“The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is now accepting applications for the inaugural imagineNATIVE Script Development Lab, a writer-driven program that focuses on the initial stages of narrative feature script development within an Indigenous context. Four Indigenous artists in Canada will be selected for the lab to develop their project from a treatment stage through to a first draft of a feature-length screenplay.
The lab commences with a four-day immersive retreat on Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (formerly Whitefish Lake First Nation) in late May 2014, followed by four months of script development, and culminates in bringing first drafts scripts and the artists to the 15th imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in October 2014 for creative engagement. Selected participants will receive mentorship from national and international Industry leading creative advisors and an artist fee of $6,000 for the script development stage of the project.
Funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, this inaugural lab emerged in response to the recent imagineNATIVE report Indigenous Feature Film Production in Canada: A National and International Perspective that documents the rise of Indigenous cinema and reveals a gap in Canada when it comes to the creation of Indigenous-made feature films. Delivered by imagineNATIVE, the lab will be run by Cree/Metis filmmaker and former festival director Danis Goulet, and hosted on Atikameksheng Anishnawbek territory by Anishnaabe filmmaker and councilor Darlene Naponse (Every Emotion Costs).
“This unique offering aims to support Indigenous artists to develop their scripts and explore the parameters of long-form storytelling in an immersive environment that honours Indigenous practices and perspectives,” effuses imagineNATIVE’s Executive Director Jason Ryle. “We sincerely appreciate the support of the Canada Council for the Arts in this new initiative, and look forward to this year’s entries.”
The program is open to Indigenous (First Nations, Metis,and Inuit) artists and non-Canadian Indigenous artists with Canadian Citizenship or those with official residency status within Canada. Applications are now being accepted. The application deadline is May 7, 2014 at 6 p.m. EST.
For full application and program guidelines, visit: HERE
For more information on the lab, please contact:
Danis Goulet, labs@imagineNATIVE.org“
Posted with permission from Danis Goulet, ImagineNATIVE
www.imaginenative.org
