Organisers of Ex Oriente Film, an international project-based 3-part training program and creative laboratory for both established and emerging film professionals and talented storytellers which supports the development and funding of “exceptional, creative documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe” has put out the call for submissions to its 2023 workshop. The deadline is April 14 2023.
Ex Oriente Film 2023 offers “a tailor-made training for the development of your feature-length documentary project or documentary series project with support and mentoring from over 30 renowned filmmakers and international industry experts,” write organisers. For the first time, the workshop will also offer a special training program designed for development of factual documentary series projects.
“The demand for documentary series has been on the rise for several years, and we have decided that, as well as connecting creators, producers with commissioners and financiers, there is need to fill the gap in the training offer for creative docu-series projects, especially originating from the Central and Eastern territories,” says Ivana Pauerová Miloševičová, one of Ex Oriente Film lead tutors.
The call is open to creative feature-length documentary projects and creative documentary series projects in development and early production stage, “which challenge genres, formats, and media boundaries.” The workshop includes 12 documentary feature-length projects and 5 documentary series projects represented by director-producer or creator-producer teams who will attend 3 residential sessions and additional online sessions.
“Workshop participants will receive assistance from over 30 leading European experts, obtain key international contacts, and become a part of a network of over 540 European professionals that have attended the Ex Oriente Film workshop in the past 20 years and will have the opportunity to partake in the Ex Oriente Film Follow-Up Programme, a year-long chain of continuous support, peer to peer and mentoring activities,” write organisers.
The Ex Oriente Film 2023 workshop’s leading tutors are producer and consultant Iikka Vehkalahti (Finland), director and script editor Ivana Pauerová Miloševičová (Czech Republic), director and producer Filip Remunda (Czech Republic) and Ruth Reid (United Kingdom).
Ex Oriente Feature Workshop Timeline
- 1st session: June 16 – 20, 2023: Sunny Side of the Doc, La Rochelle, France
- 2nd session: October 2023: DOK Leipzig, Germany
- 3rd session: March 2024: East Doc Platform, Prague, Czech Republic – in partnership with One World Film IHRDFF
Ex Oriente Series Workshop Timeline
- 1st Session: June 17-19, 2023: Sunny Side of the Doc, La Rochelle, France
- 2nd session: October 2023: DOK Leipzig, Germany
- 3rd session: March 2024: East Doc Platform, Prague, Czech Republic – in partnership with One World IHRDFF
The training program will culminate at the East Doc Forum pitching, where participants will present their projects to more than 80 international decision-makers. Additionally, participants will have an opportunity to gain a wide range of prizes and scholarships in the form of direct financial support, co-production agreements, access to leading European markets, and partner training.
Partners on the Ex Oriente workshop are Sunny Side of the Doc, DOK Leipzig, One World IHRDFF, American Film Showcase and Ciclic.
