The West Meets East Screenplay Lab, one of the key segments of the Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF), concluded on January 14 with a pitching session at FilmHaat Marketplace.
The four-day feature-length fiction-based screenplay lab brought together 10 selected projects from eight Asian countries, following an extensive open call across the Asian continent.
Organisers said the lab received an overwhelming response this year, with 167 project submissions from different parts of Asia. After a rigorous selection process, the jury shortlisted 10 projects and invited them to submit their complete screenplays.
During the first three days of the lab, mentors worked one-on-one with each participant to help them refine their scripts. On the fourth and final day, the participants pitched their projects to filmmakers, producers, distributors, and OTT platform representatives at the FilmHaat Marketplace.
For the fourth time, the West Meets East Screenplay Lab organized the event in a hybrid format, combining both online and offline activities. Participants attended the in-person sessions at Vintage Convention Hall in Dhanmondi.
The festival will announce the names of the top three projects at the closing ceremony on January 18. The jury will award Tk 5 lakh to the best screenplay, Tk 3 lakh to the second-best, and Tk 2 lakh to the third-best screenplay.
