As you hopefully are aware, considering you’ve found your way to this blog post, for the last 8 months BFI Future Film has been running the Doc Next Media Lab. Now in its second year, the Media Lab is a talent development scheme for 21-25 year-olds run in collaboration with sister programmes by our Doc Next partners in Seville, Istanbul and Warsaw. We have been working with two film mentors to help 10 filmmakers push their boundaries and create new and innovative documentary pieces. Carry on below the line to find out more about the Lab and the films showcased…
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You’ve screened them where?
So with the BFI London Film Festival buzz starting to wear off, we’ve been reflecting on our own festival successes with films from the BFI Doc Next Media Lab.
As you’re (hopefully) aware, we’ve got some brilliant films under our belt now (check some of them out over in our Vimeo Album, the others are still hitting a couple of festivals before they’ll make it there!), and rightfully they’ve been getting some attention in pretty big places. Alongside screenings we’ve arranged or collaborated on at IDFA, Open City Docs Fest and across our Hub networks in Istanbul, Seville and Warsaw, the films have also been finding their own independent successes, both on and offline!
Yes We Cannes!
This year at Cannes the UK Film Pavilion, through the BFI, will be showcasing 12 short films from the Doc Next Network Media Collection!
The films will be screened between 12:30 and 13:00 on the 16th, 17th and 18th May, in three themed programmes.
Included in the programme are 6 films from last year’s Media Lab, so read on…
Launch of the 2013 Lab!
So you heard it here first – the next round of the BFI’s Doc Next Media Lab is open for applications!
This year we once again have Kwame Lestrade (Franklyn Lane Productions) and Phillip Warnell (Head of BA (Hons) Filmmaking & MA Experimental Film, Kingston University) to support 10 young documentary makers through 8 months of mentoring, workshops and industry visits. These talented filmmakers will receive a £750 bursary to support the production of several new documentaries, as well as career advice, skills and technique workshops.
The programme is intended to help these young filmmakers find their place in the documentary industry, whilst engaging them in social issues and striving for an inclusive public opinion of Europe. If you’re interested in finding out more about the Labs or applying, head over to the Ideastap Brief and read on!
Hello and welcome to the BFI Doc Next Media Lab blog. Here you’ll find a little information about the lab and regular updates from the participants during the scheme.
The BFI Doc Next Media Lab is a development and bursary scheme for 21 – 25 year olds interested in making a name for themselves in the world of documentary. With funding, mentoring, training and other support the filmmakers will be given a chance to experiment with what can be done within the loose confines of ‘documentary’.
The Doc Next Network in 2012!
As you should hopefully know, the BFI Doc Next Media Lab is part of a much bigger programme of activities run by several different organisations across Europe called the Doc Next Network. This means that as well as all of the work you see cropping up on this blog, there’s a whole wealth of other activities taking place.
Below the image highlights is a run down of the Doc Next Network’s work in 2012 – quite the line up we reckon!
More Than Just a Lab!
So hopefully by this point you’ve read all about the Doc Next Media Labs, but what if I told you this isn’t all we do? The Doc Next Network is obviously a much larger project, and you can learn more about it from the links in the blogroll or by going to the Doc Next Network Home Page, but here at the BFI we’re also involved in running more Doc Next Network activities!
We’re also working on the EU funded Remapping Europe project. This is a massive collaboration across all of the hubs to work on a publication, host a seminar, run 4 film remix ateliers and create a live cinema performance, all between now and May 2014! Remapping Europe aims to contribute to an inclusive cultural practice and public imagery in and out of Europe by working with young media makers who have (im)migrant perspectives from Spain, Turkey, Poland and the UK to wider intergenerational audiences. Sound exciting? We certainly think so! Keep an eye out for more information on that as and when it comes!
Anything else? You bet! We’re also planning a couple of UK based documentary projects, which will work with young people that don’t ordinarily have access to filmmaking resources. The first of these to kick off will be with a group of young travellers from the UK. Phil Regan, programmer for Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month’s Film Festival will be helping these young people tell their stories and help battle stereotypes that have just been heightened by TV shows such as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
Come October, we’ll then be working with a group from the Isle of Man’s Youth Arts Centre, who get plenty of theatre, music and dance opportunities, but have no access to video cameras to start experimenting with film! These guys will be coming down to London where we’ll run a week of workshops helping them devise, shoot and edit 3 short documentaries to show the world as they see it!
So as you can see – the Doc Next Network is much more than just this lab, and you can use this blog to access news and information about everything that’s going on!
Matthew Cuzner
BFI Project Manager, Doc Next Network
BFI Doc Next Media Lab 