– The new, Paris-based edition of the acclaimed editing programme will workshop four feature-length projects from Europe and Latin America at the end of January
Wild Horse in the Rotten West by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova
Tatino Films has unveiled the four projects selected for the very first edition of First Cut Lab Paris, its newly launched, on-site editing consultancy programme taking place in the French capital at the end of January. Announced in autumn 2025 (see the news), the Paris edition marks a significant expansion of First Cut Lab, opening up the programme for the first time to films from across the globe at the editing stage.
The selected teams, each composed of a director, producer and editor, will take part in an intensive workshop designed to refine the films’ artistic vision, enhance their international appeal and strengthen their circulation potential. Alongside the editing sessions, participants will also have the opportunity to engage directly with key players from the French and international film industry.
The first project selected is A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra, directed and written by Jacqueline Lentzou (Moon, 66 Questions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacqueline Lentzou
film profile]), which follows Jo, a wild and melancholic 15-year-old girl who has a cosmic dream. Supremely quiet yet bathed in visual music, it’s a dream whose details and nuances will mysteriously reappear as the day proceeds, even if Jo doesn’t notice. Indeed, her attention is focused elsewhere, on the choir auditions which she cannot miss, hence the fight with her moody mum, Eleni, who refuses to drive her to school, claiming she has no car – even though she does.
Next up, Guria, directed by Levan Koguashvili (Brighton 4th [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Levan Koguashvili
film profile], Blind Dates [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Levan Koguashvili
film profile]) and written by Koguashvili and Boris Frumin, is set against the backdrop of a raging civil war, where a local “beauty contest” becomes the unlikely stage for lyrical relationships to unfold: Zuriko, a farmer, meets Maya, a music teacher, while Achi, his son, competes for the attention of his classmate Eka. Kidnapping, surgery with no electricity, a funeral with singing and crying, fighting, falling in love, and friendship constitute the dynamics of Gurian life.
Meanwhile, My Letter to B is a hybrid documentary directed and written by Helen Beltrame Linné. The movie is a reflexive journey undertaken by a woman and an island over several decades, intertwined with cinematic fiction and governed by the films of Ingmar Bergman. A 20-year-old girl visits her dream island. A 24-year-old knocks on Ingmar Bergman’s door with a letter. A 32-year-old woman moves to Fårö to pursue a fantasy. A 34-year-old becomes the guardian of her idol’s legacy. A 37-year-old is forced to leave the island she’s always dreamed of. Twenty years after the first visit, she will try to reconquer her dream with a prefabricated house.
Finally, Wild Horse in the Rotten West, directed and written by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova (Women Do Cry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
film profile], Cat in the Wall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
film profile]), follows a mysterious boy who arrives at his new London college with a fair bit of baggage: several languages, a hairy appearance, wild behaviour and a proclivity for thinking outside the box. At first, he’s popular and is made a student governor. But then, he gets embroiled in his friends’ new ideas. When a Russian oligarch is about to buy the school – a welcome move to get rid of the previous slave-trader owner – he becomes a whistleblower.
During the workshop, the selected projects will benefit from the guidance of First Cut Lab’s regular editing consultants, including Catalin Cristutiu, Maya Maffioli, Benjamin Mirguet and Matthieu Taponier. The Paris edition will also bring together a network of established producers, sales agents, distributors and festival programmers, among them Olivier Barbier (Lucky Number), Pamela Biénzobas (Locarno Film Festival), Paul de Beco (Playtime), Lucie Desquiens (Charades), Virginie Devesa (Alpha Violet), Nicolas Kaiser (Paradise City), Emmanuel Pisarra (mk2), Anne-Cécile Rolland (Pyramide), Nadia Turincev (Easy Riders Films), Thomas Unterberger (Le Pacte) and Michel Zana (Blue Train Films, Dulac Distribution).
Organised by Tatino, the Paris-based hub for international film development, First Cut Lab has supported over 300 feature films through more than 90 labs across Europe, Asia and the Americas since its launch in 2015. With the creation of First Cut Lab Paris, the programme continues to strengthen its mission of supporting filmmakers worldwide while reinforcing international creative exchange at the heart of one of Europe’s most dynamic film-industry ecosystems.
Here is a list of the selected projects:
A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra (Greece/Germany/France)
Writer/director: Jacqueline Lentzou
Editor: Myrto Karras
Producers: Annabelle Aronis, Ioanna Bolomyti
Co-producers: Arda Ciltepe, Steffen Goldkamp, Andrea Queralt
Production companies: Avion Films, Atalante Productions, Kelek Film, 4A4
Guria (Georgia/Switzerland/Luxembourg/Bulgaria/Norway/Turkey)
Director: Levan Koguashvili
Writers: Levan Koguashvili, Boris Frumin
Editor: Pia Dumont
Producer: Olena Yershova
Production companies: Kino Iberica, Cineworx, Tarantula, Art Fest, Staer, TatoFilm/Asteros
My Letter to B (Brazil)
Writer/director: Helen Beltrame Linné
Editors: Marina Kosa, Amanda Paiva
Producer: Emilie Lesclaux
Production companies: Cinemascopio, OPar
Wild Horse in the Rotten West (Bulgaria/UK/France)
Writers/directors: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
Editors: Donka Ivaniova, Yann Dedet
Producers: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
Production companies: Activist38, MK38, Loco Films
