March 16-21, 2026
Screenwriting and Pitch Lab for Documentaries
The lab will be divided into two groups.
The LAB will be divided into two groups, one focused on developing storylines and the other focused on presenting the project in pitch format. A total of 16 projects will be selected, with 8 projects in each group.
SCRIPT LAB
Focused on scriptwriting for documentaries.
For projects in a less advanced stage of development, with little visual material collected, which require work on the project argument and other texts, without participating in the pitch session, but with the possibility of scheduling meetings with players present at the festival.
PITCH LAB
Focused on public presentation of projects in a pitch session.
For projects in a slightly more advanced stage of development, which already have a teaser (required for project registration) and that work will focus on presenting the project in a pitch session on the last day of the lab, to players present at the festival.
SCRIPT LAB
DAY 01
Projects presentation and brainstorming session (30 minutes for each project).
DAY 02
Examples of arguments, synopses, justifications, and approaches provided by the tutors. Detailed description of what should be included in each item.
DAY 03
Individualized analysis of the texts for each project and time allotted for participants to work with these texts.
DAY 04
Participants will work on their texts with tutors available for individual feedback.
DAY 05
Final considerations regarding the projects. Participation in meetings with stakeholders.
SCRIPT LAB TUTORS
Leonor Areal
Leonor Areal holds a PhD in Communication Sciences from the Nova University of Lisbon. She has directed several documentaries, including Geração Feliz (2000), Fora da Lei (2006) and Onde está o Pessoa? (2023). She is a professor at the School of Arts and Design in Caldas da Rainha.
Catarina Alves Costa
Catarina Alves Costa is a filmmaker and anthropologist. She directed the films Orlando Pantera (2025), Margot (2022), Pedra e Cal (2016), among others. She is a professor at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in the areas of Visual Anthropology and Cinema. Currently, she directs the Research Centre in Anthropology, CRIA.
PITCH LAB
DAY 01
Project Presentation and Feedback - 4 projects per shift - 20 minutes (maximum time) per project plus 10 minutes of feedback.
Presentation and discussion of examples "the best of DOC.LAB Coimbra 2025".
DAY 02
Pitch development (working on texts and teasers).
DAY 03
Project Presentation and Feedback - 04 projects per shift - 10 minutes (maximum time) per project plus 10 minutes of feedback. Afternoon: Pitch development (working on texts and teasers).
DAY 04
Morning: Pitch development (working on texts and teasers). Afternoon: Presentation / Pitch Rehearsal of 8 min (maximum time). Final Feedback.
DAY 05
Pitch session and feedback from a panel of professionals. Meetings with audiovisual market agents.
PITCH LAB TUTORS
Érica Faleiro Rodrigues
Érica Faleiro Rodrigues é cineasta, curadora e professora com formação em Direção de Cinema (BA e MA em Londres) e doutorado em andamento na Birkbeck sobre mulheres no cinema português. Premiada com o Skillset Millennium Fellowship Award, dirige documentários com impacto social e obteve financiamento do ICA para um filme sobre Mulheres, Revolução e Cinema. Foi assistente de edição na BBC e curadora no Barbican Arts Centre. Fundadora do Utopia - UK Portuguese Film Festival. É investigadora e professora na Universidade Lusófona nos mestrados Doc Nomads e KINO Eyes. Integra a Universidade Europeia FilmEU, promovendo inovação pedagógica e pesquisa artística.
Ralf Tambke
Formado em cinema pela Universidade Federal Fluminense com especialização em dramaturgia pela HFF - Universidade de Cine e TV de Munique, Alemanha. Ralf lecionou na Universidade Federal Fluminense, na Universidade Estácio de Sá - RJ, Academia Internacional de Cinema – RJ e Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina – SC. Ralf também produziu o festival brasileiro de cinema e cultura - BRASIL PLURAL - em 13 cidades da Alemanha, Suíça e Áustria. É produtor Executivo da Plural Filmes desde 1994, realizando dezenas filmes de ficção e documentários.
Meetings with players
All projects selected for DOC.LAB Coimbra 2026 will have the opportunity to schedule meetings with distributors, producers, and sales agents that will attend the event.
The meetings will last 20 minutes.
Player presentations
There will also be a space for players to present their companies and the type of content they are looking for.
Invited Players
The full list of companies attending the event and meetings will be announced soon.
Venues
The DOC.LAB Coimbra 2026 mentoring process will take place at Semente Atelier and Seminário Maior de Coimbra, with one group in each location. At the end of each day, we will have a happy hour to promote the interaction between the two groups.
Coordination
DOC.LAB Coimbra 2026 will be coordinated by multi-artist Inês Moura. With a multidisciplinary perspective, Inês collaborates not only to ensure the smooth running of the activities, but also artistically, sharing her impressions of the projects.
Inês Moura
She holds a degree in Fine Arts and a Master's degree in Arts. She works with photography, drawing, sound, and performance, exploring themes such as borders and identity. Awarded the BES Revelation Prize, she directs the Semente Atelier in Coimbra.
Awards
Each category will compete for a trophy: the Golden Carnation for Best Pitch and the Golden Carnation for Best Argument/Treatment. The DOC.LAB awards will take place on March 22nd during the DOC.Coimbra festival awards ceremony.The awarded projects will also be entitled to space in the festival's 2027 catalog to promote their projects.
There is no provision for cash prizes, but if there is financial viability for such, participants will be notified and everything will be disclosed through the festival's official channels.
Open Submissions
Find out the details and application dates.
value of the application for the lab.
20 euros
Value of participation if selected.
100 euros
Application deadline
23 JAN. 2026
Laboratory Date in Coimbra
16-20 MAR. 26
How to submit your application
Projects must be presented in PDF (up to 15 pages), with or without design, provided they contain the following information in a single file:
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Project name, filmmaker, and country and city of origin.
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Short synopsis (up to 500 characters).
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Argument/Treatment (up to 5000 characters).
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Creative process (up to 3000 characters, note on how the project will be filmed and edited, citing the use of narration, interviews, archive images if applicable).
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Filmmaker's personal note (up to 3000 characters).
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Filmmaker's Bio (up to 500 characters).
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Link to teaser (for projects in the Pitch group).
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Filmmaker's Photo.
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Link to previous works by the Filmmaker.
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Reference photos for the project (horizontal).
How to submit your application
- Feature documentary projects in the development stage may apply to DOC.LAB Coimbra.
- Projects from all countries are welcome.
- Projects must be in Portuguese or English.
- The lab will be held in person and the full participation of the filmmaker is mandatory if the project is selected.
- A second person may participate with the main filmmaker, provided they act as a producer, screenwriter, or co-director.
FAQs
Feature documentary projects in development stage are eligible to apply to DOC LAB. Projects from all countries are welcome.
Projects must be presented in PDF (up to 15 pages), with or without design, provided they contain the following information in a single file:
-
Project name, filmmaker, and country and city of origin.
-
Short synopsis (up to 500 characters).
-
Argument/Treatment (up to 5000 characters).
-
Creative process (up to 3000 characters, note on how the project will be filmed and edited, citing the use of narration, interviews, archive images if applicable).
-
Filmmaker's personal note (up to 3000 characters).
-
Filmmaker's Bio (up to 500 characters).
-
Link to teaser (for projects in the Pitch group).
-
Filmmaker's Photo.
-
Link to previous works by the Filmmaker.
-
Reference photos for the project (horizontal).
-
There is no limit to the number of projects per proposer.
In person in Coimbra, Portugal. Once the project is selected, the project director must fully participate in the laboratory activities. If this is not possible, the place will be available for the first alternate project.
The submission fee is €20 per project. Each selected project must pay a participation fee of €100 to join DOC.LAB Coimbra 2026. In return, they will have 5 days with experienced tutors working on their projects and the possibility of presenting their projects to audiovisual market agents who will attend the festival.
Registration closes on January 23, 2026, at 11:59 pm (UTC-1).
The submitted projects will undergo an evaluation process that will result in the selection of 16 participating projects. Candidates will be notified of the results by email at the end of February.
Selected participants will have free access to all sessions of the DOC.Coimbra Festival, which will take place between March 17th and 22nd, 2026, as well as tickets to the festival party and other social events of the festival.
DOC.LAB Coimbra does not cover participants' accommodation and food costs, however, selected participants will receive discounts on accommodation and food at partner hotels and restaurants.
DOC.LAB Coimbra does not cover the transportation costs (train, plane, or bus tickets) of the selected projects, but will provide all possible assistance for participants to find the best way to travel to Coimbra.
The selected projects commit to including a card with the mention "PROJETO DOC.LAB COIMBRA 2026" among the film credits.