Chennai: Writer-filmmaker-actor Kamal Haasan will organize an international workshop on screenwriting in association with Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) between May 29 and June 3, 2009.

The workshop will be held at IIT-M itself.

Two Hundred and fifty students will participate in the Chennai International Screenwriting Workshop.

The deadline for the applications is May 5.

"The event is completely instructional and basic education is mandatory for it. Interested candidates need to exhibit their seriousness and dedication to get selected," said Mr. Haasan.

Writer Jean Claude Carriere will teach students in videoconference mode. K. Hariharan, director of the L.V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, will conduct the workshop along with Anjum Rajabali, professional screenwriter and the head of the departments of screenwriting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune and Whistling Woods, Mumbai.

Atul Tiwari, professional screenwriter and playwright at FTII will also conduct lectures in the workshop.

The approach for screenwriting would be from two angles - "How to turn words into images that we see on screen and also how to do the opposite - putting in words what you see as images in your mind," said Hariharan.

"Even though all good writings are basically intuitive, it is important to understand the basic principles of storytelling and the form of the screenplay to be a competent screenwriter," said Mr. Rajabali.

"Screenwriting has been a neglected discipline even in film schools for a long time now. But still we have seen that the pedagogy of screenwriting has not established its roots in India," adds Mr. Tiwari.

The event is an initiative of Raajkamal Films International to bring screenwriting to the fore.

Interested candidates should send their resume and a passport-size photograph with a 200-word synopsis on their favourite film along with a list of their five favourite films to admissions@screenwritingindia.com. Details are available at http://screenwritingindia.com