ABOUT BABYLON
BABYLON is an audiovisual development programme assisting filmmakers of culturally diverse origin to break through into the international mainstream, with a particular interest in migrant and diasporic stories.
Frequently unrecognized, the stories that emerge from undiscovered talents of "double culture" provide the richest untapped source of storytelling across the world.
BABYLON provides a space in which these emerging filmmakers can speak to each other and to the widest international audience, providing access and inclusion.
BABYLON @ CANNES 2012
The 6th edition of BABYLON EUROPE, funded by the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund and the Vienna Film Fund, will hold its second feature film development workshop of the year in Cannes from 18-21 May, this time focusing on the market.
8 feature film projects from the UK have been selected for the annual programme, while a further 9 are taking part in the Diverse Geschichten workshop in Austria. Two groups of filmmakers will meet up in Cannes to work together on their projects as part of a mentored programme that runs through till October.
Full list of selected projects here.
Further information on the programme click here »
BABYLON NEWS
Mai Masri's film 3000 Nights (Babylon 2009) has been invited to take part in l'Atelier du Festival in Cannes in May 2012. Click here for more... »
Sally El Hosaini's film My Brother the Devil (Babylon 2009) will be released in Autumn 2012 by Verve Pictures.
MBTD screened in competition at Sundance IFF 2012, winning the Best Cinematography award and receiving excellent reviews. The film also screened as a Panorama Special at the Berlinale 2012 and was awarded the Europa Cinema Label Prize.
Read Sally El Hosaini's Q & A for Babylon here.
Review Click here »
Umut Dag's film Kuma (Babylon 2009) co-written with Babylon alumna Petra Ladinigg, opened the Panorama section of the Berlinale 2012.
My Brother the Devil and Kuma were both selected in competition for the E50,000 Best First Feature prize at the Berlinale 2012.
Two further Babylon-supported films screened in the LOLA section of the Berlinale: Abgebrannt by Verena S. Freytag and Baikonur by Veit Helmer.
Dima Hamdan's The Kidnap (Babylon 2010) recently won the development award of the Göteborg International Film Festival...
For the latest Babylon news, press and reviews Click here »
Programme Overview
Since 2010 BABYLON has run two complementary strands, BABYLON EUROPE and BABYLON INTERNATIONAL.
BABYLON EUROPE offers project-based training for teams of feature film Writers, Directors and Producers, aimed at preparing their projects for the international market.
The programme focuses on a combination of script development, production skills and market understanding, balancing intensive residential workshops with continuous mentoring by senior industry consultants.
Babylon's aim is to to build a successful and diverse pool of film storytelling and talent; to promote and strengthen cultural diversity within the independent film sector, and to provide an international platform for emerging filmmakers.
Celebrating its 5th year in 2011, BABYLON EUROPE welcomed 16 participants and 12 projects to its annual programme, with residential workshops at Rotterdam 1-4 February, Cannes Market 13-17 May, and a successful new event established at the London Film Festival in October.
Click here for selected 2011 projects»
BABYLON EUROPE is run by Scenario Films (UK). In 2011 the programme was produced in association with Mira Media (The Netherlands), Witcraft (Austria) and PlayFilm (France). It was funded by national partners Mira Media (The Netherlands), The Vienna Film Fund (Filmfonds Wien), Okto (Austria) and kindly hosted by the Goethe-Institut (Germany).
BABYLON INTERNATIONAL is a venture forging industrial and creative links between Europe with other continents.
In 2011 BABYLON INTERNATIONAL brought together 17 European and African filmmakers in a joint script development workshop in Berlin (May 2011) and production lab in Abuja, Nigeria (September 2011) where trailers for the features were shot and edited for presentation at the Abuja Film Festival. They are now available to view online at Babylon's new web forum World4Film»
BABYLON INTERNATIONAL is run by a three-sided partnership of independent producers Script House (Berlin), Scenario Films (London) and Ciné-Sud Promotion (Paris). The funding partners are the European Union’s MEDIA Mundus and the Nigerian Film Corporation.
Click here for more details about the selected 2011 projects »
Scenario Films, UK /Witcraft,Austria/ScriptHouse, Germany/Ciné-Sud Promotion, Paris/Mira Media, Holland/, Play Film, Paris.
