StoryTANK

The European Think Tank created by Le Groupe Ouest bringing together scriptwriters & researchers

The StoryTANK opens new perspectives and new angles of understanding on one of the most complex and fascinating professions: that of the scriptwriter, the storyteller, the writer of fiction or the creator of singular worlds.

The manufacturing of narrative addresses fundamental issues, not only of an artistic nature, but also anthropological, societal, political and prospective. The function of narratives is to bring communities together through shared visions, emotions or constructions of the imagination.

Today, films, series and globally all narrative conveyed by the moving image, have become the life blood for our societies’ representations and projections.

For the better, and sometimes for the worse: over the past twenty years, the degradation and massive global export of a certain type of Hollywood narrative, particularly popular among younger generations – films for the box office promoting weapons, brutality, violence and superheroes – now raises a worldwide challenge. It’s as if we are facing a sort of breakdown in our capacity to dream, to embrace new horizons, to provide alternative models for the new generations.

Europe’s strength lies in its own distinctive traits which are too often considered as banal: its rich cultural diversity, its secularism, its own unique experiences, the personal stories embracing social criticism. Since the Age of Enlightenment, the fabrication of narrative in Europe covers a variety of themes rich with nuances and the ability to question the world which are unique in the world.

Reconquer the “making of storytelling”

It would appear therefore, that regaining proficiency “storytelling” with a constructive and receptive view on new methods, has become a fundamental lever in the crafting of meaning, as well as a humanist “soft power” tool in a disorientated world. The challenge in creating stories proposing themes other than violence, and the need for contemporary stories projecting as many alternatives and collective representations as possible, has become crucial.

This is why Le Groupe Ouest launched the StoryTANK.

From a humanistic perspective, the key aim of StoryTANK is to build a European coalition of talents and researchers to refine our understanding of how narratives work, how fiction is constructed and how meaning emerges, clear of the systematized and symbolized archetypes produced by Hollywood. We aim to bring skilled film and fiction writers together to work proactively, pragmatically with researchers in fields juxtaposing narrative (cognitive sciences, human sciences, physiology…).

These interviews and brainstorming sessions are filmed by the Parasites, writers of the event series “L’Effondrement” (The Collapse).

All the interviews are available on StoryTANK’s YouTube Channel:

Discover

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StoryTANK, a Groupe Ouest intiative supported by Europe Créative (Media), filmed by Atelier 7 & Les Parasites. Developed with LIM | Less is More, and its partners: Control N (Romania), Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds – VAF (Belgium), Krakow Festival Office – KBF (Poland), Norwegian Film Institute – NFI, Région Bretagne (France), Focal (Switzerland), MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Ffilm Cymru Wales.

New European Bauhaus

Fictional narrative & the Meaning factory

In 2021, StoryTANK organised a conference called “Fictional narrative & the Meaning factory” bringing together scriptwriters and European researchers. This conference was organised as part of the New European Bauhaus, a European Commission initiative.