Five Feature Projects Head to Montenegro for Circle Fiction Orbit
Five feature film projects from women and gender-expansive filmmakers are in Herceg Novi, Montenegro, for a seven-day residential retreat that runs until 1 November, according to Deadline.
The retreat is the third Circle Fiction Orbit incubator, run by the Circle Training Initiative. An incubator is a closed workshop where film teams work on their scripts, plans and financing before a project moves toward production. The programme is open to mid-career teams developing their second to fourth narrative features, according to CIRCLE's call for applications.
The selected projects come from across Europe. Portuguese director and screenwriter Leonor Bettencourt Loureiro is bringing Por Este Arroios Acima, produced by Rita de Moura Santos at Grumpy Panda Productions. Georgian director Irine Jordania is presenting Nutsa.Love, set in Tbilisi and following an unlikely couple, with producer Elene Margvelashvili attached.
Dutch director Sabine Lubbe Bakker is working on Premier Souffle, produced by Baldr Film. Montenegrin director Katarina Bulajic is developing Leech, her first feature, about a woman who returns to her hometown. Ana Vujadinovic of Giggling Goat Production is taking part as screenwriter and producer. Polish director Marta Prus completes the group with Soloist, a drama about the elite world of ballet, produced by Telemark.
The lineup was chosen by Suzy Gillet, Jelena Miseljic and Ivana Mladenovic. The retreat is led by producer and screenwriter Bianca Oana.
Public events are also on the schedule. A keynote session features director Dea Kulumbegashvili, who will also see her film April screened as part of the programme, according to Deadline.
Why it matters for audiences: a project in an incubator is usually years away from a cinema seat. Films often take two years or more from first workshop to release, because the money, cast and shoot must all come together first. The people in this room are at the start of that chain, deciding structure, scripts and partners.
CIRCLE describes itself as a training initiative and network for women and gender-expansive filmmakers working in documentary and fiction. Its wider programme includes the CIRCLE Doc Accelerator and the CIRCLE Showcase, according to CIRCLE's website.
The retreat ends on 1 November, and the five teams will leave with their projects one step further along.
