LIM Less is More is one of Europe’s leading writer and project development programmes. For the fourth year, FOCAL is offering the chance for up to 8 Swiss screenwriters and filmmakers to take part in an intensive five-day screenwriting workshop in Switzerland. Two international tutors from LIM/Le Groupe Ouest will create a safe space and an inspiring environment. They invite the participants to tackle their ideas and strengthen them through theoretical and practical exercises.
The Workshop aims to help writers turn creative limitations into opportunities for innovation in script development. LIM enables writers to engage with emotion, structure and the power of the script's story at an early stage, before they enter the often lengthy development phase and even before they start writing. The more that can be explored and established before the writing process, the more effective the first draft will be.
The participants are also given tools and methods to release their creative energy, interact playfully with their intellectual material, and generate various story ideas. Participants will be supported in testing their story plots to see if they are worthy of being developed into a feature-length film.
The workshop emphasises exchange and feedback. It is not suitable for screenwriters who are working on a screenplay at an advanced stage.
Application documents (in English!)
- a one page-description of a project at an early stage or idea phase
- a 3 to 5-minutes video explaining why you want to attend and what your expectations are
- a short CV and links to previous works (1 page)
Please note: LIM’s programme and methodology have been developed primarily for fiction projects. Authors from documentary films are welcome if they want to work on fiction projects.
More information about LIM Less is More
Online Info Session - June 4th, 2024
People interested in participation had the opportunity to find out more about the workshop. The international tutors Nayeem Mahbub and Ralitza Petrova and the project leader Camille Ferrero introduced the method of LIM, the workshop programme and answered questions.
If you did miss the session you can watch the presentation of 30-45 minutes followed by a Q&A here:
https://youtu.be/3jnJFfgwgs4?si=s3PyJJPHx2avIO9Ohttps://youtu.be/3jnJFfgwgs4?si=s3PyJJPHx2avIO9O
"This workshop helped me to deal with my film idea playfully - in the truest sense of the word. I got to know a very free and lightfooted approach to generating ideas. The workshop is intense but worth it."
Jela Hasler, Filmmaker (Participant 2021)
Tutors
Nayeem Mahbub
Nayeem Mahbub is a Stockholm-based Bangladeshi filmmaker and an international script consultant collaborating with EAVE Producers Workshop, LIM Boosting Ideas, Ties That Bind and European Short Pitch among others. He has a background in film and video editing, working in both narrative and commercial projects. He started his career writing and directing 2D animation in his native Bangladesh, followed by a short stint as a producer for the BBC World Service. He earned his MA in documentary film direction at DocNomads. As a writer, he is a former participant of the main LIM programme, Berlinale Short Form Station and European Short Pitch.
Ralitza Petrova
Ralitza Petrova is a french-bulgarian director, film lecturer, and a script consultant at numerous international film labs and platforms, amongst them Le Groupe Ouest’s LIM | Less is More (France, Lithuania, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland), Ventana CineMad (Spain) and Creative Academy “Rabbit Hole” (Bulgaria). Her short films have won many prizes worldwide. Her feature debut GODLESS won 2016 the Golden Leopard for Best Film in Locarno. Since then, the film has won many international awards. Ralitza Petrova is a fellow of the DAAD Artist-in-Berlin Program 2019, where she developed her next feature film LUST, a Bulgarian-Danish-Swedish coproduction, supported by the Bulgarian National Film Centre, The Danish Film Institute, FilmiVast, and Eurimages, which is currently in post-production in Denmark.
