12/08/2015 - Other mentors include Rebecca Johnson and Corrina McFarlane

Actress-director Desiree Akhavan

Filmmakers Desiree Akhavan, Destiny Ekaragha, Rebecca Johnson and Corrina McFarlane will mentor female filmmakers at a BFI NET.WORK Wales and Ffilm Cymru Wales’ filmmakers’ lab being held at Barry Memo Arts Centre in Wales August 24-28. There also will be an open session to stimulate wider debate across the sector on pro-active ways to support women in overcoming challenges to entering or remaining in the sector and to share their stories. James Bond producers EON Productions in partnership with Creative Skillset, CULT Cymru, BAFTA Cymru and The Welsh Broadcast Trust support the training event. 

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Akhavan is the writer, director and star of Appropriate Behaviour, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for Best First Screenplay at the 2015 Indie Spirit Awards. Writer/director Destiny Ekaragha was selected last year as a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit. She was also nominated as Best British Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival 2013 following the premiere there of her debut feature Gone Too Far! Writer/director Johnson’s debut feature Honeytrap premiered at the 2014 BFI London Film Festival, where she was nominated for the Best British Newcomer Award. McFarlane’s debut feature The Silent Storm, starring Andrea Riseborough and Damian Lewis, also premiered at the 2014 BFI London Film Festival.

The filmmakers’ lab will also include public screenings of Appropriate Behaviour, Gone Too Far!, Honeytrap and The Silent Storm, as well as a networking reception hosted by BAFTA Cymru.