International Call for Entries

The Experience is open to 50 filmmakers from around the world, with diverse skills in writing, photography, sound, music, and editing, who are open to work in creative pairs based on their shared visions and complementary knowledge, autonomy, and technical and creative skills.
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Submissions

Each applicant must submit their application form on an individual basis, attaching all the required documents. If a working pair wishes to participate together, they must submit their individual applications and specify the name of their peer in the letter of intent.

Applying as a couple does not imply that both applicants will be selected. Each profile will be considered individually.

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Selection Process

The selection of the 50 participants will be made by 3 professionals with experience in film and creative gatherings.

The selection will take into account these criteria:

• Motivation.
• Autonomy and technical skills.
• Relevance for the participant’s growth as an author.
• Quality of previous works.
• Interest in collaborative work, flexibility, and adaptability.

Similarly, the board will make the working pairs according to criteria such as:

• Mutual Encouragement and Learning
• Affinity in their approach on cinema
• Technical and Creative Complementary Skills
• Cultural Diversity

The participants will be notified regarding their working pairs prior to the workshop. Hence, they can coordinate previous online meetings.

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Technical Material

This is a practical program. Thus participants are required to have previous experience and technical skills both filming and editing.

Each working pair must be technically autonomous and have a basic portable unit for image, sound, and edition.

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Language

The group chats will be in English. Yet, individual mentorships can also be in Spanish or German.

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Health Insurance

Participants are required to have a certified international travel health insurance.

European citizens can request a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to Access public health care during temporary stays in other Union countries.

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The organization does not take responsibility for

• Arrangement for travel visas. Each participant must enquire about their Portugal entry requirements according to their nationality.
• Round-trip flights to and from their place of origin to the Azores, more specifically São Miguel.

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Payment Arrangements

Enrollment

To complete the enrollment process, you must pay a registration fee of €30 (thirty euros). If you are accepted for the program, this payment will be deducted from the total tuition fee.

Tuition Fee

The cost of the tuition fee is €8800 (eight thousand eight hundred euros).

Payment shall be made by bank transfer. Once the enrollment and tuition fees have been paid, there will be no possibility of reimbursement.

Although we do not have an internal scholarship system, we encourage each selected participant to contact the Film Centers in their country to request financial support for their participation.

These are some film funds that have supported the participation of filmmakers in previous editions:

Colombia — Fondo de Desarrollo Cinematográfico
Poland — Polish Film Institute
Hungary — National Film Institute of Hungary
Switzerland — Swiss films

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Enrolling in the program includes the following services

• Artistic Mentorship

Werner Herzog (11 days)

• Logistics and support crew for local production

• Lodgings

12 nights, from 13 to 24 January, in a single room, 3-star hotel or superior.
• Meals

Three daily meals for 11 days and 12 nights.
Coffee station morning and afternoon.
Cocktails for opening and closure events.

• Transportation

Daily routes available daily during location scouting and filming sessions.

• Preproduction

General reproduction resources identified in the region.
Actors Database: it will include an assorted character casting with availability and contact information.
Locations Database: a list of locations with pictures, descriptions, and shooting permits.

• Casting Payment

Each participant will enjoy a preset value of 4 shooting days for one actor/ actress. In case you are using two actors you can use the funds in a flexible manner, that is for instance 2 days per actor/ actress. The creative pairs will therefore have a supply of 8 shooting days to use as needed for the project(s) they carry out during the experience.

• Legal Production Structure
• Distribution

Participants have one month after the workshop ends to finalize post-production on their projects and submit the final copy with complementary sales materials.

The completed works will be eligible for the WERNER HERZOG DISTRIBUTION AWARD, selected by a jury consisting of the Werner Herzog Foundation, Extática Cine, workshop participants, and the Freak Distribution Agency.

The five most outstanding projects will be distributed by the FREAK Agency for a period of 18 months, and the agency will design an itinerary for each project.