HamptonsFilm Names Participants for Its 2024 Screenwriters Lab

HamptonsFilm, home of Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF), has announced the selected fellows, screenplays and mentors for the 24th edition of the annual Screenwriters Lab, which runs April 5 to 7 and pairs rising screenwriters with established screenwriters, directors, and creative-producers for a weekend of one-on-one mentoring sessions.

The three selected screenplays for this year’s lab are: “Pygmalion” by Agnes Skonare; “Little Phnom Penh” by Chheangkea; and “Diary of a Muslim Cynic” by Sarah Mokh.

“In considering selections from this year’s record number of submissions, these three projects really stood out with their distinctive voices and unique approaches to storytelling,” said David Nugent, HIFF’s artistic director. “We are also honored to have three artists who have all exhibited work at our festival return to mentor these emerging artists.”

This year’s mentors include: filmmaker and actor Michael Covino, whose work includes his feature directorial debut “The Climb,” which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best First Feature at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards; director, screenwriter and producer Bart Freundlich, known for his 1997 Sundance Film Festival hit “The Myth of Fingerprints,” starring Julianne Moore; and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and filmmaker Celine Song, whose critically-acclaimed feature directorial debut “Past Lives” was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the 96th Academy Awards. Song is an alumni of the Hamptons International Film Festival and was awarded the festival’s Breakthrough Artist Award at the 31st edition in October 2023.

HamptonsFilm will present one of the participating screenplays with the 2024 Melissa Mathison Award. The award was established in 2016 and named for the late, beloved Oscar-nominated screenwriter, and strives to foster the continued development of female writers in the industry. The 2024 Melissa Mathison Award recipient will receive access to a casting director and a staged reading of their project in New York City.

For more information on Screenwriters Lab, visit hamptonsfilm.org. Information on year-round programming, including the upcoming 16th annual SummerDocs documentary showcase and the Summer Outdoor Screening Series, will be announced at a later date. The 32nd annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place this year from October 4 to 14.