First Cut Lab Trieste is a consultancy program designed for feature films in the editing phase. In January 2024, First Cut Lab will celebrate the 10th edition of its founding program, launched in cooperation with When East Meets West in 2015.

For this 10th anniversary edition, a sympolic focus will be put on Ukrainian cinema, one of the focus countries of this year’s When East Meets West. Moreover, First Cut Lab has experienced some of its most fruitful moments with Ukrainian filmmakers. From When The Trees Fall by Marysia Nikituk workshopped in Trieste in 2017 to Stepne by Maryna Vroda that will be part of Trieste Film Festival competition 2024, a dozen of Ukrainian films have been taking part in our Lab.

First Cut Lab Trieste 2024 offers the selected teams (director/producer/editor) a creative framework, both challenging and protective, where to open up new perspectives and to explore the whole artistic potential of their films. They screen their rough cut in a private session, and receive expert feedbacks from three international film industry advisors, as well as tailor-made advice from a consultant editor.

Consultant and industry advisors will be defined according to the profiles of the film selected. An overview of regular consultants of First Cut Lab can be found here: http://firstcutlab.eu/people/

Once the workshop is over, the participants receive a report & a roadmap that can serve as guidance for further editing. Eventually, the ambition of First Cut Lab is to enhance the audience opportunities of the films.