During the nine-day retreat, the residents will work on developing their debut features and meet producers from their own countries for informal meetings and pitch sessions.
The residents of the third edition of PUSTNIK are Octav Chelaru (Romania), Deben Van Dam (Belgium), Szántó Fanni (Hungary), Caroline Ingvarsson (Sweden), Iris Pakulla-Manso (France), Simona Sava (Romania), Ioana Țurcan (Romania) and Luca Zuberbühler (Switzerland).
The eight filmmakers will also take part in a screenwriting masterclass with Laurence Coriat, one of the most established French/British screenwriters, who has worked on films directed by Michael Winterbottom such as Wonderland, A Summer in Genoa, Me Without You, Hunky Dory and Patagonia. Laurence has been nominated for a BAFTA TV Award as well as for the Sundance Film Festival NHK Award.
Julie Billy – Haut et Court (France), Dora Nedeczky – Moviebar Productions (Hungary), Giacun Caduff – Caduff Entertainment (Switzerland) and Jurgen Willocx – Early Birds (Belgium), Oana Giurgiu - Libra Film (Romania) are some of the invited producers who will give feedback to the residents on their feature projects. The European producers will also be part of a panel debating on the subject of creative producing.
The selection was made by Andreea Borțun (writer/director, Romania), Bryn Chainey (writer/director, Great Britain/Australia), co-founders of PUSTNIK and Lavinia Cioacă (film critic, Romania).
“This year, for its third edition, PUSTNIK received more than 55 applications coming from 26 European countries. The selection process was one that came with a lot of responsibility, as many of the applications were extremely engaging, varying from arthouse to commercial genres. Pustnik tries to create a balance in between the two worlds that define the cinema industry today. We’re also trying to bring filmmakers who are passionate about their work and who would like to be part of the community that we are trying to build. PUSTNIK’s ethos is all about generosity, dedication and the love for cinema and writing”. (Andreea Borțun, curator and co-founder of PUSTNIK)
This year’s residency is hosted at Cultural Port Cetate, a late 19th century site with an incredible history of its own, located on the Romanian shore of the Danube, between Calafat and Turnu Severin.
About PUSTNIK:
PUSTNIK is the first European Screenwriters Residency to take place in Romania. The project aims to offer an organic context for young screenwriters to develop their work-in-progress stories, in an environment dedicated to peace of mind and clarity of thought, away from the industry’s pressures. At the same time, PUSTNIK wants to create a network of film professionals, a community whose aim is to ease and encourage collaboration.
