DocLab

Project and capacity-building program designed for documentary cinema and theater directors.

Kundura DocLab is an international artistic project development lab in the documentary genre that aims to strengthen the creative research process for makers. The platform brings theater and film practice together for an investigative process to develop artistic collaboration and methodology in non-fiction storytelling.

This international program brought together cinema and theater documentary directors from Türkiye and neighboring countries for the first time in May 2023. Regularly curated each year with invited instructors of diverse backgrounds, the program creates a space for the convergence of different creative minds and stories from various countries.

Kundura DocLab welcomes all cinema and theater directors whose output is based on research. We believe that there is a strong interconnection between the two disciplines and aim to bridge them by exploring similar elements, overlapping innovative aspects in the creative process, and the form of storytelling.

Kundura DocLab is constructing a framework where documentary creators can share common artistic creation processes from an equal standpoint, fostering their creative worlds while enabling the personal development of their artistic identities. Throughout this entire process, we not only question and discuss the definitions of today but also explore the essence of non-fiction storytelling, contemplating the possibilities of creating new approaches. In doing so, we seek the pathways to “another world” by delving into the core of non-fiction narrative and discussing redefining the present.

When?

The third edition of Kundura DocLab will be held at Beykoz Kundura from May 25 to 30, 2025.

Application: February 3–March 7, 2025, until 18:00 (Türkiye time)

Announcement of selected projects: March 20, 2025

Pre-presentation day: May 10, 2025 (online)

Residential development program: May 25–30, 2025 (Beykoz Kundura)

*Successful applicants must attend the Pre-presentation Day

What we offer

Kundura DocLab offers a capacity-building program; gathering with inspiring workshops, lectures, and international exchange programs held for the third time in Istanbul in May 2025 to generate this creative and collaborative space. We will investigate harmoniously for a cutting-edge cross-disciplinary approach and offer an exchange for building up a curious ecosystem in artistic production.

Who can participate?

Kundura DocLab is open to every research-based filmmaker and theatermaker who is practicing documentary, keen on in-depth improvement of methodologies, and looking for self-development as a creative practitioner.

Conditions of Participation

Applicants must be 30 years of age or older.

For filmmakers: We expect you to have either 1 feature-length documentary film or 2 medium-length documentary films that have participated in an international festival program.

For theatermakers: We expect you to have 1 original production performed at either a national festival or an international fringe festival.

We value participants who, alongside a strong aesthetic approach, can enhance their analytical skills in their creative practices, express themselves effectively, and prioritize openness to sharing and collaborative production in their research.

Participants must be proficient in English, with an advanced Upper-Intermediate or Advanced Level knowledge.

Participants must attend the entire program; successful applicants will be required to sign a memorandum of agreement.

Artists can apply with their film or performance/theater projects at the early stage of development. They must present an idea to work on throughout the lab for the application.

The applicants can enroll from the following regions;

Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Syria, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and European countries.

Who are we working with?

The framework is designed with the consultation of Aljoscha Begrich and Bruni Burres. We will be hosting notable filmmakers, theatermakers and also researchers & anthropologists for workshops and lectures in our lab program along with many screenings and performances open to the general audience in the second edition of the Kundura DocLab.

Participation fee

Kundura DocLab provides accommodation (including breakfast and dinner) workshop training and passes to the ticketed events. The travel expenses must be covered by the participant.

Code of Conduct

Kundura DocLab aims to create a safe, sustainable, and inclusive environment of mutually acknowledging debate, dialogue, and exchange in which everyone is treated with respect and equality.

We at this moment declare that the selection process of the participants and the workshops will not include any form of favoritism, hurtful language, discrimination, abuse, marginalization insulting behavior on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion, background, skin color, religious belief, sexuality, gender identity, socio-economic class, caste, disability or age.

Bruni Burres

Bruni Burres is a passionate leader with over 25 years of proven recognition in developing and implementing innovative projects at the intersection of arts, culture, human rights, and social justice. She is an executive, producer, fundraising expert, media educator, and social media consultant. Burres serves as a lead consultant for the Sundance Film Institute’s Documentary Film Program, where she works internationally to strategize and deepen projects with individual artists and organizations.

Since 2008, she has been a mentor and partner in the Greenhouse Documentary program and continues to collaborate with its founding team as a partner and educator for Close-Up, an international co-production initiative supporting emerging filmmakers from the Middle East and North Africa. She also serves as an advisor for Doc Society’s Good Pitch. From 1991 to 2008, she directed the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, of which she is also a co-founder. Bruni is the co-writer and executive producer of Beyond My Grandfather Allende, which won Best Documentary at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and the co-writer and producer of Whose Country?, a film by Mohamed Siam that premiered at the 2016 New York Film Festival.

Aljoscha Begrich

Born in Belgrade in 1977, they studied art history, philosophy, and cultural studies in Berlin, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City. They have been collaborating with Rimini Protokoll for over 10 years since 2010, working with Stefan Kaegi on the Remote X project, which has been performed in more than 50 cities, including Istanbul. Since 2014, they have been serving as a dramaturg at the Berlin Gorki Theater, collaborating on documentary projects with artists such as Ersan Mondtag, Marta Gornicka, Oliver Frljić, and Lola Arias. Begrich has also worked on numerous public space projects in cities like Santiago de Chile, Tehran, and Copenhagen. From 2020 to 2023, they worked as a curator and dramaturg at the Ruhrtriennale, collaborating with Mapa Teatro, Mariano Pensotti, and Marco Layera. In 2020, they founded the OSTEN festival in Bitterfeld, focusing on exploring post-socialist societies and the challenges of living within them through visual and performative means.

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