Script Pitch 

For eight years now, the International Script Pitch is one of the key program sections during the festival’s forum. The program has been inviting authors of innovative short films to pitch their projects in a competition in front of an international jury after an intensive week of workshops and coaching. CineSud once again was a partner of Interfilm Berlin. As part of the partnership, Frédérique de Montblanc was selected for the Interfilm Berlin Script Pitch. Frédérique  participated in the six-day event with her project Runway 01. CineSud supported Frédérique de Montblanc and Nicole Jachmann with the opportunity to visit the festival.

Frédérique shared her experience with us:

"Script Pitch was very helpful to me, especially via the online script doctoring sessions which really brought my story to the next level. I was so glad to be in Berlin to meet the other directors. Writing can be solitary and festivals are great opportunities for us writers to bounce off ideas and share experiences. The Script Pitch team was warm and welcoming. We had a good training before going on stage. By the end of the four days, we felt, maybe not relaxed, but definitely safe to speak about our ideas in front of an audience."

Winner Interfilm Berlin Script Pitch 2023

On November 18, 2023 the eight selected finalists pitched their projects in front of the international jury for the chance to win €2.000 from CineSud and access to the CineSud ShortsLab 2024 coaching program. The jury chose Patricia Geula Lumumba with her project Zêzere as the winner:

"Zêzere is a poetic journey through time. As the river moves through the landscape so does Beatriz. We follow her while she experiences loss and belonging. Patricia Geula's artistic and poetic approach and her talent for pitching the content and motivation in a grounded and confident manner impressed us as a jury."

There was also a special mention for Christina-Kallirroi Garbi and her project Kamikazi. 

Patricia shares her thoughts on winning this award and her Script Pitch participation: 

"I had been looking forward to participating in the Interfilm Script Pitch Forum. I knew it was an esteemed festival and that it would be good curriculum for me and my project, but then the experience turned out to be way better than I had been expecting. During the script doctoring sessions that were online for everyone, I got to read through all scripts."

"I felt quite honored that my project was among the 8 selected as each story was quite interesting, needed and embedded with the personal approach of each writer. It was an enriching experience to receive and give useful feedback in a space of trust. The festival facilitators (Rebecca and Nina) were very understanding of the delayed immigration process in Portugal, and so when we found it impossible to overcome the bureaucracy, we opted to make my attendance 100% online."

"They were very diligent, such that, despite being 2,500km + away from Berlin, I was able to do body training sessions, voice sessions and interact with the other participants in the workshops in preparation for the pitch. Though having a barrier of being moved through the room via a phone or laptop, I felt very much included and was able to learn a lot. During the rehearsals, I was shown where my pitch image and myself would be projected, so that I could be oriented with the space and routine of it. Naturally at the moment of the pitch I was nervous, but then I also had tools of support, such as breathwork, that I could lean on. After the first minute I was able to go through the pitch much calmer."

"It was a wonderful experience because when you are preparing for a pitch you go deeper to your story, analyzing and summarizing. Through this process you intrinsically come to understand what is at the core of what you are trying to say and with that, all the other depths of the project also become clear."

Patricia on her short film project Zêzere: 

"My short film Zêzere, follows 14-year-old Beatriz, Portuguese-Kenyan, during a melancholy bike-ride down to the river in the aftermath of her trip to Kenya, where the truth of her fathers past, came to light. It is a film that highlights some of the intricacies and melancholy of second generation immigrants and those of the diasporic world. Whether someone moves by their own will or a need to find new safe grounding; creating a sense of belonging in a new country often triggers an existential awareness within us. What does it mean to belong and what gravity does the past, present and future hold in this process?"

Patricia will receive the €2.000 grant from CineSud and also coaching in the CineSud ShortsLab 2024. We look forward to working with Patricia during our ShortsLab 2024. Patricia also shared her thoughts CineSud and her ShortsLab 2024 participation:

"I read more about CineSud after the invitation to participate in Interfilm. It was then that I began to hope that I would win the award as the description of the sessions in the ShortsLab felt like the very much needed next step for the project."

"The award brings international credibility to the project that in turn helps the momentum of getting the film made; a momentum which is often slow and arduous in nature. It also brings a network of possible collaborators and support onto the project."

"Scriptwriting is a joyous process for me as I am able to bring the complex world that I am intimate with into life. However, scriptwriting also has its heartbreak because it entails so much more to realize the writing into a film. Hence the CineSud and Interfilm Award becomes a milestone into the making of the short film Zêzere."