DIRECTORS VILLAGE 2026

Director’s Village is a 5-day on-site European residence training program organised by CineSud in collaboration with Screen Talent Europe partners which takes place during the Euregion Film Forum 2026 in Maastricht, the Netherlands. 

The Directors Villages objective is to enhance and develop the skills of the writer-directors and help them prepare for their next short film project. During the Director’s Village 12 writer-directors will learn and work on script development, director's vision and directing actors. They will learn from coaches during group sessions, take part in networking events, and help each other to further develop their projects.  The workshops will be held in English. 

 

Dates/Duration: 

• Director’s Village will run from March 18th  – 22nd 2026 
• Application Deadline: Monday 1st December 2025, 11.00am (Irish Time) 
• Selected applicants will be notified by Monday January 12th 2026. 

 

Course structure:  

Coaches for the 2026 edition are Netflix-director Sofi a Norlin (Sweden), multiple Oscar-winner Martin Strange-Hansen (Denmark) and Dutch fiction and series-director Janneke van Heesch (the Netherlands). 

 

Tuesday, March 17th

• Arrival 

Wednesday, March 18th  

• 10:00-15:30: Kick-off, Get-together Session | Directors' Playground  
• 15:30-19:30 Screening | Directors Village Special & Welcome Networking dinner  

Thursday, March 19th   

• 10:00-18:00: Group Session | Writers Room: Script Development 

Friday, March 20th  

• 10:00-18:00: Group Session | Directing: Find Your Directors Vision & Scene Analysis 

Saturday, March 21st  

• 10:00-18:00: Workshop | Directing: Working with Actors 

Sunday, March 22nd  

• 10:00-17:00: Group Session | Directing: Editing & Scene Analysis 
• 18:00-20:30: Farewell Networking Dinner 

Monday, March 23rd

• Departure

 

Cost:  

The participation fee of €1,000 is covered by NTAFT & Ardán as well as a contribution towards travel costs.  

The programme covers workshop, accommodation and catering costs for the selected participants.  

 

Who Can Apply: 

The workshop is aimed at emerging writer/directors who are developing a new fiction project. 

Applicants must: 

• Be over 21 years of age. 
• Be out of (full and part time) education. 
• Habitually be resident in the regions (outside Dublin/Wicklow) or who identify as diverse (please see our Diversity & Inclusion Policy). 
• Have already directed at least one short film. 
• Be developing a new short fiction project.  
• Apply with a first draft of a script of maximum 20 pages.  
• Only submit one short film project. 
• Be the writer or co-writer on the project. 

 

How To Apply:  

Suitable applicants must apply by completing the linked form link HERE

In this application form you will be asked to submit one PDF (max 5MB) document containing the following elements: 

• Tagline, logline, synopsis, genre, duration of the project (one page) 
• Personal Statement of motivation on why you would like to participate (one page) 
• Director's Vision (one page) 
• Short biographies of yourself and other crew/cast-members (if applicable) (one page) 
• Moodboard or Lookbook for project and links to screeners of previous work (one page)  
• Script (max. 20 pages) 

Note: If the PDF is larger than 5MB or more than 25 pages long, the project will not be taken into consideration. 

 

Deadline to apply: December 1st, 2025, at 11.00am 

 

Selection Process: 

Your application will be assessed by Ardán and NTA Film & TV with the final selection made by the Screen Talent Europe selection committee.  

 

Further Information: 

The fees are covered by NTA Film & TV Drama and Ardán, including accommodation, participation fee, catering and a contribution towards travel costs for the selected participants.   

Learn more about the Directors Village 2026 HERE

 

Participation in the Director’s Village is limited to eight talents across Screen Talent Europe partners: Ardán/NTA Film & TV Drama, CineSud, FilmCloud, Film Stockholm, GMAC, Mediefabrikken, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, New Noardic Wave, and Odense Film Workshop.  

Please email Kenny@ardan.ie with questions or for any further information.  

 

The National Talent Academy for Film and TV Drama is an initiative of Screen Ireland managed by Ardán.