During the opening day, participants and screenwriters met with the program’s six international mentors to introduce themselves, present their projects, and discuss their creative directions. This initial step serves as a crucial foundation for mentors and participants to connect ahead of their collaborative journey in the coming days.
A key highlight of the first day was the announcement of the project assignments for each mentor. The Organizing Committee carefully synchronized these assignments based on the core nature of each screenplay and the specific expertise of each mentor to maximize the effectiveness of the consultation sessions.
Accordingly, mentors Phillip Van (screenwriter) and Kristy Lowrey (screenwriter and producer) will guide genre film projects. Mentor Sabrina Dhawan (screenwriter and professor) will support projects characterized by epic scale, emotional depth, and female perspectives, particularly those centered on female protagonists. Meanwhile, mentor Anthony Chen (screenwriter, director, and producer) will focus on helping projects refine character arcs while sharing practical insights drawn from his extensive experience as a director and producer.
The one-on-one working sessions between mentors and individual writers officially commenced the same afternoon. Each consultation is built upon a spirit of openness and respect for the writer's creative voice, aiming to identify the most suitable development path for each project rather than imposing a rigid formula.
“Find the Story Beneath the Story” serves as the overarching philosophy for this year's DANAFF Script Lab.
While every screenplay already possesses a plot, characters, and conflict, there always lies a deeper layer of meaning underneath - an unanswered question, a memory, an ambition, or a personal reflection of the writer. Through the guidance of the mentors, the Script Lab aims to help writers uncover this "story beneath the story," thereby developing works that are more authentic, profound, and resonant.
With the first dialogues now underway, an inspiring creative journey has officially begun, promising to propel these Vietnamese film projects to new heights.
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