A place to develop your work.
And the conversations that move it forward.
Professional residencies and development programmes for film and series. Concentrated working time, individual mentoring and shared meals at Schloss Klingewalde.
Creative Lab Görlitz brings people together to develop projects, exchange knowledge and explore new forms. Our first focus is film and series: writers, directors and creative teams find space to work, experienced collaborators and connections beyond their usual circles.
The Writer’s Lab is the first of a wider programme. Living cultural heritage connects local knowledge with visiting artists and guests; future formats will also explore other artistic disciplines.
We work with production companies, academies, festivals and cultural or scientific partners to design development stays, Writers’ Rooms, workshops and public conversations.
From programme design and coordination to accommodation, meals and specialist mentoring: the format is shaped around your team’s work and objectives.
Discuss a collaboration
The lab is for writers, writer-directors and directors who need real working time, demanding but constructive outside input, creative sparks, structure and a group capable of moving the work forward.
Individual script doctoring, high-level mentoring and structured group processes are combined with concentrated individual work. Support is available for blockages, rhythm and work structure. The aim is practical: leave with the next stage of development defined and substantially advanced.
Fiction, documentary, hybrid and series projects are welcome at different stages of development. Participation periods and mentoring are agreed individually to match each project’s needs.
Each participant has a private room and a dedicated workplace. Full board includes carefully prepared meals, drinks and shared tables throughout the stay.
The library, salons, quiet corners, park and lake offer different rhythms for writing, conversation, retreat, screenings and informal exchange.
The mentors combine festival prestige, institutional authority and extensive practical experience as producers, filmmakers, writers, teachers and dramaturgs.
Founder of ma.ja.de. and one of Europe’s major independent producers: more than 100 award-winning documentaries, Oscar-nominated work, and fiction films awarded in Venice and Cannes. His collaborators include Sergei Loznitsa, Ai Weiwei, Viktor Kossakovsky, Thomas Heise and Ulrike Ottinger.
Filmmaker and directing educator at NYU Tisch. Her films have screened at Toronto, Cannes and San Sebastián; Nobody’s Watching won Best Actor at Tribeca. She brings a director’s perspective to character, performance and cinematic form.
Professor and Area Head of Screenwriting at NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing. She wrote Monsoon Wedding, winner of the Golden Lion in Venice, and has worked as a screenwriter in the United States and Bollywood for two decades.
Polish writer-director working across historical drama, genre cinema and series. His films include Daas, Werewolf and Colors of Evil: Red. His perspective connects research, atmosphere and directing.
Head of the Film Department at the Iceland University of the Arts and founder of Iceland’s first university-level BA programme in filmmaking.
CEO of Blinker Filmproduktion. Her recent work includes Sleep With Your Eyes Open, winner of the FIPRESCI Prize in Berlinale Encounters.
Writer-director and Columbia graduate. His feature Mike won Best Screenplay at Max Ophüls; his commercial work received a Cannes Bronze Lion.
More than two decades in development, dramaturgy and financing for auteur documentaries and art-house features. Her therapeutic training informs group work on process, collaboration and creative blocks.
Görlitz lies in the German–Polish–Czech border region, within reach of Dresden, Wrocław, Prague and Berlin. The lab connects concentrated work at Schloss Klingewalde with regional industry conversations, film events and local partners.
The house, park and lake provide distance from daily routines without isolating participants from the wider film ecosystem.
Local partners contribute encounters, events and connections during the lab.
“Lebendiges Kulturerbe Klingewalde” invites visitors to learn from the people who live here. Local knowledge becomes the starting point for practical workshops, culinary experiments and new encounters.
Explore recipes, cooking techniques and the stories carried from one generation to the next.
Work with knowledge of parks, orchards and the plants that shape this landscape.
Discover local practices of animal husbandry and the experience behind them.
Learn from the skills used to build, care for and renew historic places.
Each multi-day workshop will lead into an open celebration: a chance to share what has been made and taste what has emerged. Four gatherings and an illustrated publication are planned, accompanied by photography, film and collected stories.
Wir laden Gäste ein, von Menschen vor Ort zu lernen. In mehrtägigen Workshops beschäftigen wir uns mit lokalem Wissen über Küche, Garten, Tierzucht und Baukunst und experimentieren damit kulinarisch. Bei vier offenen Festen wird das gemeinsam Erarbeitete vorgestellt und probiert. Fotografien, Filme und Geschichten begleiten das Projekt und fließen in eine illustrierte Publikation ein.
Gesucht sind Menschen, die ihr Wissen weitergeben möchten, interessierte Gäste und KooperationspartnerInnen. Termine und Teilnahmebedingungen werden noch bekannt gegeben.
Caterina Klusemann is a filmmaker, producer and cultural entrepreneur. She studied directing at Columbia University in New York. Her work has screened at Cannes Critics’ Week; she received the Bayerischer Dokumentarfilmpreis “Der junge Löwe” for Ima.
She also built and ran Neandertal No. 1 as a destination for food, hospitality and cultural gatherings. At Schloss Klingewalde, she is developing a place where serious creative work is supported by structure, relaxation, conversation, inspiring surroundings and fine food.
The 2026 Writer’s Lab is the first in a planned series of labs and residencies for film and other disciplines. Creative Lab Görlitz is also open to group enquiries, workshops and tailored formats.
Growing up in an open house in Tuscany shaped her idea of hospitality. In Klingewalde, that experience meets the knowledge and generosity of neighbours: a place where local traditions and international creative practice can lead to something new.
Applications for the 2026 edition are closed. The lab will take place in October and November 2026.
We will share updates on the lab as it unfolds and announce details of the next edition.
We are seeking sponsors to make participation possible for filmmakers who cannot cover the full fee. Contact us to discuss supporting a fellowship.
The lab will take place in October and November 2026. We will share updates on the lab as it unfolds and announce details of the next edition.