Almaty Film Lab

REGULATIONS PITCHING OF ALMATY FILM LAB PROJECTS WITHIN THE 11th BASTAU INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AND DEBUT FILM FESTIVAL

GENERAL INFORMATION

ALMATY FILM LAB is organized as part of the 11th Bastau International Student and Debut film festival in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 12 to 16 December 2023. It provides young filmmakers with a fantastic opportunity to learn from the world’s and national key film industry players during the festival. This year the Lab will take place in person in the form of the Pitching on a competitive basis before the members of the Pitching Jury and a series of workshops.
The Lab invites young directors, producers and screenwriters to apply for this unique chance to discuss their projects and ideas with a selection of invited industry professionals including producers, script doctors, story editors and financiers, develop the projects and get the financing for the production of one short fiction and one short doc film with its further presentation at the 12th Bastau IFF.

SELECTION PROCESS

• 14 film directors from Kazakhstan will be selected to take part in ALMATY FILM LAB:
7 short fiction projects
7 short doc projects
• Selected participants will be notified by December 11th, 2023 at the latest.
• Unsuccessful applicants will be informed as soon as possible. Bastau Film Lab regrets that we will not be able to discuss the reasons why an applicant is not selected.

Who can apply?
• This programme is open to all filmmakers (citizens of Kazakhstan) who haven’t made their first full length feature film.
• Complete the online application form.
During the application process, you will need to provide:
• CV (max. 3000 characters) outlining your professional experience and achievements, including filmography.
• Synopsis (max. 3000 characters) of your current project.
• Reasons why you want to take part in ALMATY Film Lab and how a place this year would support your professional development.
No information submitted will be returned.
Deadline: The application deadline is 23 on Sunday 9th December 2023.

Preliminary selection of projects for Pitching is carried out by the Selection Committee of the festival.
Participation in Pitching is full-time in Kazakh/Russian/English languages.
Members of the Pitching Jury and mentors during the festival will hold a series of trainings, panel discussions, master classes and lectures on topical issues related to the projects.
All applicants will be divided into two groups (fiction and doc) having its own mentor.
The pitching session is free for all registered guests.
Pitching participants guarantee that they have all the powers (possession of exclusive rights or the appropriate permission of the copyright holder) to provide materials for participation in Pitching. Responsibility for possible claims and lawsuits of third parties related to copyright and related rights lies with the Pitching participant who sent his/her application. In the event of claims from third parties regarding ownership of the rights to projects submitted for Pitching the Festival Organizing Committee reserves the right to remove the participant’s project from consideration until all circumstances are clarified.

The LAB will last for three days:
DAY 1 – training with the mentors, meetings with film professionals;
DAY 2 – rehearsal of the pitching;
DAY 3 – open pitching.

The total duration of the presentation of each project is no more than 5 minutes.
Discussion of the project and questions after the presentation after the presentation no more than 10 minutes.
The Pitching Jury determines the best presentation of the projects.
The main cash prize in the amount of 4 000 000 (four million) tenge is awarded to the winning short fiction project;
The main cash prize in the amount of 3 000 000 (three million) tenge is awarded to the winning short doc project;
Pitching results are published on the Festival website and in the media.
All films should be produced within 2024.