The Institut Valencià de Cultura and the association Dona i Cinema, which organises a festival of the same name, announced the launch of the “Programa Atenea” for young women directors.
It was created out of a need to help women who are either completing their studies or newly graduated, and who want to work in films. Valencia’s four main universities participate in the programme. Five projects under development – two dramas, two documentaries and one of animation – will be selected from the applications submitted by these universities. The five chosen projects will be announced in March 2019.
Beginning in April 2019, the programme will be a series of personalised workshops given by broadcasting professionals with expertise covering every area of film-making, from writing the script to production and of course directing. The workshops will guide, advise and improve the viability of the projects in development.
The “Programa Atenea” will close with a pitching session, so the directors who participated in the programme can present their projects to producers in Valencia.
“If all goes well” the director of the Dona i Cinema festival would like “to export [the programme] at a national or European level.” It has been created with the support of the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA) and Eurimages, the cultural fund of the Council of Europe.
Sources: http://comunicacion.umh.es, https://www.lavanguardia.com
