Opportunities for SE Asian filmmakers up for grabs
The Luang Prabang Film Festival (LPFF) is calling for applications for its 2017 Talent Lab for Southeast Asian filmmakers, which will be led by the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI6).
The Lab, which will focus on grant writing and project pitching, will be held during the opening weekend of the eighth annual festival, which will take place December 8-13.
Building on the first iteration of this Talent Lab in 2016, this year’s Lab will be expanded to two days, and include a pitching workshop and pitch forum with feedback from a panel of film professionals. A jury will select one project from the forum to attend the TFI Network market at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival (April 18-29, 2018).
Hosted annually by TFI, the industry market gives filmmakers the opportunity to build connections with a wide range of industry insiders who can potentially help them advance their projects.
TFI will then mentor the winning filmmaker or filmmaking team through the completion of the project. All participants in the Talent Lab will also receive preferential consideration for any of TFI’s grants.
Participating filmmakers will have the chance to win a financial award to produce their film. Through the Aurora Producing Award, Singapore-based media investment firm Aurora Media Holdings will contribute $10,000 to one film project.
The 2016 Talent Lab had 10 participating film projects from eight Southeast Asian countries and was led by TFI’s manager of Artist Programmes, Bryce Norbitz. At the end of the project pitching sessions, the Filipino documentary project “Beastmode” was selected to attend the 2017 TFI Network market, where its production team built connections and, later, signed with an American producer.
“We are honoured to return to the Luang Prabang Film Festival for the second year in a row to support such talented and unique filmmakers from Southeast Asia, especially given the lack of US support to filmmakers from the region,” said Molly O’Keefe, senior director of Artist Programmes at the Tribeca Film Institute. “As part of our year-round work erasing barriers of entry to the industry for underrepresented filmmakers, we are excited to support another LPFF project this year by bringing its filmmakers to our TFI Network market to meet with members of the US and international industry.”
To read more about the 2017 LPFF Talent Lab or access the Call for Applications, visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/18WEp-YwIUaXo56YDzJhiQ838C9LwVE7wynKNjgH7GLI/edit
For an update on the festival’s movies and activities, visit www.LPFilmFest.org or Facebook.com/lpfilmfest.
