As a Europe-based initiative, First Cut Lab most often runs activities designed with and for European filmmakers. Reaching out to other cinemas of the world is something that excites us tremendously though!

After a successful first experience in the Philippines in 2019, our editing consultancy workshop is delighted to announce two new prestigious collaborations that constitute a milestone for our international activities. We are much honored to partner with the Doha Film Institute and the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal, and to deliver Labs that will support films respectively from the Middle East and Canada.

First Cut Lab Doha is designed for three feature films (fiction/documentary) and one short film in editing phase from Qatar or the MENA region.
Advisers have already been confirmed to be Sata Cissokho of Memento Films, producer Myriam Sassine and Visions du Réel’s Co-Head of Industry Gudula Meinzolt. We will also collaborate for the first time with a new consultant editor; Chilean Sebastian Sepúlveda. Read all details about the call for applications here.

First Cut Lab FNC, presented by Netflix, will invite three Canadian projects as part of the 49th edition of Festival du nouveau cinéma taking place from October 7 to 18 in Montréal.
Festival director Nicolas Girard Deltruc comments on the new partnership: “Thanks to this new initiative, the Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal is happy to be able to offer its support to filmmakers whose films have been stuck in post-production due to the COVID-19 crisis”. Submissions for First Cut Lab FNC will open in early June.

You can read the exclusive coverage of these partnerships in Screen Daily here.