NO MAN’S LAND CREATIVE RETREAT
Calabria, October 2026. The first in the Curation Hour Creative Retreat Programme
We're announcing something we've been building quietly for a while: the Curation Hour Creative Retreat Programme.
A curated series of retreats for filmmakers and creative professionals, held in places chosen for their beauty, their quietness, and the people we bring into them. No lanyards, no printed programme. Simply time to disconnect, and reconnect: with nature, with yourself, and with a select group of creative professionals.
The first edition takes us to No Man's Land, Calabria. October 2026.
Renovated by two filmmakers, slowly, with care. Remote, warm, and built for the kind of work that needs room to breathe. A place of quiet. Of early mornings and open water. Of walks through the forest and conversations that actually go somewhere. No Man's Land is the first of the Curation Hour Creative Retreats. Not a workshop. Not a conference. A space for filmmakers to step away from the noise, put the deadlines down for a few days, and remember why they do this in the first place.
The Programme
Five days, October 2026, in Calabria: one of southern Italy's quieter corners, perched between the Apennine Mountains, Italy's largest national park, and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Up to ten filmmakers. Daily workshops with a decidedly un-industry bent. No agenda beyond attention: serious play, fresh perspective, and the space to sit with the work you never have time for.
Days move between the house itself, the forests of Parco Nazionale del Pollino, and the coastline around Arco d'Enea. Meals at a local taverna, a pizzeria with a view that earns it, and a farmhouse where everything on the table was made there.
Workshops will be led by our mentor, Rachel Leah Jones.
Rachel Leah Jones
An Emmy-winning documentary director and producer. Selected by the European Film Academy. Honoured by Cinema Eye. Shortlisted for the Oscars. A five-time Sundance nominee, with work that has travelled from Sundance to Docaviv to screens worldwide over three decades and four continents: 500 Dunam on the Moon, Ashkenaz, Targeted Citizen, Gypsy Davy, Advocate, and this year's Coexistence, My Ass!
Alongside her own films, Jones has spent years as a story consultant, directing mentor, and curator for other people's work. She joins No Man's Land not to teach, but to sit in the room and take the work seriously.
How to attend
Up to ten mid-career international filmmakers, curated on portfolio and fit for this edition. People who need to step outside the noise of the industry for a while. People looking for a slower, more human way to connect with others doing the same work, under the same pressure.
A chance to disconnect from the business of it all, somewhere genuinely quiet, genuinely beautiful. It's a chance to disconnect from the business of the world, and take a breath somewhere genuinely beautiful and quiet.
Register your interest by filling out the form below. Spaces are limited, and we're finalising numbers by the end of August. Everyone who registers hears back with the full details: cost, exact location, and who else will be there.