JIIFF LAB
FOR FICTION FEATURE FILM PROJECTS THAT ARE IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT STAGE
JIIFF Lab is a space created to provide guidance to fiction feature film projects that are in the development stage. It is especially aimed at emerging directors and producers from Latin America who seek to consolidate their projects for an effective international co-production policy. In the latest edition, the call was directed at emerging directors and producers associated with a fiction feature film project from Latin America in an advanced stage of development, with the main production company being Latin American.
The lab was held in person in José Ignacio, Uruguay, and consisted of tutorials with international experts. It focused mainly on screenwriting and production design, financing and co-production policies, project design, and pitching.
After the tutorials, there was a pitching session before a designated jury that was responsible for awarding prizes:
- The CNC (National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image) Prize from France awarded 5000 euros to ADICCIÓN (Uruguay) by Leandro Barneche (producer) and Félix Pérez (director) for its development.
- The DGCA-MiC at Cinecittà Prize from Italy awarded 5000 euros to GALOPE (Argentina) by Belén Revollo (producer) and Bruno Barreto (director) for its development.
- One Industry Credential for Rio2C to participate in the Market was awarded to LUX PERPETUA (Paraguay) by Federico Adorno (producer and director).
MENTORS
Benjamin Domenech
Benjamin Domenech is an Argentine producer and founder of Rei Cine, a company that develops, produces and finances films, series and interactive content for a global audience.
His Producer credits include works by filmmakers such as Lucrecia Martel, Marcela Said, Luis Ortega, Valeria Bertuccelli and Benjamín Naishtat, amongst others. He is a member of the AMPAS/Oscars®, EAVE, IFP and the Argentine Academy.
Lucero Garzón
Lucero Garzón (Mexican based in Paris since 2000) has worked in different sectors of the film industry for more than 18 years. She was Pyramide's international sales director, in charge of exporting more than 100 films. In 2017 she founded LUZ VERDE, a Paris-based production company focused on co-production of Latin American films. She is currently working with Bikini films on the co-production of Ofelia (Juan Pablo Félix). Lucero Garzón has been coordinating the BAL-LAB co-production meetings at the Biarritz Amérique Latine Festival since 2018.
Julie Esparbes
After studying Political Science and Cultural Management, Julie Esparbes joined Hélicotronc in 2008, first as a production assistant. A few years later, she starts producing short films, which meet a great success in renowned international festivals. Gradually, she accompanies some of the directors of the shorts on their first feature films. In 2022, the feature film "Dalva", by Emmanuelle Nicot, was selected for the Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won 3 awards. Julie is also a graduate of the EAVE Producer Workshop 2019.
JURY
Alejandra Trelles
(Montevideo, Uruguay, 1974)
Journalist, film critic and teacher. Since 2009, she has been the director of the Uruguayan International Film Festival, organized by Cinemateca Uruguaya, which this year celebrates its 41st edition.
She has also been a programmer for the Punta del Este Film Festival, the Llamale H Festival and Cine a Pedal. In Spain, she programmes for the Cineuropa Festival in Galicia and the Malaga Film Festival. She has participated as a jury in numerous international film festivals such as the Berlinale, Karlovy Vary, Mar del Plata or Viennale. She is a translator and teacher and collaborates as a cultural journalist and film critic in various written medias, mainly the newspaper La Diaria and the weekly Brecha.
Gianluca Pignataro
Gianluca Pignataro is Head of Marketing and Distribution at Fandango, a film production and international sales company, which is also a publishing house and a record label. Fandango has unveiled many of the greatest Italian talents of the last decade; it has produced, among others, Paolo Sorrentino's THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE and, in recent years, some of the most important Italian hits.
Santiago López
Master in Audiovisual Production Design and Management at Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. In 2014 he designs and develops a new business unit in Oriental Films, dedicated to the production of film and television projects: Oriental Features. In 2018 he creates Cimarrón Cine, a production company where he develops and produces impact projects for the international market.
