The TorinoFilmLab (TFL) has unveiled the 20 new projects selected for its 2022 ScriptLab, and the 10 writers picked for the inaugural edition of its SeriesLab – Talents scheme.
The ScriptLab is a nine-month scriptwriting programme involving feature films at an early stage of development. This year’s iteration focused on comedies, with eight of the 20 projects written by women.
Composed of two week-long residential workshops, one in Turin and one in Finland, as well as three online modules, the ScriptLab also feeds in to TorinoFilmLab annual industry event the TFL Meeting (which runs in Novermber, as usual in parallel to the Torino Film Festival).
Scroll down for full list of projects
The 2022 ScriptLab is curated by Amra Bakšić Čamo and script consultants Isabelle Fauvel, Laura Piani, Răzvan Rădulescu, Gino Ventriglia and Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten.
In the past year, films developed in past ScriptLabs include Carla Simon’s 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner Alcarras, fellow Berlin competion title A Piece Of Sky by Michael Koch, as well as Cannes 2021 titles La Civil by Teodora Ana Mihai, Feathers by Omar El Zohairy (both Un Certain Regard) and Simón Mesa Soto’s Amparo (Critics’ Week).
SeriesLab - Talents
2022 will also see the first edition of the SeriesLab - Talents programme, aimed at increasing diversity in the pipeline of European writers and discovering new voices. It will provide 10 participants with five-months’ career development training (one preparatory residential workshop in March, two residential workshops of four days each and a minimum of three sessions online in between) working on a TFL selected project from concept to a full episode script. A final presentation in one of the main European TV markets in 2023 will close the programme.
The 10 selected participants are Alice von Gwinner (Ger), Break Free Films’ Caatje van Leeuwen (Neth), BBC First Screenplay Award finalist Carla Grauls (Bel), Diane Ntahimpera (Bel), Fabrizio Muscia (It), Giulia Cavaleri (It), RaiFiction writing school graduate Michele Furfari (It), Canneseries Talent Unlimited finalist Nach Solis (Sp), Solveig Nuin Stephens (Nor) and Svitlana Topor (Pol).
Writer Tony Grisoni has been appointed SeriesLab - Talents’ Head of Studies. His film and TV credits include the Red Riding trilogy, The Young Pope, Michael Winterbottom’s In This World and Terry Gilliam’s Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas.
2022 Scriptlab Projects
Synopsis provided by TFL
Amoeba by Siyou Tan (Singapore)
16-year-old Choo tries to form a girl gang with three rebellious classmates, drawing inspiration from the Chinese secret societies that ruled the streets of colonial Singapore. But how do you form a gang in modern Singapore, where even chewing gum is illegal? Their quest threatens the fragility of their friendships and reveals the impossibility of breaking out of society’s pressures, in a country obsessed with creating conforming, obedient citizens.
Arrogance by Ville Jankeri (Finland)
The story of a man who lives a carefree, unemployed life, safe from judgmental eyes, but becomes plagued with ambition, writes a book of his life, and becomes an object of loathing for the whole nation.
Los Algodones by Santiago Fábregas (Mexico, Italy)
Megan lives in Cottonwood, Arizona. Her interests include: pickling, bowling and protecting our borders. When she is named Citizen of the Year and invited to the Governor’s Gala, she believes her life couldn’t get any better. However, a toothache soon becomes her worst nightmare. Diagnosed with a dental disease, lacking proper insurance and cornered by the costs of dental care, she is forced to cross the border to Molar City in Mexico for the first time, chasing a winning smile for the Gala.
Five Times My Father Forgot His Bag by Dragomir Sholev (Bulgaria)
The life of Dimitar and his family, captured in five stories that took place in three different eras spanning 40 years.
Bleach by Kaltrina Krasniqi (director) and Doruntina Basha (co-writer) (Kosovo and North Macedonia)
Fatime (50s), a cleaner from Prishtina outskirts, gets a new job in a city office where she quickly gets close to her new boss, Elvira (40s), a charismatic entrepreneur running the company. But an incident that tarnishes their relationship so deeply, reveals that a cleaner and her boss, despite both being women, can never overcome the boundaries of their social class, and become friends.
A Year Without Summer by Flurin Giger (Switzerland)
In 1815, a volcano on a small island in Indonesia erupts. Its ash covers the entire world and with it, a little Ice Age begins. This causes the last big hunger crisis in Europe. A young farmer’s daughter and her family fight for their day-to-day survival.
Import by Paul Shkordoff (Canada)
The life of an American basketball player descends into free fall when he’s unexpected cut by his European team.
What Brings Me To You by Khalil Cherti (France, Morocco)
Hicham and Lilia, a mixed couple well integrated in their Muslim community, are struggling to have their first child. They begin their Medically Assisted Procreation journey with energy but the ordeal of infertility puts their relationship to the test and reveals underlying intimate flaws. Soon there are too many wounds. Each of them finds themselves confronted by their own family past and discover that they may need to give birth to something else first before they can become parents themselves.
The Boy And The Fight Of Spiders by Jarell Serencio (Philippines)
In the Southern Philippines, a carefree, spider-obsessed young boy Jun, (12) cares about catching the toughest spider to show off to his friends on their routine spider derby. When he loses his older brother and father in a tunnel collapse, he is forced to grow up to look for their bodies in the rubble, only to dig up a web of lies sewn together by the powers-that-be, making him realize that it takes more than a hero’s ransom to extricate his family from the town and its ever-collapsing tunnels.
Warrior by Masha Kondakova (Ukraine, France)
After several years at the front, Sasha, a female sniper in the Ukrainian army, returns to her native village, determined to forget the war. But she discovers that her father, a forest ranger, has been killed by illegal loggers who are destroying the forest. Desperate, alone against all, she launches a fight, her last fight.
Petty Thieves by Mate Ugrin (Croatia, Italy)
Young loner Rio gets by with seasonal jobs and petty thefts in resorts on the Adriatic coast. His carefree everyday life is thrown off balance by Andrea, a mysterious seasonal worker who becomes his partner in crime. During the course of the summer, they will spend a short but intense time together, that they will never forget.
The Outside by Victor Moreno (director) and Judith Alzola (co-writer) (Spain)
Three astronauts suffer a mysterious accident on their way back to the Earth. While they are fighting against extreme weather conditions in the middle of the desert where they have landed, they will become witnesses and accomplices of the origin of life on the planet. An adventure film that connects the riddles of the universe with the darkness of the cavern.
I Don’t Know Where I’m Going by Sofia Bost (Portugal)
1985. Luísa, a Portuguese young woman, arrives in Montpellier to live with her boyfriend. She’s pregnant but can’t decide how she feels about it or whether to tell Christian. As time goes by, Luísa is looking for a direction for her life. 1995. Vera, Luísa’s daughter, visits her estranged father, Christian, at his family home in France. 2015. Christian tries to get back in touch with his adult daughter Vera. They meet in Lisbon
Rapeseeds in Flower by Aron Szentpeteri (Hungary)
After working abroad for many years Gyöngyi (40) and István (45) return to their home town in the middle of the Hungarian plains. Emptying their mailbox, they find a letter from Gyöngyi’s distant cousin Ernő. He writes that about a year ago he was taken into custody by the guardianship office. And he was put in a psychiatric home. He would really like to leave and asks for Gyöngyi’s help with this. Seeking legal assistance, the couple meet the young, human rights lawyer Orsi (28), who takes up the case and they sue for the termination of guardianship. The long legal battle takes a toll on all of them and what they have to fight is a failing system. A system where everybody’s personal interest lies in averting responsibility or protecting their authority no matter the consequences for the people like Ernő. And while their struggle ensues, the question prevails till the very end: Does Ernő have any mental illnesses, and if he does; Does it justify depriving him of his freedom?
Summer and Alyah by Isabelle Schapira (Belgium)
Summer, 13, lives with her sister Alyah, 15, at their aunt’s following the death of their mother. The two girls were raised in a survivalist cult whose precepts have never been questioned. Summer, shy and withdrawn, idolizes Alyah who has only one obsession: to flee. Unable to adjust to their new family, the girls want to join community members established in a new camp. When the possibility of leaving becomes concrete, an internal conflict sets in Summer between her desire to emancipate herself and the fear of breaking that unconditional love. She will have to make a choice: run away with Alyah or let her go, at the risk of losing her…
The Village Next to Paradise by Mo Harawe (Austria)
A Somali family struggles during the course of a scorching hot and windy summer. All of this is inseparable from the socio-political situation of a country living with civil wars, natural disasters and a post-colonial legacy.
The Exiles Also Die Of Love by Marie Le floc’h (Belgium, France)
Wael has been living in Lorient with his daughter Reem for six years, following the arrest and imprisonment of his wife Sousan, a well-known actress who was very involved in the Syrian revolution. He works at the Keroman fishing port, but he has never given up looking for her during these past 6 years. He experiences her return like liberation. But in this daily life far from the burning ideal she has carried for years, Sousan has difficulty coming back. Wael tries to cling to her as he can, with the only means he has.
Sealskin by Irene Moray (Spain)
Flora is a janitor who, after losing her granny with whom she grew up with, forms a strong bond with Helga, a PhD candidate whose body is turning transparent. With the help of Bonian, a sensitive gardener, Flora throws herself into taking care of her friend, helping her to get out of a toxic relationship, before she completely vanishes.
Until The Day Ends by Jelena Maksimovic (Serbia)
Until the day ends, Lena will escape the family that makes her miserable, and she will meet Stefan, sharing with him the desire to be accepted, to be free. As the night carries them on the waves of the city in turmoil, they try to find a way out. They join the demonstrations marked by inarticulate discontent. A man is on the ground, his head bleeding. Stefan realizes that it was him who struck the man with a rock. Stefan and Lena flee. He is in search of redemption; she is in search of her heart.
She Makes And Unmakes by Jonas Bak (Germany)
A couple from opposite ends of the world longs for a place somewhere in between, a perfect place that may never exist. He has lost his way in Hong Kong and a mental health crisis entraps the both of them. She gives up her home and family and they move to Germany. In the struggle to rebuild their lives, love becomes pivotal. Can it alone counter their harsh realities.
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