Northern Script is a Nordic Short Film program which has existed since 2017. Northern Script is organized by Mediametka (Metka Centre for Media Education), which has over 60 years of history within the film culture and media education field in Finland.
Mediametka and its activities such as Northern Script are financed by Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland and by several Nordic or European funding programs.
The Northern Script originates from a simple idea to showcase the incredible young Nordic talent in scriptwriting. Since its beginning, Northern Script project has highlighted young writers and helped them develop their own personal and professional skills.
When Northern Script was organized for the first time (2017), Mediametka wanted to create a Nordic network with three big children’s and youth film festivals in the Nordic countries. Since the beginning we have collaborated with many festivals but the most long-term collaboration has been with Oulu Children’s and Youth Film Festival where the annual Northern Script scriptwriting camp is organised. This event provides our young participants the first connection to the film industry and the opportunity to showcase their work to the public.
Originally Northern Script started off as a scriptwriting competition but the idea of rivalry doesn’t serve the creative practice. Nowadays, Northern Script provides a safe space to develop early career skills and the identity of a young writer providing them with industry networks and the support of more experienced filmmakers. The purpose of the Northern Script is to support authentic Nordic cultural and linguistic identity of young Nordic writers.