The Script Contest #5 held its final stage, PITCHin’ Day, on June 23, 2021, at MARe / Museum of Recent Art in Bucharest. The 8 finalists had the opportunity to develop their scripts within the residency held a week prior at the Biodiversity Farm – Cobor, where they received guidance from mentors and special guests and participated in peer-to-peer feedback sessions. Their program also included film screenings, live talks, and workshops.

During PITCHin ’Day, the finalists presented their improved scripts in front of the TSC team and the 3 members of the jury – Andrei Crețulescu, Bianca Oana, and Alexandru Baciu. The two winners selected by the jury are:

• Nu mânca dacă nu-ți place by Doru Vatavului (winner of the grand prize – a 6000EUR grant offered by the partner production house Castalia Pictures and the coloring stage of the film and the necessary deliverables from the post-production studio Avanpost Media)

When Oana is urged by her boss to work all night for the crucial presentation they have in the morning, she discovers a speck of dust that expands until it fills every corner of her apartment – the entity forces her to confront a repressed childhood trauma and reveals the way it affects her life today.

• Imperceptibil by Irina Ionescu (winner of the cash prize – 3,500 LEI, to further improve the script)

During a beach vacation with her boyfriend and his younger brother, Denisa breaks the love-fear cycle after experiencing a moment of domestic violence, thus setting out on her path to emotional resilience.

The 5th edition of The Script Contest had 67 entries of which 8 were selected to participate in the following stages: the one-on-one meetings with this year’s tutors (Andreea Borțun and Ana Agopian) and the 6-day residency at the Cobor Farm.

Launched in 2016, The Script Contest is the only residency-contest for short film scripts in the local industry.

For more information, check out The Script Contest’s Facebook page and website.

Since 2016, the Romanian Film Development Association aims to develop projects that support the independent film sector, to create and grow new communities of filmmakers and film enthusiasts, and to provide alternative forms of education and useful information about the Romanian and European film industry.

A project organized by ADFR (Asociatia de Dezvoltare a Filmului Romanesc) in partnership with Castalia Pictures and Avanpost Media. The 5th edition is co-financed through the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.

Media partners: Films in Frame, Observator Cultural, Revista FILM, AaRC, Cultura la Dubă, TANĂNANA.

The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or the way its results could be used. These fall only to the responsibility of the project’s financial beneficiary.

Melissa Antonescu

Writer, photographer and videographer. For Films in Frame she writes news about the latest happenings in the film world and brings to the readers' attention the productions that can be seen at the cinema. When she's not writing articles, she's photographing people in a small studio or searching for new cake recipes.