Central Asian Scriptwriting Lab (CASL) – Call for Applications

UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty opens call for young talented scriptwriters to attend the Central Asian Scriptwriting Lab (CASL), which will take place in the framework of the "Strengthening of the Film Industry in Central Asia" project implemented with the support of the Korean Funds-in-Trust (KFIT).

Description

All activities within the framework of the CASL project will take place in the Russian language.

CASL project includes the following stages:

• March 2021 – open call for candidates;
• April 2021 – selection of candidates (see the “Selection Criteria” below);
• May – October 2021 – 12 online lectures and consultation sessions (approximately session every two weeks). Each session will include the presentation and review of the current material of the selected trainees. The lectures and consultation sessions will take place on Thursdays from 19.00 to 21:00 Almaty time;
• October 2021 – final expert jury (pitching). All trainees will pitch the results of their work (synopsis, development of characters, dramatic scene or dialogue, or a presentation of the fully prepared script) in front of the jury composed of the representatives of some largest filmmaking and production companies of the Central Asian region invited by UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty. During this event, all trainees will have a unique opportunity to present their works to the decision-making professionals of the cinema industry of the region and eventually explore opportunities for cooperation.

Due to the quarantine and restriction measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, all activities of the CASL project will take place in the online format. The final jury may take place in the offline format only in the event of a considerable reduction of the pandemic during the first half of 2021.

It is expected that the selected trainees will use the CASL project as a unique networking opportunity and will develop professional connections, which will have a positive impact on the number of co-production cinema projects between the countries of the region in the future.

Only those selected trainees that have attended minimum 10 out of 12 online lectures and consultation sessions will have an opportunity to participate in the final pitching.

Selection Criteria

In total 20 candidates will be selected by the project trainers.

The selection of candidates will take place on the basis of a motivation letter, which shall include the draft concept (synopsis) of the script(s) that the candidate wants to develop during the CASL project, as well as the dossier, that may include the description of educational and professional background, the list of previous works, recommendation letters, as well as any other information found necessary by the candidate. All documents shall be prepared in the Russian language.

Applying candidates must:
• Be under 35 years old;
• Have minimum 2 years of educational background in one of the cultural and creative professionals (preferably cinema) and/or professional experience in the cinema industry;
• Represent one of the following Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The final selection of the candidates will respect the equal participation of the four above-mentioned countries and gender balance.

Submission Deadline

Wednesday, 31 March 2021.

Contact Information

Interested candidates must send all their documents to Mr. Majer Massanov – Project Assistant, Culture Unit, UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty via the following e-mail: m.massanov@unesco.org.

Only selected candidates will be contacted.

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