The workshop involves group sessions and one-on-one consultations. Verzió DocLab provides a safe environment for all filmmakers to receive constructive feedback from fellow filmmakers and our mentors.
Through the first 4 days of Verzió DocLab, the teams of directors and editors work together with the mentors on selected scenes of their film. The process helps them defining their own cinematic vision and defining a narrative structure, while brings important themes and ideas to the surface. Verzió DocLab aims to provide creative and inspirational munnition for the in-development projects. The end result of the 4 days editing with our mentors is a 7 minute long scene selection that will be presented on Verzió DocLab Pitch in front of an industry audience on the 5th day of the workshop.
Verzió DocLab Pitch is the closing event of the workshop, where you present your project to festival programmers, sales agents and producers and fellow directors. DocLab Pitch is a unique opportunity to connect with the industry, create momentum and further develop your project within the international documentary scene. Verzió DocLab Pitch also gives out various awards for our participants, such as the Verzió Development Award of 1000 Euros. More info on our previous and upcoming awards are over here.
Verzió DocLab is powered by our DOC AROUND EUROPE and as part of our network we are looking for projects with first or second time directors or producers from/based in the following countries: Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland, South Tyrol, Spain, France, Hungary. Verzió DocLab is looking for projects by for first or second time feature directors!
The participation is free of charge and comes with a full festival accreditation. Travel costs are covered by Verzió up to 200 EUR/person and Verzió provides accommodation for each participant.
The select teams only need to bring their own editing computers and laptops, hardware and softwares for editing. Thanks to the support of Central University of Budapest, each team is provided with an editing room and additional technical equipment and technical support.
If your project is selected and you are a director editing your own work or if your editor is not available for the workshop days, we offer to pair you up with an editor or a dramaturgist from the Hungarian filmmaker community, thanks to our friends at MADOKE (Hungarian Documentary Association) and HSE (Hungarian Society of Film and Video Editors). This is not only a great possibility to find new international connections, but also helps your process of realising your vision and shaping your film during and after Verzió DocLab. This is not mandatory, if you do not have an editor, you can also edit your own film, in which case we suggest to have your producer come along the workshop with you.
Our mentors also provide one master class each year open to the international and Hungarian documentary community, focusing on case studies in documentary editing, directing and filmmaking. The ideas of our masterclasses are put into practice during our workshop, providing further education and support for the selected projects.