CINEPHILIA LAB 2023
A FILM & TELEVISION WRITERS COHORT

Cinephilia Lab is a 3-month program that supports early career film and television writers and directors to advance their professional careers and develop their narrative feature films and television series. Cinephilia Lab is open only to Cinephilia Workroom program fellows. 

The lab is divided into three sections:
1. Group sessions: Screenplays are discussed collectively with the cohort and the mentors.
2. One-on-one sessions: Participants meet with the lab mentors and the script consultants individually.
3. Masterclasses with industry professionals such as producers, agents, managers, development executives, writers, and directors.

Eligibility guidelines:
. Filmmaker must be a Cinephilia Fellow and must have completed one of Cinephilia programs. This program is by invite only.
. Must be developing a narrative feature film screenplay or an episodic Television Series. (Project can either be in treatment stage or a screenplay draft).
. Must have at least written and/or directed at least two narrative short films that were released in the last 5 years. Must identify as early career.
. Screenplay or treatment must not have been optioned. Filmmaker must retain all the rights to their material. For IP based projects, filmmakers must have all rights cleared to engage in the development of their project during the lab.
. Applicants must fully commit to all the lab sessions.

2023 OFFICIAL SELECTION

MENTORS & SPEAKERS

Ellie Foumbi is an award-winning Cameroonian-American filmmaker whose debut film, Our Father, the Devil, went on to win 25 prizes at international film festivals and was nominated for Best Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. She's a BAFTA Breakthrough USA Fellow and was named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine. Ellie’s stories often explore pressing social-political issues within the African diaspora through a genre lens, aiming to shine a light on marginalized populations. She holds an MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts in Directing.

Rukayat Giwa is a Scripted Television and Books Agent at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Giwa is based in the Los Angeles office and represents many of the world’s leading writers, directors, producers, actors, authors, and production companies. Giwa began her career teaching high school math in Metro Atlanta, Georgia through Teach for America. She joined CAA in 2017. Giwa graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Producing for Film, Television, and New Media (MFA) from The Peter Stark Producing Program. 

Maryam Keshavarz’s first narrative feature fiction film, CIRCUMSTANCE premiered to overwhelming critical acclaim at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, garnering the coveted Sundance Audience Award, leading to Maryam’s inclusion in Deadline.com’s 2011 Director’s to Watch. CIRCUMSTANCE has won over a dozen international awards including Best First Film at the Rome Film Festival and the Audience & Best Actress Awards at Outfest. The Independent Spirit Award nominated film was described by the New York Times as “Swirling and sensuous”, by the Wall Street Journal as “Supremely cinematic”, and by the Hollywood Reporter as “Amazingly accomplished.”  The film released theatrically in over a dozen countries in 2012. Maryam's sophomore feature VIPER CLUB starring Susan Sarandon premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically nationwide by Roadside Attractions on Oct 26, 2018. In 2023 Maryam released THE PERSIAN VERSION, an autobiographical comedy about growing up Iranian-American  in NYC with seven brothers and one bathroom. After its premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, THE PERSIAN VERSION took home both the Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The film was sold to Sony Pictures Classics in February 2023.

Sergio Lira, Mexican-American and originally from Houston, Texas is a graduate of New York University and has always considered himself a storyteller. Most recently he was a Film Executive at A24 working closely with his team to develop their roster of films including SHARPER starring Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, & John Lithgow. He was also instrumental in helping set up WIZARDS!, starring Pete Davidson, Orlando Bloom, & Naomi Scott and the psychological thriller, A DIFFERENT MAN, starring Sebastian Stan & Renate Reinsve at the studio currently in post-production. Prior to this, he worked on the hit series THE HUNTERS and HANNA in the Drama Series team at Amazon Studios. He also previously worked at FilmNation Entertainment. Having gained a vast amount of experience in both streaming and indie studios including insight into theatrical distribution and international sales, he's now focused on building quality commercial projects across film & television from the Latinx perspective for a global audience.

Areej Noor is a writer, producer, political analyst, and entrepreneur. At MSNBC, she produced UP with Steve Kornacki, a roundtable discussion news program. Prior to that, she did a stint with Al-Jazeera English. Areej began her career as a researcher for the Brookings Institution focused on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. Her writings have been featured in the Times of India, Gulf News, and international editions of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar among other publications. After consulting for the World Bank, she founded Statement Films.

Darine Hotait is a writer and director. Named on Disney’s 2022 list of Directors on the Rise, Darine Hotait’s films can be seen on Sundance Channel, The New Yorker, AMC Networks, BBC, and at Oscar-qualifying international film festivals. Her work has received the support of the New York Council on the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the Arab Fund for Art & Culture, and the Sundance Institute. Darine has worked as a script consultant with hundreds of filmmakers and as a consultant for film institutions and organizations such as The Sundance Institute, the New York Foundation for The Arts IAP, Films Femmes Francophones Méditerranée, Students For Justice, and Women of Color Filmmakers. She is the founder of New York-based Cinephilia Productions, a film incubator championing the next generation of Arab and African filmmakers. Cinephilia incubated and developed films such as "You Will Die at Twenty" (Venice), "Goodbye Julia" (Cannes), "Their Algeria" (Visions Du Reel), "Snow and The Bear" (Toronto), among others. Darine is currently directing and producing the feature film "Tallahassee" with Condé Nast Entertainment and The New Yorker Studios.

Brad Saunders is a screenwriter, screenwriting teacher, film director, playwright, published novelist, short story writer, and freelance journalist with an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. His movie, The Lounge People, played in theaters internationally and on Comedy Central, and the Starz Network, and he currently has screenplays optioned and in development on two continents. His play, Detective Nicky Carruthers is Dead, garnered a national playwriting award from the University of Arkansas and was produced at the Powerhouse Theater, in Los Angeles. The Dorchester County Sheriff Department’s Annual Ball, was a semi-finalist at the Inner City Cultural Center’s theater competition in Los Angeles, and was produced at the Missing Children Theater, starring Adrienne Shelly, in New York. He developed and taught screenwriting classes at both the graduate and undergraduate level, at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California for twenty-three years. Currently he works online for Film Connection’s mentor program and as a screenwriting teacher at Pasadena City College.

SELECTED PROJECTS:

Project: Wander by Samah Fadil
Format: Episodic TV series

Logline: Wander follows the transformative year of the Afro-Palestinian Kareem family during the Kuwait-Iraq-US war in 1990 and the parallel storylines of the parents – Saeed and Sultana, and their children – Ramadan, Ziad, Faten, Hillal and Safe. When father Saeed is denied a promotion and Palestinians start being expelled from the Gulf, he sets out to make sure his family home is secure.  

Biography: Samah Fadil is an Afro-Palestinian writer, editor and translator who resides in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. Her words can be read in FIYAH, Palestine Square, Skin Deep, Mizna, and more. She was a guest speaker for Black Lens on Palestine and a performer for Global Indigenous Solidarities: a Poetry Reading, organized by Yale University Art Gallery in conjunction with Yale University Native American Cultural Center. Fadil is currently on the selection committee for Mizna magazine and served as content editor for the winter 2022 Black SWANA Takeover issue. She is interested in showcasing historically marginalized experiences through storytelling, poetry, and visual art. 

Project Title: Guardian by Sina Sultani
Format: Feature Film

Logline: In the near future, a grieving family reckons with the return of their comatose mother after downloading her consciousness into a teenage android.

Biography Sina Sultani is a multi-award-winning writer, director, and producer with selections from the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts Fest and CSA-qualifying Reykjavik Film Festival. In 2022 he participated in the Whistler Producers Lab and was recently selected for Paul Feig and Sameer Gardezi’s Break the Room initiative. Working with ILM and Sony on films such as Terminator: Dark Fate and Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, rounds out his studio-level experience.

Project title: Ceramic Tissues by Rimah Jabr
Format: Feature Film

Logline: Three women in the city of Nablus come together to find a solution for an illegal pregnancy of one of them. Things get out of hand, leading to undesirable outcomes.

Biography: Rimah Jabr is a theatre director, playwright, screenwriter, and Ph.D. candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at York University. She completed a master’s degree in theatre-making from the RITCS in Brussels. She wrote and directed several plays produced in Belgium, Canada, and Palestine. Rimah collaborates with visual artists to create performances. In addition, she co-wrote feature films and shorts. The short film De-Clatter-ers (2023), which developed with the support of Cinephilia Productions, will be her first film as a filmmaker; it will be presented at the Toronto Palestine Film Festival in October 2023.  

Project title: Work in Progress by Mira Nimri
Format: Episodic TV Series

Logline: The misadventures of ambitious but naïve 23-year-old Sireen as she navigates career aspirations, friendships, and love in Amman. Throughout, she experiences the bumpy second coming of age we go through in our twenties.

Biography: Mira Nimri joined the Royal Film Commission - Jordan in 2018 and currently holds the position of “Fundraising and Programs Supervisor” responsible for seeking partners to support the Commission’s filmmaking training programs. Mira was selected for the MEMI Screenwriting Program in partnership with the University of Southern California (USC) in 2021 where she developed her TV project “Work In Progress”. She also participated in the Cinephilia Film Development Workroom in March 2022 for her short film "Divine-ish Intervention". Mira holds a master's degree in development and international cooperation and a bachelor's degree in business administration.

Project Title: The Feast by Marwan Imam
Format: Feature Film

Logline: A man attempts to repair his life and leave a legacy by cooking a 5-course meal; each dish he cooks is a woman in his life in the journey that has led him to this moment.

Biography: Since 2010, Marwan has run the gamut of all kinds of film sets, and he is also a Co-founder and Content lead at Peace Cake, Egypt’s top content creation agency. He has directed over 35 commercials for Peace Cake along with music videos and Online Content. Marwan Imam is also a Comic Artist, Photographer, Stand-up comedian, and Musician. He started as a writer and illustrator of comics and graphic novels, as well as stand-up comedy, leading up to commercials, shorts, and Various types of content. This diverse background gives him a wide array of talents that help with his filmmaking.

Project Title: Futures by Jonathan D'Rozario
Format: Feature Film

Logline: A gay professional tennis player in the twilight of his twenties struggles to reconcile his dreams, both professionally and romantically, with his realities. When he meets a talented young tennis player and his two fathers, he finds an unexpected connection and sees in them both his past and his future. 

Biography: Jonathan D'Rozario is an actor, writer, and director based in New York City. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Neuroscience, Economics, and Theatre Arts, he moved to New York to pursue acting professionally. Some of his projects have been Gotham Week Project Market selections, Vimeo Staff Picks, Telly Award winners, and screened at film festivals globally. He wrote, directed, produced, edited, and acted in his first short film, Clover, which screened at prominent LGBTQ+ Film Festivals around the world and is currently being adapted into a feature film. He is currently in pre-production for his second short film, Sides.