First Cut Belgium

Where Giants Sleep by Arthur Michel – First Cut Belgium 2025

First Cut Belgium is an online consultancy program designed for feature-length films in editing phase from Belgium. The program is made in collaboration with the final support of the Centre du cinema of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.

The selected teams (director/producer/editor) are offered a creative framework, both challenging and protective, where to open up new perspectives and to explore the whole artistic potential of their films. They receive expert feedback from three international film industry advisors, as well as tailor-made advice from an editing consultant with sessions facilitated by an editorial advisor.

Consultant and industry advisors will be defined according to the profiles of the films selected. An overview of regular consultants of First Cut can be found here: http://firstcutlab.eu/people/

Once the workshop is over, the participants receive a report & a roadmap that can serve as guidance for further editing. Eventually, the ambition of First Cut is to enhance the audience opportunities of the films.

Submission deadline

Submissions are now open.

The deadline for submitting the entry form is 10. December 2026.

Dates and program

The program will take place online, and each film will be workshopped within the period from January 4, 2027, to June 20, 2027.

Each film is accompanied by First Cut for a period of roughly 6 weeks, even though the core of the Lab takes place over two consecutive days.

The exact dates of the Lab will be chosen in agreement with each selected team to best answer the needs of their films. A preferred period for the Lab should be mentioned in the application form.

N.B.: Projects potentially interested in First Cut Belgium, but that are not able to provide video material by December 10, 2026 (e.g. because the principal photography of the film is not over, or because it has not taken place yet), should still fill out the application form and apply by this deadline. If eligible, they will be contacted by First Cut to agree on a specific deadline to provide their video material.

Submissions

All applications must include:

• Complete application form and video material not less than 30 minutes long. In order to submit your application and the required material, you need to fill out the form.

Please find here below the complete guidelines and detailed info about the submission process.

Applications must be sent to: marija.fridinovaite@firstcutlab.eu

Participation Fees

The projects supported by Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel are exempt from paying participation fees.

The participation fee for other Belgian projects is €6.000, to be paid before the program starts.

Guidelines

1. General guidelines

Please note: the deadline for submitting a project to First Cut Belgium 2027 is December 10, 2026.

In order to submit your application and the required material, you need to complete the application form. All application materials and subtitles should be in English.

2. Submission requirements

Submissions should include: A complete online submission form in English and video material (selected scenes, first assembly or rough cut) with a minimum duration of 30 minutes and with English subtitles.

The video is mandatory to be available via streaming service password protected (e.g. Vimeo). No transfer services or cloud storage is accepted.

3. Selection criteria

The project should be a feature film with international market potential - minimum length of 70 minutes, fictions and documentaries are accepted.

First Cut has no specific fixed criteria in terms of content and each project will be considered on its own merits. The main criteria for selection are the artistic & audience potential of the film, corroborated with the specific needs in regards to the specificity of the First Cut Lab.

Projects should be new or recent. Projects should not have been presented at any public screenings. The project can be in different stages of post-production, though it is highly recommended to be in early editing phase.

The project should have a director and/or majority producer from Belgium. 

4. Specific conditions

Once a project has been selected, both director and producer should be available during the days of the Lab. The presence of the editor is recommended, but not compulsory.

Finished films that participated in First Cut should mention First Cut and display its logo in their credits. The following sentence should be mentioned in the credit list: “This project participated in First Cut Belgium 2027” together with the First Cut logo.

The First Cut logo pack can be downloaded here

Partners