WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
Techniques for directing non-actors: Singular Drama

Throughout the two-day practical workshop, participants will learn and experience the technique that Scandar uses during the preparations of his actors and non actors as well as during the shooting.

Participants will get hands-on insight into the process of creating drama in a film using the human capacity to respond emotionally to fictional situations. The Singular Drama method is applicable on professional actors as well as non-actors.

Filmmakers often use the element of surprise to direct actors for certain scenes to get authentic emotional responses.

The directors of AJAMI based their film entirely on this principle.

Unlike other forays into improvisation, AJAMI had a very precise screenplay and a well-constructed plot that demanded specific emotional responses from its actors.
The actors ended up acting out a story, without being aware that they were being directed according to a pre-written script. The film is a work of fiction which shows “real” people acting in situations that are orchestrated by the directors, but very “real” to the performers, resulting in the actors projecting emotions on camera that they actually experienced at the time.
This was achieved over specialized workshops, in which the actors were brought to each character’s emotional and psychological state as written in the script.


Workshop learning objectives:
1. Participants will learn techniques to liberate their non-actors from the fear of the camera.
2. Participants will learn how to prepare their actors/non-actors for filming.
3. Participants will learn and experiment with improvisation techniques.
4. Participants will experience the method as actors in order to get a better understanding of the involved processes.
5. Participants will get insights on pre-production, production and shooting techniques when applying the method.
6. Participants will learn how to direct actors and non-actors using the Singular Drama method. Participants are encouraged to bring scenes they would like to direct.



ABOUT SCANDAR COPTI
Scandar Copti is a Palestinian Oscar-nominated director, screenwriter and visual artist, known for his distinctive approach to working with non-professional actors.

His debut feature film, Ajami (2009), won the Camera d'Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards. The film received more than 15 international awards.

His second feature film, Happy Holidays (2024), had its world premiere in the Orizzonti Competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where Copti won the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay. It went on to receive major international recognition, winning the Golden Alexander – Theo Angelopoulos Award for Best Film at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Étoile d'Or for Best Film at the Marrakech International Film Festival, where Manar Shehab and Wafaa Aoun also jointly received the Best Actress Award. In 2025, Happy Holidays received the Aurora Award for Best Film at the Tromsø International Film Festival and a Special Mention for the Bridging the Borders Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Beyond his feature films, Copti has written, directed and edited fiction, documentary and experimental works. His video art projects have been exhibited internationally at venues including the Herzliya Museum, the Nachum Gutman Museum, NYU Abu Dhabi Gallery, b_tour Foothold Festival, Beit Ha'Gefen and Oslo Kunstforening, among others.

Copti has served on the juries of numerous international film festivals and film organisations, including the Tribeca Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, FEST and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC). In 2011, he served as President of the Human Rights Award jury at the Istanbul International Film Festival.

He was also part of the team that launched the Doha Film Institute (DFI), where he headed the Education Department until 2011, contributing to the development of filmmaking education and emerging talent in the region.

Alongside his filmmaking practice, Copti has developed a distinctive methodology for working with non-professional actors, an approach central to both Ajami and Happy Holidays. His work explores the relationship between performance, character, social structures and lived experience, and this methodology has become an important part of his teaching and filmmaking practice.


PROFILE OF PARTICIPANT
The workshop is designed to Directors, 1st AD, Producers, and filmmakers interested in developing the skill of directing non actors.

LOCATION OF THE WORKSHOP
London UK

16 hours
Dates: 16th-17th of January 2027
Location: London UK
Price: 599.99 GBP (399GBP Until the 9th of September)
Vacancies: 25
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