The first four days of the workshop involve group sessions, individual mentoring, editing and preparation for the pitch session that takes place on the final, fifth day of the workshop. The teams will present their projects to a group of international decisionmakers and receive feedback in the frame of one-on-one meetings. Verzió DocLab provides a safe environment for all filmmakers to receive constructive feedback from fellow filmmakers, experienced professionals such as festivals, funds, producers and sales agents.

The teams of directors, editors and producers work together with the mentors on selected scenes of their film. The process helps them define their own cinematic vision and a narrative structure, while bringing important themes and ideas to the surface. Verzió DocLab aims to provide creative and inspirational munition for the in-development projects. The end result of the 4 days of editing with our mentors is a max. 7-minute-long scene, or two shorter scenes that will be presented in front of an industry audience on the 5th day of the workshop. It is a great opportunity to connect with the industry, create momentum and receive professional feedback to further develop your project within the international documentary scene. Verzió’s partners also give out various awards.

Verzió DocLab’s main sponsor is the Creative Europe Media programme through the DOC AROUND EUROPE festival network. We are looking for applicants from the countries represented in the network, first or second time directors from/based in the following countries: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Tyrol, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey. In solidarity with filmmakers from Ukraine and Georgia, Verzió DocLab also welcomes applications from these countries.

The participation fee for one person is 200 euros. The fee covers mentoring, travel and accommodation costs and lunches during the workshop. Ukrainian and Georgian projects, if selected, enjoy full fee waiver. As part of our commitment to support critical voices from Hungary, Hungarian projects’ participation fee is 50 EUR per person. This support covers mentoring and lunches during the workshop.

The select teams only need to bring their own editing computers and/or laptops, hardware and software for editing. Thanks to the co-organizer of Verzió, the Central European University in Budapest, each team is provided with an editing room and additional technical equipment and technical support.