Script Forum is a special conference devoted to screen writing professionals which took place for the third time at a Summer Film Festival in Warsaw (www.latofilmow.pl). During the 3rd edition taking place between 12th and 16th of July Polish script authors had a chance to take part in several discussion panels, seminars and pitching sessions.
On the opening day the representatives of the Polish Filmmakers Association ( www.sfp.org.pl) and the Munk Studio (www.studiomunka.pl) have awarded 3 best scripts in the best film novel competition from over 900 entries. The first prize of 25 000 PLN was assigned to Agnieszka Smołucha for her script titled The Yellow Dress (Żółta sukienka), the second prize of 15 000 PLN to Piotr Siemion for his script The Silver Mountain (Srebrna Góra) and the third prize 10 000 PLN to Mikołaj Łoziński for his script Te Restaurant (Restauracja).
To further their professional qualifications the guests of the forum could take part in special two-day seminars of Linda Seger, an international expert on script writing and a working script consultant, author of several books including a bestseller Making A God Script Great, as well as a special lecture "The script, festivals and sales agents" given by Matthieu Darras (Torino Film Lab, www.torinofilmlab.it) and Jonathan Hild (Rezo Films, www.rezofilms.com).
On the "expert day" the German-Polish Co-Development Fund (futher information: www.pisf.pl) was presented as a model institution of public funding for i international co-productions. Brigitta Manthey, the expert from the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg Fund (www.medienboard.de), Oliver Rittweger from the Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung GmbH ( www.mdm-online.de) and Robert Baliński from the Polish Film Institute ( www.pisf.pl) explained the functioning of the fund and presented the Polish-German Winter Daddy project recently supported by the institution.
15th of July was focused on television, with a special lecture on series development given by Jurgen Seidler, the general director of Script House (www.scripthouse.de ). Participants of the workshops could also pitch their ideas during a discussion panel moderated by Ilona Łepkowska, an accomplished Polish screen writer, author of several Polish hit series.
On the final day of the conference the III Polish Screen Writers Forum took place, with a lively debate on the expert grading system currently operating in the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl), where the participants Joanna Kos-Krauze, Maciej Strzembosz, Maciej Grzywaczewski, Sławomir Jóźwik and Edward Miszczak discussed the ways to improve the choosing of projects from the script point of view. The debate was also visited by the Director of The Irish Screen and Drama Writers Guild David Kavanagh, who gave insights about the differences between the Polish and other international film markets.
The 16th edition of the Film Summer Festival in Warsaw will last till the 21st of July 2010.
