FULL CIRCLE LAB
PHILIPPINES 2022
Full Circle Lab Philippines is a capacity-building program aimed at supporting Filipino and Southeast Asian filmmakers. The fourth edition of the Lab takes place in the Philippines, from April 26 to 30, 2022, with an online follow-up in September 2022 during the Philippines Film Industry Month.
Full Circle Lab Philippines is co-organised by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Tatino Films.
AIMS
–> Identifying, nurturing and training creative talents in the Philippines and in South-East Asia;
–> Supporting Filipino & South-East Asian film projects along their development & post-production processes – in order to enhance their artistic and audience potentials with a focus on storytelling;
–> Fostering the internationalisation of the Filipino film industry, and positioning the Philippines as a creative hub in the South-East Asian region.
Leonor Will Never Die, directed by Martika Ramirez Escobar
MODULES
The Lab is composed of four modules:
- Fiction Lab
- First Cut Lab
- Creative Producers Lab
- Story Editing Lab
The Fiction Lab nurtures 8 feature films in development. It combines works in plenary, groups and individual consultations. Each project is followed by two mentors, one focusing specifically on script development – either Mmbatho Kau, Ayman El Amir or Helen Beltrame-Linné – and the other on production issues – either Meiske Taurisia, Izabela Igel or Patrick Mao Huang.
The Story Editing Lab’s goal is to train film professionals capable of accompanying authors and directors during the whole creative process, primarily at the script development stage. Together with the Creative Producers Lab initiated in 2021, this addition reinforces the priority of Full Circle Lab Philippines to focus on skills training and building a sustainable audio-visual ecosystem.
The Creative Producers Lab is an essential tool to develop the whole ecosystem of the Filipino and South East Asia film industry. The Creative Producer Lab trains up to 8 junior producers in the key areas of this profession: project development, legal & financial issues, and company development, to enhance the production value of the films. Participants are mentored by producer Juraj Krasnohorsky and Lai Weijie.
The First Cut Lab is open to 3 feature films at the editing stage and helps creative teams to reach the film they envision, fostering their artistic and circulation potentials. Under the supervision of Wim Vanacker, this Lab involves international advisors, with Benjamin Mirguet as editor consultant.
CALENDAR
February 15, 2022: Applications Deadline
March 15, 2022: First Cut Lab Applications Deadline
March 15, 2022: Announcement of Selected Projects and Participants for Fiction Lab, Creative Producers Lab, and Story Editors Lab
April 1, 2022: Announcement of selected projects for First Cut Lab
April 26-30, 2022: Full Circle Lab Philippines
CALL FOR PROJECTS – GUIDELINES
How to apply
Full Circle Lab Philippines is open to filmmakers from Philippines and South-East Asia countries: Brunei, Cambodia, East-Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Applicants should submit their entire application package by the February 15, 2022
For First Cut Lab the deadline is extended till March 15, 2022
For any information request, please contact: info@fdcp.ph
Selection
The submission materials of all eligible applicants will be reviewed by the FDCP Selection Committee and will be shortlisted.
The FDCP Selection Committee and Full Circle Lab mentors shall confer to select the final selection, ensuring the diversity of the lineup.
Fiction Labs
The stage of development of each project may vary.
Projects with or without producer(s) attached will equally be welcomed. There’s no need to have financing in place. Participants will be the author(s), and the directors and producers will also be attending if they are attached to the projects.
The Lab is open for projects that have not yet entered the pre-production stage.
Applicants must submit the following:
- Application Form
- Logline (50 words), Synopsis (1 page), and Concept/Treatment (Up to 10 pages)
- Director’s & producer’s statements (Up to 2 pages)
- Director’s & screenwriter’s filmographies (1 page)
- Producer’s filmography (1 page) & Production company profile (1 page)
- Rights to Adaptation if applicable
- High definition profile photo
- All requirements must be submitted in separate PDF documents
Creative Producers Lab
Applicants shall be producers who with or without production companies attached are equally welcomed.
Applicants must submit the following:
- Application Form
- Letter of intent
- Filmography
- Production company profile
- Project dossier (for Creative Producers Lab applicants only)
- High definition profile photo
- All requirements must be submitted in separate PDF documents
First Cut Lab
The film’s producer, director, and editor must attend the whole duration of the Editing Lab.
Applicants must submit the following:
- Application Form
- A minimum of 30 minutes of scenes from the film. Must be subtitled in English. Scenes can be separate and can be in the rough cut.
- Logline (50 words), Synopsis (1 page)
- Director’s & producer’s statements (Up to 2 pages)
- Director’s & editor’s filmographies (1 page)
- Producer’s filmography (1 page) & Production company profile (1 page)
- High definition profile photo
- All requirements must be submitted in separate PDF documents
Story Editing Lab
Applicants shall be aspiring script consultants, scriptwriters, heads of development in production companies, or commissioning editors of broadcasters.
Applicants must submit the following:
- Application Form
- Letter of intent
- Filmography
- Production company profile
- High definition profile photo
- All requirements must be submitted in separate PDF documents
From Babae At Baril (Full Circle Lab 2019)
MENTORS
Full Circle Lab Philippines is led by Matthieu Darras and Izabela Igel on behalf of Tatino Films.
From left to right: Liza Diño (FDCP Chair), Jordan dela Cruz (participant & filmmaker), Mmabatho Kau (script consultant), Giovanni Pompili (producer mentor)
FICTION
MMABATHO KAU
Script Consultant
In her 20-year strong creative journey, Mmabatho has worked as a producer, broadcaster (SABC, Kwese TV, TopTV), development executive as well as a script consultant.
read more
Roles that have harnessed her love for story and helping writers find their voice as storytellers. Her catalogue of work, as a script consultant, ranges from novel adaptations to politically potent films brought to life through titles such Kalushi: The Solomon Mahlangu Story and the sequel to Happiness is a Four Letter Word – Happiness Ever After. Mmabatho’s creative flair has also been injected outside South Africa as a consultant on the award-winning Lesotho based film This is not a Burial, it’s a Resurrection (Venice Biennale College Cinema 2019, Visionary Award winner Sundance 2019).
In 2017 Mmabatho was invited to co-mentor in REALNESS, a Pan-African writing residency. Beyond Realness; she has mentored on the Canal+ Poland Series Lab (2021), The Philippines (Full Circle Lab 2019 and 2020), Maisha Producers Lab (Uganda 2019), Jumpstart PRODUIRE AU SUD (South Africa 2019 and 2020), For Film’s Sake- Attagirl Lab (Australia 2020), The Pro Series Lab (Kenya 2020), BoostNL (Netherlands Film Festival/IFFR 2020), Dramatic Producer’s Lab (Ethiopia 2019). In addition to being a mentor, she has had the honour of being invited to participate in The Torino Script Lab (2018), EAVE (European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs 2020) and The Rotterdam Producer’s Lab (2020).
IZABELA IGEL
Producer
Izabela Igel – EAVE and Wajda School graduated film producer with a background in television and advertising production, who has worked for some of Poland’s top companies (TVN, Endemol Neovision); she moved on to focus on film marketing (distribution & festivals), before co-establishing Alter Ego Pictures (production company) in 2011.
read more
In 2016, she opened her own company Harine Films. Izabela collaborates also with Best Film – Polish distributor focusing on independent and arthouse cinema (Loveling, Sofia, Angel, Amanda, Another Round, Gagarin).
Her first feature, Floating Skyscrapers directed by Tomasz Wasilewski premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to win the top prize in the East of the West competition at the Karlovy Vary IFF, as well as a number of awards for best film, best director and best actor at film festivals in Poland and abroad. She is coproducing Pierce – Singaporean-Taiwanese-Polish debut film by Nelicia Low.
Izabela also serves as a trainer for several institutions: Story Lab, Wajda School, Łodź Film School.
Together with Matthieu Darras, she runs Full Circle Lab Philippines.
AYMAN EL AMIR
Script Consultant
Ayman El Amir is a script consultant and film producer from Egypt. He worked as a script consultant for many programs, labs and institutes…
read more
…including TorinoFilmLab, Doha Film Institute, The Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, International Marrakesh Film Festival Atlas Workshop and The Royal Film Commission of Jordan.
In 2016, he implemented MAHD Film Lab, a Cairo-based script development programme open to filmmakers working on Arab film projects and Arab-European co-production. As a producer, his latest work includes the short fiction, Fakh, selected for the official competition of Semaine de la Critique at Cannes Film Festival 2019 and the feature documentary Happily Ever After, which premiered at IDFA 2016.
MEISKE TAURISIA
Producer
She entered film industry in 2004, and co-founded babibutafilm in 2007. She produced Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (2008, Rotterdam-Fipresci Award), Postcards from the Zoo (2012, Berlinale), The Fox Exploits the Tiger’s Might (2015, Cannes), to name a few.
read more
HELEN BELTRAME-LINNÉ
Script Consultant
Helen Beltrame-Linné is a Brazilian screenwriter and script consultant with a wide artistic and corporate background. Helen graduated from Brazil’s most prestigious Law School and worked as a corporate lawyer…
read more
Lately factual credits include the feature-length debut Sole by Carlo Sironi an italian- polish coproduction handled by Luxbox. He is a member of Eave, Eurodoc, Producers’s Network and Berlinale Talents. He shares his expertise teaching production at IED in Rome and tutoring project in development workshop such Full Circle Lab.
PATRICK MAO HUANG
Producer
Born in Taiwan, Patrick Mao HUANG studied in American Film Institute – Directing Program and Columbia University Graduate Film School – Creative Producing Program. He founded production/distribution/sales company Flash Forward Entertainment in Taipei in 2002.
read more
Being praised for his diversity and distinguished eyes to spot new talents, Huang’s films span from narrative feature, documentaries, animation, short to drama series. All of them were selected by renowned film festivals worldwide and released globally. With great knowledge and experience for the international market, Huang always focuses on international co-production between east and west and has extensive skills on structuring film finance combining soft money and private funds. Huang’s latest film Moneyboys, an official selection of 2021 Cannes Un Certain Regard, is a co-production among Austria, France, Taiwan, and Belgium. Pierce, a Singapore/Taiwan/Poland co-production, is in pre-production to be shot entirely in Taiwan. Several co-productions with different partners from France, India, Bangladesh, Mainland China, and Czech Republic are in the advanced development stage and scheduled to go into production next year.
Huang is also a veteran film distributor, and often being a mentor or a guest speaker in filmmakers’ workshops or conferences such as Producers Network, Ties that Bind, CineMart, EFM Producers Hub, Produire au sud Taipei, Busan Asian Film School, When East Meets West, Sino-European Project Lab of Bridging the Dragon, FDCP Film Industry Conference and Project Market in Philippine, and TAICCA School run by Taiwan Creative Content Agency. Huang often serves as a jury or project selector for festivals, funding programs, screenplay competition and project markets such as Shanghai International Film Festival, Taipei Film Festival, YGIFF in Wuhan, Supporting Funds from BAMID of Taiwan Ministry of Culture, Taipei Film Commission, HAF, CNEX Chinese Doc Forum, TAICCA School x MPA Script to Screen Film Workshop and Pitching Session, and the Project Market at the One International Women’s Film Festival in Chengdu China. HUANG also works as a festival programmer occasionally.
Filmography as a Producer
2022 – Pierce (Singapore/Taiwan/Poland) – Pre-production; family drama
2022 – 96 Minutes, (Taiwan/China) – Pre-production; action thriller
2021 – In the Morning of Le Petit Morte, (Taiwan) – Pre-production; erotic drama
2021 – As River Goes By, (China), Pre-production; fantasy coming-of-age
2021 – Moneyboys, Cannes Un Certain Regard
2020 – Blessed Winter, (Austria/France/Taiwan/Belgium), China 86358 Short Film Festival – Best Film
2020 – Alikis, Osaka Asian Film Festival – Spotlight
2018 – A First Farewell, Berlinale Generation Kplus – Grand Prix of International Jury, Tokyo International Film Festival Asian Future – Best Film, Hong Kong International Film Festival – Firebird Best Chinese Film, Best Director, Hainan International Film Festival
2018 – Suburban Birds, New Directors New Films, FIRST International Film Festival – Best Narrative Feature, Locarno Film Festival – Filmmakers of the present Competition, Macao International Film Festival – NETPAC Award
2018 – An Impossibly Small Object, IFFR – Big Screen Competition, DC Chinese Film Festival – Best Narrative Feature, Rome Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival
2018 – Mama Pingpong Social Club, PiFan – Puchon Choice Competition, DC Chinese Film Festival – Best Narrative Short
2016 – The Road to Mandalay, Venice Film Festival – FEDEORA Award for Best Film
2014 – Ice Poison, Berlinale – Panorama, Taiwan entry for Oscars’ Best Foreign Language film
2013 – Amour et Patisserie, Film France – Producer of the Year Award, 3 Golden Bell Award nomination (Drama Series, Actress, Screenplay)
2011 – Return to Burma, IFFR – Tiger Competition
2009 – Baseball Boys, (Feature Documentary), Vision du Reel – Competition
2006 – Eternal Sunshine, BIFF – New Currents Competition
2005 – A Fish with a Smile, Berlinale Generation Kplus – Best Short Film Awards
2003 – My Wedding, 6 Golden Bell Award nomination (TV Film, Directing, Actress, Supporting Actress, Screenplay, Cinematography)
STORY EDITING
MMABATHO KAU
Script Consultant
In her 20-year strong creative journey, Mmabatho has worked as a producer, broadcaster (SABC, Kwese TV, TopTV), development executive as well as a script consultant.
read more
Roles that have harnessed her love for story and helping writers find their voice as storytellers. Her catalogue of work, as a script consultant, ranges from novel adaptations to politically potent films brought to life through titles such Kalushi: The Solomon Mahlangu Story and the sequel to Happiness is a Four Letter Word – Happiness Ever After. Mmabatho’s creative flair has also been injected outside South Africa as a consultant on the award-winning Lesotho based film This is not a Burial, it’s a Resurrection (Venice Biennale College Cinema 2019, Visionary Award winner Sundance 2019).
In 2017 Mmabatho was invited to co-mentor in REALNESS, a Pan-African writing residency. Beyond Realness; she has mentored on the Canal+ Poland Series Lab (2021), The Philippines (Full Circle Lab 2019 and 2020), Maisha Producers Lab (Uganda 2019), Jumpstart PRODUIRE AU SUD (South Africa 2019 and 2020), For Film’s Sake- Attagirl Lab (Australia 2020), The Pro Series Lab (Kenya 2020), BoostNL (Netherlands Film Festival/IFFR 2020), Dramatic Producer’s Lab (Ethiopia 2019). In addition to being a mentor, she has had the honour of being invited to participate in The Torino Script Lab (2018), EAVE (European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs 2020) and The Rotterdam Producer’s Lab (2020).
AYMAN EL AMIR
Script Consultant
Ayman El Amir is a script consultant and film producer from Egypt. He worked as a script consultant for many programs, labs and institutes…
read more
…including TorinoFilmLab, Doha Film Institute, The Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, International Marrakesh Film Festival Atlas Workshop and The Royal Film Commission of Jordan.
In 2016, he implemented MAHD Film Lab, a Cairo-based script development programme open to filmmakers working on Arab film projects and Arab-European co-production. As a producer, his latest work includes the short fiction, Fakh, selected for the official competition of Semaine de la Critique at Cannes Film Festival 2019 and the feature documentary Happily Ever After, which premiered at IDFA 2016.
HELEN BELTRAME-LINNÉ
Script Consultant
Helen Beltrame-Linné is a Brazilian screenwriter and script consultant with a wide artistic and corporate background. Helen graduated from Brazil’s most prestigious Law School and worked as a corporate lawyer…
read more
Lately factual credits include the feature-length debut Sole by Carlo Sironi an italian- polish coproduction handled by Luxbox. He is a member of Eave, Eurodoc, Producers’s Network and Berlinale Talents. He shares his expertise teaching production at IED in Rome and tutoring project in development workshop such Full Circle Lab.
CREATIVE PRODUCERS
LAI WEIJIE
Producer
Lai Weijie is a film producer based in Singapore and Toronto. In 2010 he co-founded E&W Films, a Singapore-based film development and production company, and the producer of POP AYE by Kirsten Tan which received awards at Sundance, Rotterdam, and Zurich.
read more
Upcoming projects include the feature debuts Taste by Vietnamese filmmaker Lê Bào – slated for a 2021 release through Wild Bunch International – and CNC Development Award recipient Mongrel by Chiang Wei Liang, developed at the Cannes Residence, Talents Tokyo, and TorinoFilmLab ScriptLab. Weijie has several years of experience as a senior programmer formerly at the Singapore International Film Festival, developing its film academy and overseeing its Asian selection. He has served on the selection committee for several fund bodies.
JURAJ KRASNOHORSKY
Producer
Juraj Krasnohorsky is a film producer based in Bratislava. He lived for 14 years in Geneva, Bilbao and Paris where he studied physics, mathematics, and film. In 2010 he founded Artichoke and released his debut feature film as director Tigers in the City (2012).
read more
He shifted towards producing films and in 2016 his co-produced animated short film Superbia (2016) by Luca Tóth competed at Semaine de la Critique in Cannes. As a creative producer he currently works on several animated, feature length and documentary films, such as the Eurimages supported 2D/3D animated feature film for adults White Plastic Sky (in production) by Tibor Bánóczki & Sarolta Szabó and animated stop-motion feature film for children Of Unwanted Things and People (in production), winner of the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at Cartoon Movie 2019. Juraj is an EAVE alumni and head of studies of the CEE Animation Workshop.
FIRST CUT LAB
BENJAMIN MIRGUET
Editor
Benjamin Mirguet is an editor, trainer, director, festival programmer. As an editor, he was involved in projects as Batalla En El Cielo by Carlos Reygadas…
read more
…Meteora by Spiros Stathoulopoulos, 40 Days Of Silence by Saodat Ismailova, Dau by Ilya Khrzhanovski, Deadweight by Axel Koenzen, The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers by Ben Rivers, Together Forever by Lina Luzyte and Rey by Niles Atallah, premiering in international festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam and Karlovy Vary.
Since 2015, he runs First Cut Lab together with Matthieu Darras.
In 2017, he developed and served as tutor for the Trailer Workshop in Istanbul.
In 2018, he was editing tutor for 5 projects in QUMRA (Doha Film Institute), a workshop dedicated to films in postproduction. He was part of the selection committee for Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2010 and 2011.
He also collaborated with CPH:DOX Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival programming team in 2011.
WIM VANACKER
Editor
After studying psychology in Belgium, Wim Vanacker moved to Dublin to work as a psychologist in the field of drug addiction. Three years later, he started studying at EICAR where he made two shorts : Endgame and The Naked leading the Blind.
read more
After graduating, he discovered NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema where he became the Head of the Script Department and the Project manager of the MEDIA funded project, European Short Pitch. He founded Sireal Films where he produced the VAF funded short empire and he’s a member of the Selection Committee for the Official Short Film Competition of the Cannes Film Festival and he works as a script consultant, creative advisor, tutor and guest speaker for many film festivals and projects in development. As a writer/director, he’s currently developing the short films [ˈsɪə.ri.əl ] and Psycho Revisited.
PARTNER
STAY IN TOUCH
