Oliver Adam Kusio at the Pop Up Film Residency

After taking part in the 5th session of Next Step, Oliver Adam Kusio will take part from February 5th to 25th in Bratislava in the first Pop Up Film Residency and will be mentored by Matthieu Daras, co-initator of this new residency, and Nadja Dumouchel, as a script consultant. Oliver Adam Kusio will then carry on writing the script of his first feature film project PAX EUROPA

Through its Next Step programme, La Semaine de la Critique guides the short-film directors who were selected for the competition towards their first feature film. During the 5-day workshop held in France in December, the filmmakers have the opportunity to discuss their projects with international experts and tutors so that they may be advised on their scripts, to understand the reality of the industry and define the right development strategy. 

Next Step further guides directors by giving them the opportunity to participate in residencies such as the Pop Up Film Residency to continue writing the scripts of their feature film. The Pop Up Film Residency aims to combine a traditional artist’s residency with the practical elements of a film workshop.

Oliver Adam Kusio is a German and Polish director, based in Berlin and Warsaw. He has collaborated with many film and theatre directors such as Rosa von Praunheim. In 2017 while he was studying at the Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF film school, he directed Ela-Sketches on a Departure. Selected by La Semaine de la Critique, the film gives a melancholic and radiant portrayal of a woman as she is about to leave to find a better life. The director is currently working on his first feature film: PAX EUROPA, a story set in northern Poland not long before the fictional collapse of the European Union, which delves into what it means to keep a family together in times of political upheaval and unrest.