Lolita Fortuin, Feature Screenplay FINALIST

Lolita Fortuin, Feature Screenplay FINALIST by BITTER BEANS

BITTER BEANS by Lolita Fortuin

A feature length drama.

With nothing but her wits as a weapon, a young Maya woman

searches three continents for a fair deal and free her folks of the

iron grip of the local henchmen.

One dark evening a reporter in the news told us all that Fair-Trade companies do not buy

beans from the farmers anymore, because they cannot sell them. Stunned and ashamed

about people’s indifference about other people’s lives, I wrote a two-page story draft, put it

in a drawer until my students had got through their exams, dropped my job as a lecturer at

the Danish University of Education, started training as a writer and do research about

coffee trade and the Maya culture.

I learned to distinguish between professional and sloppier feedback, to gradually change

my academic writing into dramatic writing and use tips and criticisms to develop the script.

It was not easy to change life as a a celebrated lecturer into life as a novice writer. But the

years of teaching and researching had provided me with a good daily routine. That helped.

I write a couple of hours in the morning, take a good long walk after lunch and do more

practical things in the afternoon. My best ideas turn up unannounced just before falling

asleep or walking along. I always have a small notebook and a pen at hand.

So here I am. A long list of academic texts is now supplied with a growing list of laurels for

my BITTER BEANS.

My script A FATAL CURE also has received laurels. Two more scripts are in early development.