8 short film projects, 1 new and inclusive international further education programme—and a focus on short film: the participants of MASO #1 have been selected.
The mission: make the world of film and TV more integrative, more colourful, and more diverse The means of choice to achieve that: a genre which is an exciting and important art form all rolled into one. The MASO short film training programme, headed by Enrico Vannucci, was met with a great deal of interest: a total of 131 short film projects were submitted for the first edition of the programme, which is mainly geared towards under-represented societal groups and minorities. MASO was founded by the IDM Film Commission Südtirol, the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen BFFB, the South Tyrol/Südtirol cultural departments, and other partners.
Now the 16 participants have been selected: over the course of two workshops and various mentoring sessions, eight project teams will receive professional support in the realisation of their projects, all the way up to distribution. The support will be provided by partner institutions from all across Europe.
IDM Film Commission Südtirol supports two projects: The Freezer by the Nepalese duo Suraj Paudel (writer & director) and Abinash Bikram (producer) about a mortuary freezer which becomes the centre of focus of a Nepalese village and Firebird, in which a sexy Slavic firebird guides viewers through the hidden queer world of a small Ukrainian town (writer & director: Anastazja Naumenko, producer: Maks Piłasiewicz). The other projects include: Von Sinnen, in which Aria, a Black Austrian and young mother in a mixed-race relationship with a white partner, fights for her place in society (writer: Anouk Shad; producer: Melody Micmacher; support: Austrian Economic Chambers – Film and Music Austria (FAMA) and the Federal Ministry of the Republic of Austria for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport), and Lifescore, in which the worth of human life is determined by an algorithm (writer & director: Zorana Mušikić; producer: Laure Dahout; support: Ciclic Centre-Val de Loire). On Parting tells the story of Linda and Kleo, whose friendship shatters over the different ways they handle a threat they encounter on a night out (writer: Angela Regius; producer: Felix Bausch; support: Hessen Film & Medien GmbH). The Italian regional fund, Fondo per l’Audiovisivo del Friuli Venezia Giulia, will have the opportunity to support the project Howl, where Nina makes her sick father’s dream come true by venturing into the woods on her own to record the howling of the wolves (writer & director: Margherita Panizon; producer: Sarah Pennacchi). In Bunk Bunk (writer & director: Ane-Martha Tamnes Hansgård; producer: Rain Laurent; support: Nordnorsk Filmsenter), queer single Maren-Kristine inherits a bunker deep in the woods, where she discovers a lost part of family history. And in the surreal short film Anita cannot sleep (writer: Giulia Palaia; producer: Luca Bedini; co-production: Fabriato Film; support: cultural departments of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen –South Tyrol), the end of the world is near.
The first workshop will be held in late November 2024 at the FilmCamp Norway in Øverbygd, Norway; the second one will take place in April 2025 during the BFFB in South Tyrol.