Berlinale 2019 – 3. Female Scriptwriter´s Residency @ EFM

It was great to work as a script consultant with the award winning screenwriter and director IVONA JUKA from Croatia (director of „You carry me“ on Netflix) on her new project during the „Female Scriptwriter Residency Programme“ of the European Womens´s Audiovisual Network (EWA) – a great initiative dedicated to supporting the next generation of screenwriting talents among EWA members.
It helps them to enter the industry with the best script possible by working on the strategic positioning of their project. Its purpose is to give a selected woman scriptwriter or director the opportunity to be mentored by the script consultant SUZANNE PRADEL, to work with her before the Berlinale and to attend the EFM at the Berlinale to make connections.

Photo: Anita Juka, Alessia Sonaglioni, Ivona Juka, Suzanne Pradel


Winner of EWA´s 2nd Female Scriptwriter Residence in Berlin

„Testosterone Story – The Fragile Beauty of Masculinity“, written by Andrea Culkova, has been selected for the 2nd EWA’s scriptwriter residency programme in Berlin.

The female scriptwriter residency program of the European Women´s Audiovisual Network (EWA) is a great initiative dedicated to supporting the next generation of screenwriting talents, and helping them enter the industry by working the strategic positioning of the project with the best script possible. Its purpose is offering to one selected woman scriptwriter or director the possibility to be mentored by the script consultant Suzanne Pradel to work with her before and after Berlinale and to have the opportunity to attend the EFM at the Berlinale 2018 to make connections.

Andrea Culkova is a film director, creative artist, pedagogue and mother of three. She received a degree in art education from Prague’s Charles University and later in documentary direction from the Film Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). Her feature film „Sugar Blues“ had its international premiere at CPH:DOX in 2014 and was screened at numerous festivals and sold worldwide. The meta-art project H*Art On was made in cooperation with the National Gallery in Prague and the Dok.Incubator Workshop 2015, and premiered at Dok Leipzig 2016 – Next Masters competition. Alongside „The Brainwashing Experiment“ it was included in the 2016 Camp4science program. Andrea Culkova’s background in fine arts is evident in the original style she brings to her audiovisual work and the unique interpretation she finds in each of her projects.

Synopsis: In the heart of Europe there’s a swimming pool where the water is almost completely still and the surface is just barely disturbed by the clumsy limbs of those who have been kissed by death. Testosterone’s fanatic riders have been brought here, the Kladruby Sanatorium, from all over the world to attempt the practically impossible – a return to life. To do this they must reconsider all their previous goals and accept the fact that the world will never be the same as before death’s kiss, but that even this is a triumph. Yet not everyone is able to understand this and not everyone will make it during their five-month stay in the sanatorium. After all, it’s the past with all its debts, mortgages, and unresolved relationships that mercilessly catches up with them here. Indeed, nothing tests a relationship more than the serious injury of a partner. And what about Adam and his wife, the rehabilitation nurse Štěpánka? How do they fit into all of this?