CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR FILMREAKTER’S QUICKIES SEASON 3

Season 3 of Filmreakter Quickies is finally here and with it an exciting opportunity to experience the thriving local film community!

While the core premise of Quickies remains, we brought some novelties to the concept for Season 3.

WHAT ARE QUICKIES?
Within the Quickies framework, 12 filmmakers each receive a micro production budget of 5.000€ to create a short fiction film of maximum 10 minutes, to be filmed and completed within a defined timeframe, between May and August 2025. This approach minimizes room for hesitation and second-guessing, empowering you to embrace unconventional ideas and take risks you might otherwise shy away from. Consider us the gentle push that propels you over the edge—the flying, however, is entirely in your hands!

WHO ARE QUICKIES FOR?
Though the micro budget concept might make it seem like the Quickies were conceived as an entry-level funding scheme, the initial idea came from quite the opposite direction. The idea was to give experienced filmmakers the opportunity to play again, something to do between bigger and more substantially financed films - a momentary return to the fast-and-loose working style we remember from making films between friends as teenagers. However, from the very first season onward, we have been making a point to keep the door open for newcomers, as well as artists from different fields who might want to try their hand at filmmaking. Although the spectrum of experience is wide, we do want to stress that a minimum level of experience is required, as making a film on a shoestring budget is not necessarily easier than doing it on a properly funded project — quite the contrary, actually.

HOW TO APPLY?
The application is open to all Luxembourg-residents and/or Luxembourg nationals and should consist of three brief texts, written in English, Luxembourgish, French or German:

1. A compelling pitch outlining your idea (a one-page synopsis to describe your project, no scripts will be considered at this stage).
2. A text explaining how you want to approach the production of your film, and how you plan to work within the time and budgetary limitations (one page max).
3. A concise filmmaker biography. Please include links to your previous works if applicable.

The deadline for submissions is 21st March 2025. Send your entries to info@quickies.lu
Please note that we will only accept one project per person.

SELECTION PROCESS
The selection process of Quickies S3 will take place in two rounds. For the first round a jury will select 20 from among all the submitted projects. Each of the selected projects will receive a 500€ grant to develop their idea into a script, to be written within 4 weeks and handed in at a predefined deadline. A second jury will then evaluate all 20 scripts and select 12 to be awarded a Quickies production grant of 5.000€.

PRODUCTION PHASE
Over the course of summer 2025, the 12 selected filmmakers will have three months to shoot and edit their short films of no longer than ten minutes. Our Series Manager Elizaveta Kuzmicheva will oversee the entire Quickies project and can help out with urgent problems should they arise, but essentially the filmmaking teams will produce the films themselves and function as independent and self-relying units.

We encourage filmmakers to keep their crews small and limit production time to a minimum. A suggested timeline involves one week of preparation, followed by a two-day shoot, concluding with one week of editing.

How the filmmakers decide to spend the production money - on salaries, locations, equipment rental and/or film stock - is entirely up to them with the one condition that the director’s salary is capped at 1.000€.

Filmreakter will put its camera, sound and editing equipment at the filmmakers disposal. If the filmmakers wish to use it, our series manager will coordinate the dates with you in accordance with the equipment’s availability.

Please note that the production budget will be paid out in two installments:

• 4.000€ at the start of production
• 1.000€ upon delivery of the final edit, all required legal documents and invoices for all expenses.

POST-PRODUCTION
The filmmakers deliver their film picture-locked - with a completed edit - at a predetermined date. Filmreakter will give the film a quick sound post-production make-over in a professional studio, as well as the service of a picture grader, if so required.

Please note that all music needs to be completely cleared for all kinds of screenings and online streaming, hence if you wish to purchase rights to existing music, this needs to be within your budget.

RELEASE
Post-production will be completed at the start of 2026, with a cinema premiere and a release on RTL Television and our online platforms scheduled soon after.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES AND PHILOSOPHY OF QUICKIES
All films must be set in or around Luxembourg, delving into our immediate reality. Capture life as you perceive it, offering your unique perspective on our culturally diverse society and the lives we live. Push the boundaries, challenge conventions and dare to break the rules. Don’t be polite, step on some toes and be uncomfortable if that’s what it takes. Embrace the personal or dive into the unknown. Show off your skills, be aesthetically ambitious - or embrace the down-and-dirty. Show us what Luxembourg’s cinema culture can be, tell us the stories we didn’t know needed to be told. Remember, cinema serves as a mirror to society, and your filmmaking is more than just personal fulfilment, but bears a social function. Society needs your voice, whether it acknowledges it or not.

Whatever you write, keep in mind how you will shoot it within the given budget and timeframe. We strongly advise against supplementing it with additional funds and encourage you to fully embrace the constraints imposed by the allocated 5.000€. You might want to ask friends or take a risk on people with less experience and shoot with a minimal crew to achieve this. The production budget is yours to spend, so spend it wisely.

In the spirit of quick and playful filmmaking, we encourage you to avoid prolonged fretting. Formulate your proposal, write it out, and submit. Be swift. We are looking forward to reading them!

Season 3 should be a reflection of where we stand in 2025, as a species in general, and as members of society and our immediate surroundings in particular. The goal is to curate a series of shorts that will shed light on a diverse range of local subjects, something that will show where and how we live in the widest possible spectrum. Our jury will take care to select an ensemble of stories that together form a fascinating panoply of our reality at this moment in time.

A final word of encouragement: We will likely receive more excellent proposals than we can produce. If your project is not selected, don’t let it discourage you. View this call as a starting point towards a new project of your own, with the first step already taken. Whatever happens, you will not be defeated!

TIMELINE
Application Deadline: 21 March 2025
Notification by Jury in Round 1: 4 April 2025
Script Submission Deadline: 2 May 2025
Notification by Jury in Round 2: 30 May 2025
Production Phase: 30 May 2025 to August 31 2025
Post-production Phase: September 2025 - January 2026
Cinema Premiere: Early 2026. Followed by online release on quickies.lu and RTL Play, as well as television broadcast of all episodes.

For any questions: info@quickies.lu


CREDITS:
Series Manager - Elizaveta Kuzmicheva
Series Producers - Alain Randresy & Govinda Van Maele
Production Assistant - Mara Stieber
Graphic Design S3 - Andrea Werres EMAIL US YOUR SUBMISSION