Before CALIBRATION was a screenplay, it was a question.

In early 2025, director Serani Hunyi created a photographic series called EXILE. The series explored themes of displacement, isolation, identity, and belonging, eventually going on to receive several international photography awards.

At the same time, however, another story was quietly unfolding behind the scenes.

Serani was undergoing treatment for severe PTSD.

During treatment, she found herself researching every available medical and psychological option, searching for a way forward. PTSD affected every aspect of daily life, from work and relationships to sleep, concentration, and decision-making.

One question kept returning:

What if suffering could simply be removed?

And more importantly:

What would it cost?

The idea stayed with her.

From EXILE to CALIBRATION: How an Award-Winning Screenplay Became a Feature Film

Initially, the plan was simple. Serani intended to create a small vertical short film inspired by EXILE and shoot it on a mobile phone. But during a walk on a beach in Spain, she shared the concept with screenwriter L.B. Schulman and asked whether she might be interested in developing the story further.

What followed was a creative partnership that transformed the original concept into something much larger.

Together, Serani and Schulman began exploring the psychological consequences of engineered trauma, corporate control, neurodivergence, memory, and the human desire to escape pain. As the story evolved, so did its characters. Freya, Hannah, Angela, and Dr. Reed emerged. Harbor took shape. The world expanded.

Most importantly, the project found its title.

CALIBRATION.

The word captured everything the story was trying to explore. Not healing. Not recovery. Calibration. A subtle adjustment. A correction. A system designed to bring human beings back into alignment, whether they want it or not.

Within a matter of months, Schulman completed the screenplay and began submitting it to international screenwriting competitions. The screenplay quickly began attracting attention on the festival circuit. In 2026, CALIBRATION won Best International Short Psychological Drama Screenplay at the Austin International Film Festival and was later selected by the Sofia World Film Festival.

For Serani, however, the screenplay was only the beginning. Following the success of the award-winning short screenplay written by L.B. Schulman, Serani continued developing CALIBRATION for production, ultimately expanding the project into a 45-minute feature-length adaptation.

It soon became clear that the story could not be contained within a traditional short film format. The emotional journey of Freya demanded more space. The world itself demanded more space.

The more Serani developed Freya's journey, the clearer it became that the story needed room to breathe.

Finding the right city became equally important.

Barcelona had originally been considered as a filming location, but that changed after Serani began auditioning actors in Prague.

The city immediately felt right.

Concept development for CALIBRATION began during the director's recovery from PTSD and the creation of her award-winning photographic series EXILE starring Natasha Radina

Prague possesses a unique visual character that few European cities can match. Layers of history exist alongside brutalist architecture, modern infrastructure, and vast public spaces. The result is a city that feels both familiar and slightly disconnected from time. For a story exploring surveillance, control, trauma, and emotional regulation, Prague offered an ideal backdrop.

"I wanted the city itself to feel like a character," says Serani. "Prague has this unusual ability to feel both beautiful and slightly unsettling at the same time. It felt like the perfect home for CALIBRATION."

It also offered access to an extraordinary pool of acting talent.

Prague has long been one of Europe's leading production hubs, hosting dozens of international film and television productions each year. The quality of auditions received for CALIBRATION was exceptionally high, attracting performers from across Europe and beyond.

Although the production is being filmed in Prague, the three lead performers ultimately selected for the film all live outside the Czech Republic.

According to Serani, the decision was immediate.

"When I watched their self-tapes, I knew they were right for the roles. There wasn't any hesitation."

Once the cast was assembled, rehearsals began.

Today, CALIBRATION continues its journey from award-winning screenplay to completed feature film.

At its heart, however, the project remains rooted in the same question that first emerged during recovery from PTSD:

If technology could remove the parts of ourselves that suffer, would we still be ourselves when it was done?

That question remains at the heart of CALIBRATION — a story about trauma, control, autonomy, and the hidden cost of fixing what makes us human.

Find out more about CALIBRATION - a Serani Hunyi film.

Prague as the backdrop for Serani's film CALIBRATION