Applications are open until 15 May for the second edition of Ulisse, the Italian residency dedicated to documentary filmmaking, which will take place in Tuscany (between Florence, Prato and Pistoia): the training programme is aimed at 12 aspiring directors and screenwriters, with a particular focus on young people. The Ulisse Residency stems from an idea by Samuele Rossi – a Tuscan filmmaker nominated for the 2025 Nastri d’Argento and the 2025 David di Donatello awards for best documentary with Prima della fine. Gli ultimi giorni di Enrico Berlinguer – who has recently returned from the set of his latest fiction film, Se venisse anche l’inferno.

The course runs over five months, combining in-person and online sessions, with two residential weeks (at Manifatture Digitali di Cinema in Prato and Pistoia, and in Florence during the Festival dei Popoli), alongside online support, supervision and mentoring sessions, as well as meetings with experts, lecturers and professionals from the documentary film industry, who will guide participants in the development and preparation of their projects for presentation on the international market.  

The residency will take place at the Manifatture Digitali Cinema in Prato and Pistoia, centres that symbolise Tuscany’s cultural and creative renaissance in the audiovisual sector, and will serve as a meeting point between the new generation of filmmakers and the professional world. The training programme is structured around practical, theoretical and workshop modules, and is divided into four phases: 15–20 June, 13–18 July, 14–16 September and 2–7 November. The core of the programme will be the development of an individual project: each participant will be guided through the creation of a documentary film project, from the initial idea to its final development (pitch, script, teaser, mood board), to be presented in practice at markets and within national and international production contexts.  

The costs of board, lodging and travel (for those coming from outside the region) are fully covered by the Residency. Among the lecturers and tutors already confirmed are: Lorenzo Bagnatori, winner of the 2024 Solinas Award for best screenplay; Giuseppe Cassaro, producer and archive producer; and representatives from the Festival dei Popoli (including managing director Claudia Maci, artistic director Alessandro Stellino, and selector and Doc at Work manager Margot Mecca). In addition, speakers and professionals active in the Italian documentary scene will be involved in a series of meetings and discussions. For  example, Maria Bonsanti, a leading figure in international documentary filmmaking, currently  a member of the Documentary Commission for the David di Donatello Awards and the Selection Committee  for the Giornate degli Autori.  

The project is promoted and organised by Echivisivi with the support of Fondazione Sistema Toscana (as part of the Tuscany Region’s European Social Fund Plus 2021–2027 Regional Programme), the Ministry of Culture and SIAE – Per Chi Crea, in collaboration with GiovaniSì, Festival dei Popoli and Greenwich.