Finding the core of the story

Short Description

A workshop aimed at finding the core of your story with very basic means of filmmaking: a camera and actors. If your scene works here it will most definitely work later in the film. The filmmakers will focus on one key scene from their scripts and use recorded rehearsals to get to the essence of what their story is about and how to tell it. 

Finding the core of the story is an intensive directing workshop focused on discovering the essential dramatic and emotional core of a film through the realization of a single scene.

Working with minimal filmmaking tools — a camera, actors, rehearsal, and space — participants will develop and stage one key scene from their feature-length or mid-length project. Through recorded rehearsals and practical scene work, filmmakers will explore character dynamics, dramaturgy, rhythm, and cinematic presence.

The workshop focuses on the process of reduction: identifying what is fundamentally necessary for a scene to work before entering full-scale production.

Outcomes

Participants will gain:

• practical experience in developing a film through scene-based directing work
• a deeper understanding of dramaturgy, character dynamics, and cinematic rhythm
• experience working with actors in an intensive rehearsal-based process
• practical insight into transforming screenplay material into cinematic action
• collaborative experience with cinematographers and small production teams
• a completed scene for use in further development and/or project pitching
• professional feedback on directing methods, staging, and narrative structure
• tools for further development of a feature-length or mid-length film project

Each participant (or directing team) will work on one selected scene from their screenplay. The scene will function as a working cinematic sketch — a recorded rehearsal focused on dramatic structure, performance, and directorial intention rather than finished production value.

Participants will work closely with actors and cinematographers in a studio environment while continuously refining the scene through rehearsal, shooting, discussion, editing, and revision.

The workshop combines script analysis, practical directing exercises, collaborative rehearsal processes, and scene construction. The final day will conclude with screenings and collective discussion of the realized scenes.

Participants will receive a certificate of completion.

Application Requirements

Applicants should submit:

• a project description
• one selected scene from the screenplay
• CV / portfolio
• a link to a previous film work

The workshop is intended for:

• first feature film projects
• or mid-length films of at least 30 minutes

Communicative English is required.

Participants are encouraged to work with their own actors and cinematographers whenever possible. If needed, the school may help connect participants with available English-speaking actors and cinematographers.

Online introductory meetings may be organized before the workshop.

About the Tutor

Magnus von Horn is a film director and screenwriter born in Gothenburg, Sweden (1983). He has lived and worked in Poland for two decades and gained citizenship in 2022. A graduate of the Lodz Film School, where he is also currently teaching at the Directing Department. His first short films premiered internationally at the Sundance Film Festival (Echo, 2010) and the Locarno Film Festival (Without Snow, 2011). Von Horn’s feature debut, The Here After (2015), premiered in Cannes as part of the Directors’ Fortnight. The film earned him, among others, three Swedish Guldbagge Awards (including Best Film and Best Director) as well as Poland’s Paszport Polityki Award. It was screened at festivals such as Toronto, Karlovy Vary, and San Sebastián. His second feature, Sweat (2020), was selected for the official Cannes Film Festival lineup. The film went on to win the Silver Lions at the Gdynia Film Festival and the top prize at the Chicago International Film Festival. In 2024, his third feature, The Girl with the Needle, premiered at Cannes in the main competition. The film was sold worldwide, won the Silver Lions at the Gdynia Film Festival, received 11 Polish Film Awards (Orły), and earned nominations for both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.