DIP 2027
Documentary, Intimacy and Mise-en-Scène
A Laboratory/Refuge for 16 artists and filmmakers from all over the world.
Yearly program online (March–November)
+ Residency in person at the border (October)
The open call for DIP 2027 will open in November 2026.
2026 OPEN CALL GUIDELINES
Filming without a script, training the gaze and the ear, inviting neighbors to become characters, rewriting an everyday scene, using intuition as a method. How do we stage intimacy?
DIP is a yearly program for 16 filmmakers and artists from all over the world, with weekly online sessions led by filmmaker Manuel Abramovich, plus visits from spAcial guests. In 2026, the guests will be Lucrecia Martel, Brigitte Vasallo, Marlene Wayar, Karim Aïnouz, Agustina Comedi.
In 2026, DIP adds the RESIDENCY AT THE BORDER to its yearly program. For the first time in the program's history, the artists who have worked online throughout the year will, in October 2026, meet in person in Misiones, on the border between Argentina and Brazil, for an immersive experience in the territory, where, over a week of working and living together, they will put into practice the audiovisual toolbox created during the first part of the program.
DIP is a laboratory for artists but, above all, it is a refuge for people. A space for debate, for interdisciplinary thinking, for critique of the ways we inhabit the world, and for audiovisual resistance. DIP looks for methods to propose other ways of filming: filming with an other, instead of filming an other. Can we explore our human depths and mysteries through cinema? Throughout the year, the group will function as a critical and supportive network, making room for each participant's artistic and personal process to deepen.
—What is DIP about? — It's not about cinema; the word cinema doesn't fit, we would need to find a new word. — It's about looking at the people around us with curious eyes. — About listening differently. — About surrendering to what happens around us. — About inhabiting unknown places. About exploring discomfort. About getting close to people. It's about losing fear. — About learning to look at ourselves and to be looked at. It's about love and about cinema. About thinking that documentary could also be a fantasy.
— It's about the mystery of human beings! — DIP participants
Participants: Filmmakers and artists from any discipline with more than 3 years of experience in their own field. While no specific technical film knowledge or professional equipment is required, participants need basic tools to record and edit the exercises and tests.
An international and diverse group of 16 participants will be selected.
Schedule: DIP runs for eight months (March to November), with one weekly online session on Wednesdays, which allows artists from all over the world to meet. In addition, for the first time in the program's history, in October 2026 the whole group will travel from their home cities to Misiones, on the border between Argentina and Brazil, for the in-person residency DIP AT THE BORDER.
Yearly Online Program
Start: March 25, 2026
End: November 25, 2026
Duration: 8 months
Frequency: one 4-hour online session per week
Time: Wednesdays, 18:00–22:00 CET (Spain time)*
Break: July 22 and 29
Number of sessions: 32
Yearly hours (online): 128 hours
Format: Online
Language: Spanish
+
In-Person Residency DIP at the Border: October 8–17, 2026
Venue: Sintrópolis – Misiones, Argentina
Total program hours (online + in person): 208 hours
*Additional sessions: Some sessions with spAcial guests may take place outside regular class hours. The dates of these sessions are subject to change depending on the guests' availability and will be reconfirmed during the program.
DIP Residency at the Border
In this edition, DIP adds to its yearly program a one-week in-person residency in the Misiones jungle. From October 8 to 17, 2026, the 15 artists and filmmakers of the selected international group will meet in person for an immersive experience in the territory, in dialogue with the border and its people. The residency will take place at Sintrópolis, a 23-hectare nature reserve and forest for artistic, community and environmental experimentation, located in Alba Posse, on the Uruguay River, on the border between Argentina and Brazil. Over a week of working and living together, the group will collectively put into practice the toolbox created during the program. At the end of the residency, the research produced during this encounter will be shared with the local community in a public presentation of processes.
Commitment and availability: DIP is an intensive, hands-on program that requires the participation of the whole group to collectively build the exchanges. Participants need ample availability outside class hours to carry out the exercises, research and tests proposed throughout the year.
Scholarships: DIP offers scholarships to those who need them: we want DIP to be a sustained training platform, accessible to artists from all over the world and from different realities, where financial means are not a limit to artistic research.
In addition, DIP has formed partnerships to award specific joint scholarships*:
Scholarship AMT (Archivo de la Memoria Trans): In partnership with the Archivo de la Memoria Trans Argentina, DIP will offer 1 full scholarship to an artist or filmmaker to take part in DIP 2026. Any TTNB (trans/travesti/non-binary) artist or filmmaker from any country in the world may apply.
Scholarship DICINE Panama (Ministry of Culture of Panama): The National Directorate of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts of Panama's Ministry of Culture will offer 1 full scholarship to a filmmaker from Panama to take part in DIP 2026. Any Panamanian filmmaker may apply.
End-of-Program Grant
At the end of the program, participants who have met the yearly commitment and attendance requirements, and have completed all the tests proposed during the program, will receive a grant of 300 euros from DIP to support the continuation of their projects and research.
End-of-Year Screening
At the end of the year, there will be an online screening of the work, which may be replicated at some in-person events.
Diploma
At the end of the program, participants receive a diploma of participation.
APPLICATION
The open call closed on Monday, January 12 , 2026 at 23:59 (Argentina time).
If you have any questions about the open call, we suggest checking the list of frequently asked questions (FAQ). If the answer to your question is not on the list, the contact email is: dip@ruido.ar
“DIP taught me to find freedom in filming —freedom with the language and tools of cinema. I don't think there is anything more beautiful you can learn anywhere: to be free.”
Federico Luis (Argentina, DIP 2021)
“For me, DIP was a before and after as a filmmaker. I carry DIP with me in every new film I make.”
Rosa Caldeira (Brazil, DIP 2024)
"Having a scholarship at DIP was, for me, a vindication for low-income people who could never have accessed film training. It inspires us to tell stories that have not yet been shown from the territories we come from."
Camil Victoria (Argentina, DIP 2025)
DIRECTOR and TEACHER
Manuel Abramovich (Buenos Aires, 1987) is a film director, artist and cinematographer. His work explores different ways of staging intimacy. His films explore the movement between being a person and being a character —“persona/je”— focusing on the characters we build of ourselves to survive the oppression exerted by systems of power. His work has been screened at festivals and art events such as the Berlinale, Venice, Tribeca, MoMA Doc Fortnight, Viennale, IDFA, San Sebastián, Film Society Lincoln Center, Cinéma du Réel and BAFICI. His first short film 'La Reina' won more than 50 international awards. His short film 'Blue Boy' won the Silver Bear in the International Short Film Competition of the 2019 Berlinale. He has been invited to teach and lecture on his work at festivals and institutions such as Princeton University (USA), Werkleitz Center (Germany), Berlinale Talents, Union Docs (USA), Tres Puertos (Mexico), Vrijplaats Residency (Amsterdam), IDFA (Amsterdam) and the Master's in Alternative Cinema at EICTV, Cuba. He has served on the juries of festivals such as IDFA, Visions du Réel and Documenta Madrid, and on the Berlinale Talents selection committee in 2019 and 2020. He was a resident at Ikusmira Berriak (San Sebastián) in 2018, a guest artist of the DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm (Berlin) in 2019, and an artist in residence at the Casa de Velázquez (Madrid) in 2022. In 2023 he was the lead mentor of the Opening Scenes Lab at Visions du Réel (Nyon, Switzerland). His fourth feature 'Pornomelancolía' premiered in the official selection of the San Sebastián festival and won the award for best cinematography. His latest film 'Croma' (2025) premiered at Visions du Réel. Since 2021 he has directed DIP: Documentary, Intimacy and Mise-en-Scène.
2026 SPACIAL GUESTS
Lucrecia Martel (Salta, 1966) is an Argentine director, screenwriter and producer renowned for her singular voice in contemporary cinema. She lives and works in Argentina. Her debut feature, La Ciénaga (2001), marked the beginning of an iconic filmography that includes The Holy Girl (2004), The Headless Woman (2008) and Zama (2017). In 2025 she presented the documentary Nuestra Tierra (Landmarks), which addresses Indigenous territorial conflicts in Argentina, expanding her practice into documentary film.
Marlene Wayar (Córdoba, 1968) holds a degree in social psychology, is a writer, and has been a driving force of the Travesti Trans Movement since its beginnings in Argentina alongside Nadia Echazú and Lohana Berkins. She is the creator and director of “El Teje” and a curator for the Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas (UBA). She is a host and content creator for Canal Encuentro. Among numerous awards, she received the Lola Mora Award and holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Rosario and Mar del Plata.
Brigitte Vasallo (Barcelona, 1973) is a writer and researcher focused on the mechanisms of belonging and otherness, with a particular interest in sexual difference and the memory of the rural diaspora. She contributes to various media and, as a playwright, has presented Trilogía de Naxos and Un cuerpo (posible) y lesbiano. She directed and curated the first Festival de Cultura Txarnega in Barcelona. Her work has been translated into many languages, and she teaches as a visiting professor at universities that would not accept her as a student.
Karim Aïnouz (Fortaleza, 1966) is a Brazilian filmmaker, screenwriter and visual artist of Algerian descent. He studied architecture at the University of Brasília and then film theory at New York University. His work is marked by a powerful visual charge and a focus on identities, desire and social margins. His works include Madame Satã (2002, Cannes – Un Certain Regard), The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão (2019, winner of Un Certain Regard), Central Airport THF (Berlinale 2018 – Amnesty International Award), Firebrand (Cannes 2023 – Competition) and Motel Destino (Cannes 2024 – Competition).
Agustina Comedi (Córdoba, 1986) is a film director and screenwriter. She studied Modern Literature at the University of Córdoba. In 2017 she premiered her first feature, Silence Is a Falling Body, at IDFA. The film screened at more than 60 festivals and received, among other awards, the Silver Condor for Best Film. Together with Suely Rolnik, she curated the Essay Film Section for the 10th anniversary of Cine Migrante. In 2019 she wrote and directed Playback, ensayo de una despedida, winner of the Teddy Award at the 2020 Berlinale and Best Short Film at both the Mar del Plata Film Festival and Entrevues Belfort. The short screened at more than 80 festivals. Both films were curated by Nan Goldin in a special program for Metrograph and shown together at the Museo Reina Sofía and at Tabakalera.
2026 SELECTION COMMITTEE
Marlies Pahlenberg (1988, Berlin) is a visual artist trained in Fine Arts/Sculpture (KHB, Berlin), New Media (ISA, Havana) and Philology (UCM, Madrid). Her video installations and short films start from the question “What if…?” and are developed in collaboration with non-professional actors and people who are often socially invisible, who play themselves while taking on a role. Through role play and a combination of staged and documentary elements, she creates experimental set-ups in which people, places and stories from different contexts meet and intersect. New spaces of possibility thus open up, arising from seemingly everyday situations. Her work has been shown in cities such as Berlin, Havana, Tokyo, Santiago, Paris, Riga and Vienna. She took part in DIP 2022.
Rosa Caldeira (São Paulo, Brazil, 1996) is a trans filmmaker from a favela in São Paulo, Brazil. He holds a degree in Sociology and specialized at the International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in Cuba. He is part of the Brazilian network Talentos Paradiso and of Berlinale Talents, and is one of the founders of the Association of Trans Audiovisual Professionals in Brazil. His films have screened at festivals around the world, including the Berlinale, Hong Kong, Havana and Tiradentes. He is also a co-founder of the community-based favela production company Maloka Filmes. He took part in DIP 2024.
Agustín Toscano (Tucumán, 1981) is an actor, director, screenwriter and film producer. His first feature, “Los Dueños” (2013), premiered at the Critics' Week of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and received the Jury's Special Mention. It won the Silver Condor for Best Debut Feature. His second film, «The Snatch Thief» (2018), premiered at the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes and in Horizontes Latinos at the San Sebastián Festival, where it received the Jury's Special Mention. It won the Sur Award for Best Argentine Debut. He took part in DIP 2021.
Alejo Duclós (Buenos Aires, 1998) is a filmmaker, producer, programmer and film distributor, and a graduate of the Universidad del Cine. He was selected for Berlinale Talents Buenos Aires. In 2022–2023 he received the Ibermedia Scholarship and completed the Master's in Curating at the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola in San Sebastián. He interned in the Thought and Debate Area of the San Sebastián Festival, where he organized the round table "Dressed in Blue: Trans Memory and Activism at the 1983 Festival". In 2023 he premiered the short films "Narciso" at the Asterisco festival (Argentina), "Memorias Sinvergüenzas: Buenos Aires, 1979" at DocsMx (Mexico) and "Monstruo de mi deseo" at MUTA (Peru). In 2024 he programmed the series "Memorias Sinvergüenzas de Latinoamérica" at the Courtisane Festival in Belgium, worked as a short film pre-selector for the Nest section of the San Sebastián Festival, and as a distributor for Kimuak, Zineuskadi's selection of Basque short films. He took part in DIP 2024.
Jorge Vañó (Alcoi, Spain, 1986) is a filmmaker and cultural manager specializing in queer and dissident cinema. He studied Audiovisual Communication at Pompeu Fabra University and film at ESCAC, and has developed a hybrid career between creation and film programming. At Barcelona's Mostra FIRE!! he coordinates the FIRE!! LAB, a development lab for LGBTI projects, and he is the creator of RARA&INVERTIDA, a queer audiovisual showcase. As a filmmaker, he has made the short films Hi8 and Borrachos de Babilonia. He took part in DIP 2023.