MANILA, Philippines ? Filmmaker Auraeus Solito is the first Filipino to get invited to the Binger Film Lab, said Daan Gielis, head of Talent and Communications of the international film development center based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

?We are honored to have a talent like Auraeus at our center, where filmmakers are coached by world-renowned mentors,? Gielis told Inquirer in an e-mail.

Auraeus joins filmmakers from across the globe in the five-month script development program. In an e-mail, he reported: ?In our batch, there are filmmakers from Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Serbia, Israel, Palestine and Romania, among others. There?s a Moroccan-Dutch, Iranian-Dutch, Chinese-Indonesian-Dutch ... a totally multicultural environment.?

Among the teachers are Gyula Gazdag of the Sundance Institute and Molly Stensgard of the Danish Film Fund. Stensgard also works as editor for Cannes winner Lars von Trier. Solito?s main mentor is celebrated script editor Franz Rodenkirchen of Germany.

The Filipino director won a slot in the program with his first screenplay, ?Bugso (Deluge).? Said Gielis, ?The script he is developing is captivating and unique.?

Auraeus said of his story: ?It?s [about] a shaman who dreams of a deluge, and how he attempts to save his children.? He said he had the concept long before Typhoons ?Ondoy? and ?Pepeng.?

First time he read it in class, Auraeus said, the other students ?applauded.?

When the program ends in January 2010, the participants will attend the Rotterdam festival to present their projects to distributors, financiers and producers.