Writing an effective synopsis and creating a strong trailer is a way to convince the gatekeepers that your film is worth their valuable time. Leena Pasanen, former Managing and Festival Director of DOK Leipzig, head of Biografilm and regular expert, tutor and lecturer of several training programs (EDN, Discovery Campus, EURODOC and Television Business School), tells us about how to make your trailer, logline and synopsis stand out and  how to get noticed at the international market as a filmmaker. 

Leena Pasanen started her career as a journalist in print media. In 1993, she joined the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE where she worked as a reporter, political commentator, TV presenter and the head of documentaries for YLE TV1. In 2000, she was appointed the Head of Programmes responsible for cultural, factual and fiction programmes in YLE Teema. She stayed with the channel until November 2005, when she started working as the Director of the European Documentary Network (EDN) in Copenhagen, Denmark. From 2011 to 2014, she led the Finnish Institute in Budapest, Hungary and served as cultural attaché at the Finnish Embassy in Budapest. From 2015 to 2019, she was based in Leipzig, Germany, working as Managing and Festival Director of DOK Leipzig. In January 2020, she took over the direction of Biografilm Festival in Bologna, Italy. She has been a regular expert, tutor and lecturer at several training programs, for example: EDN, Discovery Campus, EURODOC and Television Business School. She has been a board member of IDFA Forum and served as a jury member at several international festivals, such as Sundance and IDFA.

DocLab masterclasses are free and public, but registration is required as there are a limited number of seats available. 

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Venue: CEU – Nádor 15: Budapest V., Nádor u. 15. 1st floor, room 103