Boosting Ideas

©FOCAL

©FOCAL

©FOCAL

©FOCAL

©FOCAL

©FOCAL

Participants
8 writer-directors, screenwriters, creative producers with ideas for a fiction film (very early development phase only)
Date and venue
Sunday, 24 August (at 4.30pm) until Friday, 29 August 2025 (approx. at 4.30pm)
Registration/Application deadline

20 June 2025
Application documents see text

Fee
CHF 750 (including accomodation for 5 days in Bern)
Language
English
Organisation
FOCAL, in collaboration with Le Groupe Ouest

Boosting ideas is designed to support writers in testing and refining their story ideas before committing to the extensive scriptwriting process. It helps the participants explore the full emotional and dramatic potential of their plot at an early stage.

By encouraging a deeper look at their initial inspiration, the five-day workshop guides screenwriters toward discovering the most compelling story arc for their idea. Rather than diving prematurely into development, participants are given the opportunity to experiment, question, and strengthen the foundations of their project.
The workshop is rooted in the LIM—Less is More methodology and is facilitated by two experienced international tutors from LIM/Le Groupe Ouest. Through a combination of theoretical input and hands-on exercises, writers are introduced to practical tools and techniques that help unlock creative energy, interact playfully with their intellectual property, and explore multiple variations of their story plot.

Participants benefit from a safe, collaborative, and creatively stimulating environment in which they can rigorously test their ideas. The workshop ultimately equips them with the clarity and confidence needed to move forward into the development phase with a well-grounded and compelling story concept.

Application Documents (in English)
- A one-page description, outlining a project in its very early development phase.
- A 3-to 5-minute video, presenting your motivation for participating and your expectations regarding the experience.
- A concise CV with links to previous work.

More information about LIM Less is More


Tutors

Ralitza Petrova
Ralitza Petrova is a French-Bulgarian director, film lecturer, and script consultant at international platforms such as LIM | Less is More, Ventana CineMad, and the Creative Academy "Rabbit Hole." She studied film at the University of the Arts London and directing at the UK’s National Film and Television School. Her short films have received numerous awards, and her feature debut GODLESS won the Golden Leopard at Locarno in 2016, along with many other prizes. As a DAAD Artist-in-Berlin fellow, she developed LUST, a Bulgarian-Danish-Swedish co-production currently in post-production.
Bio Website Groupe Ouest 

Miguel López Beraza
Miguel López Beraza, a Spanish director and cinematographer, began his career in architecture and photography, specializing in post-disaster and emergency projects across countries like Indonesia, Nepal, and the Lesser Antilles. He later turned to film, studying documentary at DOCNOMADS and screenwriting at EICTV in Cuba. His first short film Walls won the 2015 Goya Award and screened at major festivals including DOK Leipzig, Sarajevo, and DocsDF. He also directed Jan Peeters (2015) and With All Our Cameras (2017), which won Best Film at the T-Mobile New Horizons festival.
Bio Website Groupe Ouest  

Proposed by

Le Groupe Ouest

In Partnership with

FOCAL noir


Focal is supported by
OFC