VOY announces winner of international film lLab competition.

VOY announced that Ana Farini has been named the winner of the first-annual International VOY Film Lab Competition (www.voyfilmlab.com). The competition’s mission is to discover and foster exceptional Latino talent across a variety of film disciplines. Farini’s screenplay, entitled “El verdadero idiota,” (“The True Idiot”) was selected from hundreds of submissions from around the globe. She will receive a $5000 option for her screenplay, which will be developed by VOY.

“We are very excited to be working with Ana on ‘El verdadero idiota’ and prepare it for production,” said Lourdes Diaz, President of VOY Pictures. “Her script has a tremendous amount of heart and embodies the inspirational messages VOY is delivering for Latinos around the world. Her positive outlook on life and strength of character were evident in the script. Our entries this year were exceptional and we hope that each of the other four VOY Film Lab finalists continues to write and strive to create space for Latino writers in Hollywood,” Diaz continued.

The first annual competition was designed to find new, world-class Latino talent, providing undiscovered screenwriters with guidance and professional opportunities. In March of this year, five finalists were flown to Los Angeles for a five-day workshop that included one-on-one meetings with leading industry professionals to workshop the development of their projects. At the end of the Lab, each finalist had a period of six weeks to rework their script and resubmit the revised draft to the jury.

“The experience with VOY was fantastic,” said Farini. “Everyone in the Lab worked very intensely both as a group and as individuals. The meetings with the mentors provided us significant insight into our screenplays and how they could be improved, and the sessions with directors and producers widened our view of how everything works in the Hollywood world.” Farini continued, “The Lab was a very moving, productive, and emotionally satisfying experience and it helped me to grow professionally.”

A resident of Argentina, Farini studied directing and cinematography at the University of Cinema of Buenos Aires, one of Latin America’s premier film schools. She became an editor at an advertising agency, and later completed her studies overseas in London and Spain while participating in a workshop lead by Irene Iscowiczk. Farini also worked as a director’s assistant in various BBC shows, and as a writer in a series of documentaries about Julio Cortazar, the Argentine master novelist. She wrote and directed “The Twelve Pains,” a documentary about the holy week in Yavi and “Monsters,” a documentary about the myth of the “chupacabras” and the political and social crisis in Latin America. Farini also wrote and directed the short films “El Oficio,” “Una Vuelta,” and “Oh,” which was selected for the Mar Del Plata, Clemont Ferrand, and Crepusculum film festivals. She teaches writing at various institutions throughout Argentina.