synopsis
The film follows the members of the avant-garde art group Travelers, credited with some of the most interesting avant-garde artworks in the region. The year is 1922. Nine friends cause an uproar at the school auditorium by performing a scandalous end-of-year play. Ten years later, they are reunited at the invitation of Josip Seisell who presents them with a new project: the synopsis for the first Croatian feature.
Mario Kovač
Theatre and film director and actor. He graduated in directing from ADU and earned his doctorate from the Faculty of Humanities in Zagreb. He has directed numerous plays, fiction shorts, documentaries and music videos. Worked as a theatre critic and also published several collections of stories and poetry. He works as a story editor, creative director, screenwriter and director on TV projects.
Project status
Supported for script development by HAVC
Contact
Adrijana Prugovečki (producer), adrijana.prugovecki@gmail.com
Croatia
Gordan’s Course in Self-Deception, Natko Jurdana
Synopsis
Large and intimidating in appearance, Gordan (late 30s) is actually timid and withdrawn, practically paralyzed by anxiety and panic attacks. His parents want him to sell his apartment and move in with them. When single mother Vita and her son Matijas enter his life, on the run from an abuser, Gordan reluctantly comes to their aid. In doing so, he is forced to put other people’s needs first and face his fears.
Natko Jurdana
Born in Zagreb in 1983. Graduated in sociology and philosophy at Faculty of Croatian Studies and dramaturgy at ADU. He writes screenplays, radio dramas and leads screenwriting workshops. Author of scripts for short films Get a Move On! (2011), Celebration of Democracy (2015, omnibus segment in Zagreb Stories Vol. 3) and An Arrangement (2018).
Project status
Supported for script development by HAVC
Contact
Natko Jurdana (director), natko.jurdana@gmail.com
Bulgaria
Nora's Music House, Ilina Perianova
Synopsis
Autumn of 1999. Mafia murders are commonplace in Sofia. Gifted teenager Nora and her family are in for an intense day. Nora perceives the world through music and dreams of becoming a DJ, while her mother Reni is a famous pop folk singer. After a fight with her brother and mother, Nora runs away from home. Along the way, she loses her virginity, almost gets beaten up by skinheads and experiences a visual and sonic LSD trip.
Ilina Perianova
Bulgarian director and screenwriter. She studied film and theatre in Estonia, Bulgaria, France and Denmark. Director of the short environmental musical Eat Me!, fairy tale Snowgirl and co-director of the poetry film Queen. Her latest short is Between Me and You, which touches on an important women’s topic.
Project status
Supported for development by Bulgarian National Film Center
Contact
Ilina Perianova (director), ilinoshik@gmail.com
Mila Voinikova (producer), mila@miramarfilm.com
Bosnia and Herzegovina
All According to the Law, Džana Pinjo
Synopsis
The story of a woman’s struggle to serve out her misdemeanour sentence, which the inadequate and corrupt system prevents her from doing. Adela (40), her mother Jasna (60) and daughter Maja (7) were in a traffic accident with one casualty. After three years of gruelling court proceedings, Adela is found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison. Knee-deep in court debts, she goes to prison, but there is no room for her.
Džana Pinjo
Born in Sarajevo in 1982. She graduated in acting from the Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts, where she currently teaches acting. She performed numerous roles in theatre, film and TV. Among others, she starred in the films The Key by Timur Makarević, In the Land of Blood and Honey by Angelina Jolie, Taking Care by Miroslav Mandić and elsewhere.
Project status
In development
Contact
Džana Pinjo (director), dzana.pinjo@asu.unsa.ba
Croatia
Viktorija, Anita Čeko
Synopsis
Withdrawn and frustrated virgin Viktorija (40) lives in a Split apartment with her domineering and narcissistic mother Fabijanka who treats her like a servant. When Fabijanka suffers a stroke, with the help of the widower Luciano, Viktorija makes a decision of a lifetime and puts her mother in a home. Haunted by guilt and excited by her newly found freedom, Viktorija starts devouring life.
Anita Čeko
Grew up in Split. She graduated in film dramaturgy at ADU and psychology at the Faculty of Humanities in Zagreb. She works as a screenwriter, playwright and psychologist. Author of several short films. Along with Viktorija, currently developing the documentary feature project So Far, Kandahar. She is a member of the professional association SPID and Cinema Club Zagreb.
Project status
Supported for script development by HAVC
Contact
Anita Čeko, anita.ceko@gmail.com
Spain
Wolf Grrrls, Claudia Estrada Tarascó
Synopsis
Rebellious teenager Luna ends up in juvenile detention when her father falsely accuses her of abuse. There she meets Las Lobas, three girls planning an escape in order to perform in a trap music contest. Violent and self-destructive, at first Luna will do anything to escape, even betray her friends. When another unsuccessful attempt lands her in the solitary, she repents and decides to make amends with the Wolf Grrrls.
Claudia Estrada Tarascó
Director and screenwriter who deals with real-life issues from a feminist perspective. She directed several short films, including ¿Cómo fue tu vida, abuela? (2019), The Flowers You Tear Out (2020). She is currently developing her first feature, Wolf Grrrls!.
Project status
In development. Supported by ICEC Development regional funds
Contact
Claudia Estrada Tarascó (writer-director), claudiaestradacomunica@gmail.com
