ALTERNATIVA FILM Labs announces an open call for the Impact Lab_kg

Deadline: 05.08.2024. The Impact Lab will take place from September 26 to October 1 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

It is designed for producers and directors whose projects address socially significant and relevant issues: human rights, the environment, gender inequality, social conflicts, human tragedies. The Impact Lab will teach filmmakers how to promote such films and create roadmaps for solving the raised problems. Cinema as an art form can be a powerful catalyst for change, and our common task is to use its full potential to make the world a better place.

The partner of Impact Lab is the media company Think-Film Impact Production, which helped Alternativa Film Labs launch this lab in 2023. With expertise at the intersection of the arts and social impact, the Think-Film Impact Production team uses creative visual media as a tool to inspire action and achieve results. They have influenced politics and helped real people, their films have won Emmys and Oscars. Above all, however, they know how to develop and implement strategies to trigger real change. This year Think-Film Impact Production Founder & CEO Danielle Turkov,COO Amy Shepherd, and Strategic Advisor Clifford Wilson will once again train the lab participants on how to build impact seamlessly into film development, production and distribution for maximum social change effect and film success.

"Last year's Impact Lab was a great school for us — the organizers and tutors at Alternativa Film Labs. Each project and every participant in the lab opened up a whole world of stories, meanings, and challenges. We are happy that, thanks to the trust of our participants and the support of our partners, these projects have become known beyond Central Asia. We look forward to meeting new participants, new stories, and creative voices from Central Asian countries and anticipate meaningful and meticulous work on films that give hope and strength to each of us," says Anna Gudkova, head of Alternativa Film Labs.

The open call for the Impact Lab will run from May 13 to August 5. Producers and directors from Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan) can apply with projects of feature and documentary films that are capable of making a positive impact on society and the environment and attracting resources to solve the raised problem. These are professionals who have already made one or several films, interested in working with communities and mastering new impact strategies. The projects at any stage, starting from late development, as well as completed films can be submitted. The program covers travel to the Impact Lab venue and accommodation. Full information on the requirements for participants and their projects is published on the alternativa.film website. The results of the open call will be announced in early September.

Alternativa Film Labs are free educational programs, providing training both in filmmaking and social initiatives to assist cinematographers in strengthening their projects, expanding their audience, and sharing important stories that have not yet been presented on screens due to a lack of skills or resources. In 2023, the Alternativa Film Labs team delivered the Impact Lab in Almaty, online Pitching Training for producers and directors from Central Asia, and a filmmaking workshop for teenagers in Bishkek. Among the program's instructors and tutors were Margje de Koning, the art director of the international film festival Movies that Matter, dedicated to films on human rights and social issues; Danielle Turkov, founder of Think-Film Impact Production; Wim Vanacker, a member of the selection committee for the Cannes Film Festival's short film competition, and an expert in pitching. The winners of Alternativa Film Labs 2023 went to represent and develop their projects at the European Film Market in Berlin: Daniel Berger participated in the Fiction Toolbox Programme, Banu Ramazanova participated in the Doc Toolbox Programme, Diana Zhilkenova and Elar Nemat received accreditation to the European Film Market, and Assel Aushakimova, the winner of the Alternativa Impact Lab, took second place at the Talent Project Market pitching at the Berlinale. In 2024, Alternativa Film Labs will once again take place in Central Asia and will consist of three film labs: Development Lab (June-October, in Bukhara, Almaty, and online), Teen Lab (June-September, in Tashkent and online), and Impact Lab (September-October, in Bishkek).