The film project Escape Room (Scared to Death) was honoured as the Best Project in the Vietnamese Genre Film Project category of the DANAFF Talents Project Incubator at the 4th Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF IV).
This achievement marks a memorable milestone following an intensive 11-day screenplay development journey with international experts, during which the project was refined from its original concept to its narrative structure before entering the production stage.
11 Days of Looking at the Story from a New Perspective
Screenwriter Huynh Thu Trang shared that working directly with international instructors and mentors helped the team identify many “blind spots” that the writers themselves could no longer see after spending so much time immersed in the screenplay.
According to her, the mentors read the screenplay with great attention, remembered even the smallest details, and approached the work from the perspective of a first-time audience. This enabled the team to discover numerous areas that required refinement, making the story more coherent and compelling.
For Huynh Thu Trang, the greatest value of the Script Lab lies not only in improving a particular screenplay but also in its working methodology. The ways of asking questions, applying critical thinking and re-examining a story will continue to serve as the foundation for future film projects.
Script Lab – An Incubator for Promising Film Projects
Script Lab is an intensive one-on-one programme under the Vietnamese Genre Film Project category of the DANAFF IV Project Incubator.
The programme brings together distinguished instructors, mentors and jurors from countries and territories including the United States (Columbia University), Singapore, Hong Kong (China) and South Korea, providing young filmmakers with diverse professional perspectives and practical industry experience.
Beyond supporting screenplay development, Script Lab also offers projects opportunities to connect with an international network of experts, helping them move one step closer to production and distribution.
Looking Ahead to Escape Room’s Next Journey
The Best Project Award, together with the USD 5,000 prize, is well-deserved recognition of the efforts made by the Escape Room (Scared to Death) team throughout the project’s development at DANAFF Talents.
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