Ten participants have the opportunity to work on their feature-length debut scripts during the eight day residency (September 9–16), with dedicated writing time as well as tutoring, group sessions, individual sessions, screenings and peer feedback. Pustnik has selected the eight fiction projects from 112 applications received from 45 countries, including one from the European Short Pitch alumni network.
This year’s special guests are screenwriter Laurence Coriat, known for her collaborations with director Michael Winterbottom, Răzvan Rădulescu, the most representative screenwriter of New Romanian Cinema, film and cultural relations specialist Joanna Duncombe, psychotherapist and narrative consultant Delia Vasile, and Academy Award nominated producer Bianca Oana.
Screenwriter Laurence Coriat’s collaborations with director Michael Winterbottom include “Wonderland”, selected in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999 and awarded the top prize at the British Independent Film Awards that same year, “A Mighty Heart” (2006), starring Angelina Jolie, the Colin Firth-starrer “Genova” (2008), as well as “Everyday” (2012), nominated for a BAFTA Award. She also co-wrote, among other films, Sandra Goldbacher’s “Me Without You”, starring Michelle Williams and Anna Friel, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2001. In 2016, Coriat was part of a writers room with showrunner Hossein Amini, where she wrote two episodes of the International Emmy-winning BBC series “McMafia”.
Răzvan Rădulescu wrote the screenplays for some of the most acclaimed films of the New Romanian Cinema, including “Stuff and Dough” (2001), “Niki and Flo” (2003) and “The Death of Mr Lazarescu” (2005), which were co-written with Puiu, and “The Paper Will Be Blue” (2006), “Tuesday, After Christmas” (2010) and “Întregalde”, written in collaboration with Alexandru Baciu and Radu Muntean. He also wrote and directed, together with Melissa de Raaf, “First of All, Felicia” (2010), and he published two novels: 2007’s “The Life and Deeds of Elijah Cazane”, which won the Romanian Writers’ Union prize for Best Debut, and 2006’s “Theodosius the Small”, which received the EU Prize for Literature.
Joanna Duncombe has a wealth of experience developing innovative, international film and arts programmes. She has presented programmes and hosted talks and Q&As at events including the Cannes, London and Rotterdam film festivals, and currently works with British Council, BAFTA, the National Film & Television School (NFTS) and the Victoria Film Festival in Canada. At British Council, Duncombe is the senior consultant responsible for the Film Department’s New Talent and International Collaboration programmes. She has previously worked as a film programmer for the Independent Cinema Office in the UK, and was programme director at London Short Film Festival. She was the creative producer and programmer at Birds Eye View Films, where she helped to develop and launch their highly successful Reclaim the Frame programme alongside Mia Bays.
Delia Vasile is a communicator, psychologist and psychotherapist with a humanistic approach, based in Bucharest, Romania. She graduated from the Faculty of Letters and the Faculty of Psychology and since 2012 she has started her training in Transactional Analysis with Yorkshire Training Centre International. Her therapeutic approach is a narrative one, being passionate about understanding life stories and the scripts people act out in their lives.
Bianca Oana is a creative producer dedicated to boundary-pushing film and art. Her credits include
“Touch Me Not” (Berlinale Golden Bear, 2018), “Collective” (two Oscar nominations, 2020), and “Anhell69” (SIC Venice, 2022). She produced the Romanian Pavilion at the 59th Venice Art Biennale and is now working on Adina Pintilie’s second feature, “Death and the Maiden”. She’s an Emerging Producer (2016), Producer on the Move (2021), and member of AMPAS.
The projects selected for this year’s Pustnik residency are:
“Apoteos”, by Christofer Nilsson, Sweden
“Dilara”, by Amy Omar, Turkey/USA
“Elsewhere”, by Adelina Borets, Ukraine
“Mouth of a Shark”, by Hồng Anh Nguyễn, Germany
“Summer of Jesus”, by Tatiana Delaunay, Norway
“Sun Offspring”, by Octavian Saramet, Romania
“Underdog”, by Carla Linares and Eva Pauné, Spain
“Unhappy Animals”, by Leonardo Balestrieri, Italy
Maintaining its commitment to the local community, Pustnik is also organizing free film and storytelling workshops as well as screenings at the “Gheorghe Vasilichi” Theoretical High School in Cetate, hosted by Pustnik alumnus Emil Vasilache.
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About Pustnik
Pustnik is a programme created in 2014. Its aim has always been to focus on the writer’s needs. Good cinema needs time and intimacy to develop, and this has always taken centre stage in whatever happens at Pustnik. Our aim is to create an environment that encourages and emboldens upcoming writers whose work we admire, away from the pressure of the industry.
Pustnik is organized by T.E.T.A Association
TETA is an NGO founded in June 2006 with the purpose of developing cultural activities and alternative education to stimulate cultural revival within overlooked communities. TETA also produces films and theatre performances.
Cultural program co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN), Romanian Filmmakers’ Union (UCIN), the French Institute Romania, the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR)
Partners: European Short Pitch, National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” – UNATC Bucharest
Media partners: Film New Europe, Films in Frame
The program does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the program, nor for the manner in which the results of the program might be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the grant.
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