FULL CIRCLE LAB

NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE

HESSEN 2026

It relies on the local cinema ecosystem of festivals’ initiatives, and residencies such as the clos-FIFIB, the Biarritz Bal Lab, the Poitiers Film Festival and fosters synergies with filmmakers and producers active in the region.

The program is financially supported by Alca Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Hessen Film & Medien and takes the form of residential and online workshops.

Aims
of the program

Three on-site sessions

The first workshop takes place at Villa Valmont in the outskirts of Bordeaux, on July 6th-10th 2026, and offers analysis of the treatment together with main rewriting axes, consultancy on overall production plan and development strategy.

The second workshop takes place in Hesse region (precise location to be confirmed), on September 14^th – 18^th 2026, and offers analysis of the script and consultancy on the full presentation in addition to the financial elements, distribution and sales.

The third phase takes place in Poitiers during the Poitiers Film Festival where the participants pitch their projects at the TAP – Théâtre Auditorium on December 4th, 2026 and meet French producers, sales agents and distributors.

A great flexibility

The limited number of participants & projects will allow great flexibility in the agenda, moving between plenary and group sessions, and individual consultations when needed.

2nd module

First Cut
Lab

This second module selects 4 feature films in the editing phase, supported by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Hessen Region for their production.

CALL FOR PROJECTS – GUIDELINES

Selection

The participants & projects are selected by a committee including the Program Managers and Tutors.

Fees

The participation fee of Full Circle Lab Nouvelle Aquitaine Hessen is €1.800 per project at development stage and €1.000 per film in editing phase (+VAT if applicable).

The participation fee includes half-board accommodation during the workshops for a maximum of 2 persons per project. Participants cover their travel costs.

The projects associated with the Hessen region are exempt from paying the participation fee.

Development Lab

projects

NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE

The Family

France / Ukraine

Synopsis: In a remote mountain village, three sisters and their father live under strict family traditions. When the two older sisters begin to suspect that the youngest is defying the rules, they decide to take matters into their own hands, guided by their own convictions about what’s right and wrong. This “Persian Gothic” drama explores the collision between rigid social illusions and the raw, untamed world, symbolized by a mysterious forest-dwelling bear.

Biographies

Director/Co-writer’s bio:

Hanna Jalali is a Ukrainian filmmaker currently based in Iran. Her “insider-outsider” perspective allows her to explore Middle Eastern social dynamics through a contemporary European lens. She graduated in 2015 from Kyiv National Cinema University with MAs in Documentary Directing and Film Production. Her short film After  was selected for the 28th Trieste Film Festival, 29th Premiers Plans d’Angers, 42nd Odense IFF, 47th Molodist IFF, and 31st Leeds IFF, among others, where it also received several awards. She is an alumna of Kyoto Filmmakers Lab 2020, Berlinale Talents 2021, La Fabrique Cinema 2024, and Biennale College Cinema 2024/2025.

Producer/Co-writer’s bio:

Moeinoddin Jalali is an Iranian filmmaker, a member of the Iranian Society of Cinematographers, and the founder of 2 People Production (Ukraine). He holds an MA with honors in Cinematography from Kyiv National Cinema University and is a Kyoto Filmmakers Lab alumnus (2021/2022). As producer and co-writer, he developed The Echo of the Leopard, selected for the 20th Golden Apricot IFF-PM, the 22nd Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), and La Fabrique Cinema 2024. The same year, he participated in Biennale College Cinema with The Family. His expertise enables him to bridge Middle Eastern creative visions with European production standards.

Producer’s bio

Founded by Christophe Lafont, POETIK Film is based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (La Rochelle) and leverages his 20 years of expertise in high-standard visual production to cultivate a singular editorial line : supporting free, strong, and unique cinematic universes. The company has proven its ability to lead ambitious international co-productions, notably with acclaimed titles such as Ashkal (Quinzaine Festival de Cannes) and Crocodile Tears (TIFF). This approach provides bold auteurs with a tailored professional framework and sanctuary, ensuring their uncompromising narratives reach a global audience while translating singular artistic visions into universal cinematic experiences, bridging technical rigor with profound aesthetic ambition for the global stage.

Production & Coordination manager

Yacine Bennabi provides the structural rigor and analytical oversight required for the precise monitoring of international co-productions. Leveraging an engineering background and experience in coordinating complex professional consortia, he manages the administrative and logistical flow between the French and Ukrainian teams. Yacine ensures fluid communication, monitors the development schedule, and oversees the project’s “Green Protocols.” His professional expertise also allows him to contribute strategically to the project’s financial engineering and the optimization of international funding applications.

Hanna Jalali: Instagram: @hanna_jalali – FB: @hanna.jalali.3

Moeinoddin Jalali: Instagram: @moein_dp – FB: @moeinoddin.jalali

Poetik Film: Instagram: @poetikfilm – LinkedIn: Poetik Film

HESSEN

Neofrau⁠ (Neowoman)

Germany

Synopsis: In a conservative German village, 16-year-old Lilly discovers she was born without a uterus or vagina. Faced with clinical indifference and her parents’ insistence on silence, Lilly suppresses her grief over her future childlessness. With her best friend Yoon-a by her side, she finds the courage to pursue “neo-vagina” surgery, seeking sexual self-determination despite rigid patriarchal structures. Their bond is tested when Yoon-a faces an unintended pregnancy.

Director’s bio

Joey Arand works at the interface between contemporary art and film. Her works deal with social issues such as identity and physical constraints. She develops her power and poetry from a research movement, from actual experience and from documentary material.

Her films have been screened at many festivals, such as Hamburg Short Film Festival, Interfilm Berlin, Uppsala Short Film Festival or PÖFF Tallinn and have won numerous awards, including the Golden Horseman at Filmfest Dresden, two prizes at the Kurzsüchtig Festival Leipzig and the Golden Hercules at the DokFest Kassel. Two of her films were shown on German TV.

Producer’s bio

Alma Weber is an animator, illustrator, and composer characterized by her experimental approach to filmmaking and her ability to merge original scores with minimalist visual aesthetics. She specializes in bringing quirky characters to life, using a loose, expressive style to imbue them with depth and sensitivity.

She is the co-Founder of Studio Animauz: animauz.de . At Studio Animauz, her work focuses on the conceptualization and production of short-form content. Her portfolio includes a diverse range of projects, from independent artistic productions to commissioned work, such as explainer videos.

Studio Animauz:

https://www.instagram.com/studio_animauz/

https://www.animauz.de/

Alma:

https://www.instagram.com/soft.spock/

https://filmweberei.de/

Joey:

https://www.instagram.com/joey_arand/

First Cut Lab Projects

NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE

PALINGENESION

Synopsis:

“PALINGENESION” explores how death is perceived, moving from its absence in animals to its distortion in media and finally to deeply personal human loss. Through scenes of burials, mourning, and exhumations in war-torn Ukraine, it reveals individual grief within mass tragedy and examines how war crimes shape collective memory. The film follows a Russian soldier’s trial, highlighting justice, accountability, and the tension between punishment and the needs of the living. By tracing the journey of victims’ bodies, from evidence collection to burial, it restores their dignity and identity. Alongside death, the film presents acts of life like blood donation, preservation of reproductive cells as symbols of hope and continuity. Ultimately, it reflects on memory, legacy, and the human search for meaning after death, leading to an acceptance of loss as part of healing.

Biographies

Directors’ bios

Alina Gorlova co-founded the production company Tabor and is a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy and the European Film Academy. Her documentary NO OBVIOUS SIGNS won the MDR Award for Best Eastern European Film at DokLeipzig in 2018. Alina took part in Berlinale Talents in 2019 and Eurodoc in 2020. Her latest documentary, THIS RAIN WILL NEVER STOP, won the Best First Appearance Award at IDFA, as well as the Best Feature Film Award at Festival dei Popoli, Beldocs, and others. Finally, she is one of the three directors of Militantropos, the first part of the trilogy The Days I Would Like To Forget, which was selected for the latest Directors’ Fortnight.

Simon Mozgovyi was born and raised in Ukraine. He is a member of the Ukrainian National Filmmakers’ Union. Simon’s documentary THE WINTER GARDEN’S TALE (2018) premiered at Ji.hlava IDFF and was later selected for DOK Leipzig, Full Frame, and Docudays UA, where it received the Best Ukrainian Film Award. His filmography also includes the documentaries SALT FROM BONNEVILLE (Special Mention, Docudays UA 2021) and ORPHEUS IS STANDING ON THE BANK OF THE STYX (short film, 2022). Finally, he is one of the three directors of Militantropos, the first part of the trilogy The Days I Would Like To Forget, which was selected for the latest Directors’ Fortnight.

Yelizaveta Smith is a co-founder of the production company Tabor. After the Ukrainian revolution, she co-directed the documentary SCHOOL NUMBER 3. The film premiered at the 2017 Berlinale, where it won the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International Jury. Her first short film, SOLITUDE, was selected at Odesa IFF and Raindance in 2019 and was nominated for Best Short Film at the Ukrainian Film Academy Awards in 2020. Yelizaveta has also taken part in Berlinale Talents, TorinoFilmLab Extended, The Write Retreat, and Midpoint Feature Launch. Finally, she is one of the three directors of Militantropos, the first part of the trilogy The Days I Would Like To Forget, which was selected for the latest Directors’ Fortnight.

Producer’s bio

After studying cinema in Bordeaux, Santa Barbara and at Cuba’s EICTV, Nabil Bellahsene joined Les Valseurs in 2020. He became a specialist in the international co-production of TV and cinema documentaries. In 2025, he produced “Copan” (CPH:DOX) by Brazilian director Carine Wallauer and “Militantropos” (Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight) by Ukrainian artistic collective Tabor. He is currently developing several ambitious documentaries, including “L’île Mouvante” by French filmmaker Roxane Florin, “First names” by Argentinean director Fernando Dominguez and “There is Something in the silence” by Cuban director Patricia Pérez Fernández.

Editor’s bio

After studying cinema in Bordeaux, Santa Barbara and at Cuba’s EICTV, Nabil joined Les Valseurs in 2020. He became a specialist in the international co-production of TV and cinema documentaries. In 2025, he produced “Copan” (CPH:DOX) by Brazilian director Carine Wallauer and “Militantropos” (Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight) by Ukrainian artistic collective Tabor. He is currently developing several ambitious documentaries, including “L’île Mouvante” by French filmmaker Roxane Florin, “First names” by Argentinean director Fernando Dominguez and “There is Something in the silence” by Cuban director Patricia Pérez Fernández.

HESSEN

Deserted

Synopsis

For over 50 years, the Sahrawi people have lived in refugee camps on the edge of the Algerian desert, displaced from their homeland under Moroccan occupation. Through the stories of three individuals — Najla, Maglaha, and Taleb — DESERTED traces their fight for return and self-determination. As the long-frozen conflict gains critical momentum through ongoing negotiations at the UN, the political future of a self-determined Sahrawi people is fundamentally in question. Will an open war break out, or will international law prevail? Will the Sahrawi continue to live exiled in the desert, stripped of their right to self-determination and instead forced to integrate under autonomy within the Kingdom of Morocco? And what is Europe’s interest?

Biographies

Director bio

Mario Pfeifer is a producer, director, visual artist and founder of blackboardfilms. Mario studies film and visual arts at the university of the Arts Berlin, Städelschule Frankfurt am Main as well as the California Institute of the Arts. He has produced films in Brazil, Chile, Cameroon, India, Nigeria, Senegal, the USA and Germany that have screened internationally at festivals (IDFA, Vision du Réel, DokLeipzig et.al.) and have been presented at Art Biennales and exhibitions worldwide. In 2024 Mario received Germany’s human rights film award and in 2023 the Hessian Film Prize for Cell 5 – A Reconstruction.  Mario is an alumni of Berlinale Talent Campus, Documentary Campus Masterschool, Fulbright commission and DAAD.

Producer bio

Julia Irene Peters is a producer and the managing Director of JIPPIE FILM GMBH and JIP Film&Verleih. She graduated from the Bauhaus University Weimar with a degree in Media Arts and is an alumni of EuroDOC, the TP2-Talent Pool and the international Producing workshop at ifs Cologne. As a Coproducer, she has produced films such as “Cotton Queen” and “Ellbow”. As a distributor, she has released over 30 films to theaters since the company was founded, including “VIKA”, “Gondola”, “The Other Side of the River” and “HIVE”.

Editor bio

Raya Yamisha is a Damascus born film editor, based in Leipzig, working across feature documentaries and video essays. Her work engages complex narratives exploring human resilience, conflict, and women’s experiences. Her editing credits include Coma by Sara Fattahi (Visions du Réel 2015; FIPRESCI Prize, Viennale 2015), Houses Without Doors by Avo Kaprealian (Berlinale Forum 2016), Still Recording by Ghiath Haddad and Saeed Al Batal (Best Film, Venice Critics’ Week 2018), Chaos by Sara Fattahi (Golden Leopard, Locarno 2018),

and The Fifth Story by Ahmed Abd (FIPRESCI Prize, IDFA 2020). Recently, she edited All Roads Lead to More by Afraa Batous (ZDF, 2023).

SLOVENIA NEXT WAVE GENRE

Forbidden Fruit

Synopsis:

15th century, on Slovenian soil under Habsburg rule. As plague spreads, Veronika Deseniška, pregnant, skilled in healing, and feared for her knowledge, seeks refuge in a remote Carthusian monastery. Prior Arnold reluctantly shelters her, but witnessing her save lives begins to unravel his faith and patriarchal beliefs. Veronika’s wild, curious nature unsettles the monks, while Count Herman of Celje hunts her as a witch and threatens to destroy anyone who dares protect her. As Arnold secretly spreads her healing knowledge among sick villagers, the monastery turns into a battleground between fear and belief.

Biographies

Director’s bio

Urška Djukić Lecamus is a Slovenian film director. Her short film Granny’s Sexual Life won more than 40 international awards, including the European Film Academy Award for Best Short Film (2022) and the César Award for Best Animated Short Film (2023). Her debut feature, Little Trouble Girls, developed through Cinéfondation and Torino Film Lab, premiered at the 76th Berlinale as the opening film of the Perspectives competition, winning the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Debut Feature. The film later screened at major festivals, including Tribeca, where it won Best Cinematography, received multiple international awards, and became Slovenia’s official Oscar submission for 2025.

Producer’s bio

Luka Peterca is a Slovenian film and television producer based in Ljubljana. With more than ten years of experience, he has worked as a producer, executive producer, and line producer on both independent and large-scale productions, focusing on innovative and author-driven cinema. He was line producer of Fantasy, Kukla’s debut feature, premiered in competition at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival and was awarded at Trieste, Sarajevo, and the Festival of Slovenian Film. He also worked on Riders by Dominik Mencej, Slovenia’s official Oscar submission in 2023. He has collaborated with filmmakers including Janez Burger, Damjan Kozole, Matteo Oleotto, and Jan Cvitkovič.

Instagram: @oinkpictures

POP UP

Myopia

Japan – Drama

Logline:

A subtle futuristic allegory about a girl with a high sensitivity to human sadness.

Biographies

Director / Writer

Chie Hayakawa

Producer

Eiko Mizuno-Gray

Tutors
& mentors

Yemi Chabi

Program Manager

Yemi Chabi is a Film Studies graduate of Anglia Ruskin University. She worked at Coproduction Office, where she oversaw the press kit for Michelangelo Frammartino’s Il Buco (Special Jury Prize, Venice 2021) and curated its classics catalogue. She also served as a script consultant on films including Wei Shujun’s Striding into the Wind (Cannes 2020) and Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero (Cannes 2023). In 2021, she studied narrative techniques at Scuola Holden in Turin and later worked as a copywriter and researcher on Lou Ye’s An Unfinished Film (Cannes 2024). Since 2024, she has been Head of Development at Kometa Films and Program Manager at Tatino, and was selected as a Story Editor Trainee for TFL Screens of Tomorrow 2024.

Fred Burle

Producer Consultant

Fred Burle was born in Brazil and has lived in Berlin since 2010. He completed his production studies at the dffb Berlin. Fred participated in the renowned EAVE Puentes program in 2020. Fred is a partner at One Two Films, with a number of high-profile projects under his internal leadership, such as Peter Hujar’s Day by Ira Sachs (Sundance, Berlinale 2025); Cannes Winner and 4x Oscar nominated The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonca Filho; and Calle Malaga by Maryam Touzani, Audience Award Winner in Venice 2025. Fred was also selected to represent Germany at the renowned “Producer on the Move” program in Cannes 2025. Fred is been teaching at various film schools, is on the board of trustees of the dffb and a member both the German and the European Film Academies.

Partners
& financial
support

Hessen Film & Medien is the first point of contact for film funding in Hesse, Germany, and strengthens the regional film and media industry. It supports film and media professionals and those who want to shoot and produce in Hesse while planning and shooting their projects. Hessen Film & Medien promotes both the artistic and commercial quality of film and series productions and offers support throughout all production stages from treatment to shooting and distribution. Its goal is to pave the way for artistic daring and it stands for the promotion of young talent, diversity, social and environmental sustainability as well as transparent structures.

In collaboration with