Cosmic Candy, directed by Rinio Dragasaki and written by her and Katerina Kaklamani, and, What A Silly Boy, written and directed by Alexandros Chantzis are the two Greek projects participating in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, starting today in Istanbul. 

Lasting until the 14th of May, the Sundance Screenwriters Lab is an initiative of the Istanbul International Independent Film Festival, created in conjunction with the Sundance Institute΄s Feature Film Program.  In its fourth year the Lab aims to provide emerging writer-directors in Turkey and surrounding region with the opportunity to work intensively on their feature film scripts with the support of established writers in an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking.

These year’s advisors include the well-known writer-director Rose Troche, D.V. DeVincentis, award-winning Greek writer-director Constantinos Giannaris and acclaimed Turkish writer-director Yesim Ustaoglu.

Films successfully supported through the Sundance Istanbul Lab process in the past include this year΄s Berlinale entries The Blue Wave by Zeynep Dadak, Seaburners by Melisa Onel, as well as 2012΄s Voice of My Father by Orhan Eskikoy, which premiered at Rotterdam IFF and won the Best Screenplay Award at the Istanbul Film Festival.

The other three projects selected beside the two Greek, are Cemil Show by Barıs Sarhan, A Small Mistake by Ceyda Aşar and Kendi Aramızda, and A History of Women by Ülkü Oktay.