Full Circle Lab, the Southeast Asian project and talent development program co-led by Matthieu Darras and Izabela Igel alongside the Film Development Council of the Philippines, is poised for a third edition. There will also be a particular emphasis on training for the role of producer, with the addition of a Creative Producers Lab.
The Labs will take place online with workshops from Sept. 20 to Oct. 1, 2021 and be preceded by the FDCP’s Film Industry Conference, open to a larger audience (Sept. 16-19, 2021).
The objective is to identify, nurture and support creative projects from the Philippines and Southeast Asia, across features and series, and at different stages (development and post-production).
Leading creative names from the Philippines and the Southeast Asia region including producers Jeremy Chua, John Badalu, producer-director Antoinette Jadaone (“Fan Girl”), directors Sheron Dayoc (“Women of the Weeping River”) and Bui Thac Chuyen (“Adrift”) will join with their latest projects.
Mentors confirmed across the different modules of Philippines fiction, Southeast Asia fiction, TV series and the First Cuts editing section include: Indonesia’s Meiske Taurisia, Singapore’s Sam Chua, Romanian documentary director Alexander Nanau, TV series producer Naomi Levari from Israel and Germany.
Previous editions of the Full Circle Lab had helped multi-awarded Filipino films like “Fan Girl,” which premiered in Tokyo and Tallinn, “Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story” by Avid Liongoren, which became the first Filipino film to compete in Annecy. “John Denver Trending” by Arden Rod Condez competed in the New Currents section of the Busan festival in 2019.
Among this year’s projects are some that have already received international project market exposure. “Dancing the Tides” was part of Cannes’ La Fabrique program. “Sam” and “Don’t Cry Butterflies,” were both featured in Locarno’s Open Doors section.
2021 Full Circle Lab Selections
Fiction Lab Philippines
“The Gospel of the Beast,” dir. Sheron Dayoc, prod. Sonny Calvento
“Killing Time in Manila Traffic,” dir. Paul Sta. Ana, prod. Dan Villegas
“RA 8491 or How We Recall Lost Memories in Transit,” dir. Austin Tan, prod. Stelle Laguda
“Rookie,” dir. Samantha Lee, prod. Geo Lomuntad
Fiction Lab South-East Asia
“The Beer Girl in Yangon,” dir. Sein Lyan Tun, prod. John Badalu (Myanmar)
“Life I Stole,” dir. Putri Sugua, dir. Cher Kian Tan (Malaysia)
“Penumbra,” dir. Russell Morton, prod. Jeremy Chua (Singapore)
“Picturehouse,” dir. Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo, prod. Bao Nguyen & Johann Chapelan (Vietnam)
Series Lab
“Change of Heart,” dir. Petersen Vargas, prod. Antoinette Jadaone (Philippines)
“Ella Arcangel,” dir. Mervin Malonzo, prod. Emmanuel Angeles (Philippines)
“The Rebirth of the Cattleya Killer,” dir. Tanya Winona Bautista-Navarro, prod. EJ Mallari (Philippines)
“You + Me = Infinity,” dir. Jurex Suson, prod. Gale Osorio (Philippines)
First Cut Lab
“Autobiography,” dir. Makbul Mubarak, prod. Yulia Bhara (Indonesia)
“Best of Show (BOS),” dir. & prod. Auraeus Solito (Philippines)
“Dreaming & Dying,” dir. Nelson Leo, prod. Si En Tan (Singapore)
“Glorious Ashes,” dir. Bui Thac Chuyen, prod. Ngoc Tran (Vietnam)
Creative Producers Lab
Carlo Catu, YATU Film Productions (Philippines)
Patti Lapus, Epicmedia Productions (Philippines)
Geo Lomuntad, Project 8 Projects (Philippines)
Jed Medrano, FBN Media Productions (Philippines)
Robert Rodriguez, ERK Production (Philippines)
Angelina Marilyn Bok, Xeno Pictures (Singapore)
Xuan Trang Nguyen Thi, LAGI Productions (Vietnam)
Jeanne Sombatwattana, Vertical Films (Thailand)