The Greek nonprofit Oxbelly announced today the participants of its 2024 Oxbelly retreat, which was held June 22-30, 2024 in Costa Navarino, Greece. Thirty fellows broken into three strands — screenwriting, episodic writing and fiction writing — received mentorship from an illustrious list of advisors, who included Charlie Kaufman, Chigozie Obioma, Miguel Gomes, Marielle Heller, Barry Jenkins and Michael Almereyda. Leaders and program directors for the three programs were Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perman (Screenwriting); Jen Blake (executive producer, Joyland) and Deutschland 83 producer Jörg Winger (Episodic); and An Orchestra of Minorities author Chigozie Obioma (Fiction).

As the organization stated in a press release, “the Oxbelly Retreat is an annual gathering of international storytellers, dedicated to the exchange of ideas, deepening of craft and broadening of artistic horizons through intercultural dialogue. The 2024 edition included program tracks for writers in film, television and literature open to fellows from around the world. Oxbelly continued to challenge more conventional models of artist programs by building in cross-programmatic opportunities for the fellows, advisors and special guests, thereby expanding these writers’ approach to story and the cross-pollination between the film, literary and TV industries.”

Among the fellows who attended were 2008 Filmmaker 25 New Face John Magary, director of The Mend (and editor of our current print issue cover film, Between the Temples).

From the press release, the full list of advisors, fellows and their projects is below:

2024 Oxbelly Advisors and Special Guests included Michael Almereyda, Ritesh Batra, Jen Blake, Nazrin Choudhury, Willem Dafoe, Merve Emre, Maureen Fazendeiro, Eva H.D., Miguel Gomes, Isabella Hammad, Marielle Heller, Fanny Herrero, Barry Jenkins, Elnathan John, Charlie Kaufman, Alejandro Landes, Gonzalo Maza, Imbolo Mbue, Chigozie Obioma, Nicole Perlman, Klaudia Reynicke, Fiammetta Rocco, Kristen Roupenian, Vera Santamaria, Simon Van Booy, Lulu Wang, Anna Webber, Anna Winger, Jörg Winger, Femke Wolting and more.

The 30 2024 Oxbelly Fellows were selected from over 1600 submissions from 110 countries.

2024 Oxbelly Fellows:

Steve Anthopoulos (Australia) – BAND OF BOYFRIENDS – Episodic
Helen Beltrame-Linné (Brazil) – DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA – Screenwriters
Fayssal Bensalah (Algeria) – Fiction
Savannah Bowen (USA) – Fiction
Linh Duong (Vietnam) – DARK NIGHT, WHITE LIGHT – Episodic
Martika Ramirez Escobar (Philippines) – DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA – Screenwriters
Iuli Gerbase (Brazil) – EXOTIC NECKS – Screenwriters
Ahmad Ghossein (Lebanon) – THE SIDE EFFECTS OF TRUSTING LIFE – Screenwriters
Robert Goldsbrough (UK) – PINK PRESS – Episodic
Georgis Grigorakis (Greece) – NEKTAR – Screenwriters
Avi Heikkinen (Finland) – THE FOG – Episodic
Yorgos Iliopoulos (Greece) – BUCKS – Episodic
Erato Ioannou (Cyprus) – Fiction
Sophie Jarvis (Canada) – TAKING THE WATERS – Screenwriters
Aziza Kasumov (Germany) – Fiction
Marco Kaye (USA) – Fiction
John Magary (USA) – RECESS – Screenwriters
Subhadra Mahajan (India) – MOH – Screenwriters
Tonia Mishiali (Cyprus) – MAYA – Screenwriters
Chido Muchemwa (Zimbabue) – Fiction
Hassan Muhammad (Nigeria) – Fiction
Charles Muhumuza (Uganda) – Fiction
Makena Onjerika (Kenya) – Fiction
Dimosthenis Papamarkos (Greece) – NEKTAR – Screenwriters
Solina Riekkola (Finland) – THE FOG – Episodic
Mais Salman (Jordan) – UNFOLLOWED – Episodic
Theo Toksvig Stewart (UK) – ISLE OF MANY – Episodic
Yorgos Teltzidis (Greece) – BUCKS – Episodic
Jana Zeineddine (Jordan) – UNFOLLOWED – Episodic
Yi Zhu (China) – Fiction

Dates for the 2025 Oxbelly Retreat will be announced in late fall, at which time applications for each fellowship will open. There is no cost to apply and all expenses for fellows are covered.

Oxbelly was founded in 2015 by producer Christos V. Konstantakopoulos. The 2024 Oxbelly Retreat was supported by founding partner Faliro House, hotel partner Costa Navarino and the Captain Vassilis & Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation. Additional support for the 2024 Oxbelly fellows was provided by Grace Lay of Linlay Production, Greg Beauchamp of Bindery Films and Wendy Ettinger.