Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (Baltic Sea Docs) has concluded the project selection for its 24th edition that will run from 29 August to 6 September in mostly online form. The most important documentary training and pitching event in the Baltic countries, Baltic Sea Docs is focused on projects from the wider Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe and Caucasus region. The 24 selected projects come from 16 countries including Armenia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and others.
Published: 15.07.2020.
The event, usually taking place in Riga, Latvia, will consist of a preparatory workshop for the pitch participants, pitching sessions and individual meetings with international experts, as well as seminars and a film programme. This year Baltic Sea Docs will celebrate its 24th edition, which has had to take an online form due to the epidemiological situation.
Among the selected projects, established filmmakers will present their films along professionals recently beginning their work in the field of documentary. At the same time selection includes projects that will have their first exposure to the international industry while some have already been presented before.
The film projects participating at Baltic Sea Docs 2020:
Age (Sweden / Film and Tell. Producers: Oscar Hedin, Marina-Evelina Cracana. Director: Gustav Ågerstrand)
Artem and Eva (Russia, France, Estonia / TVINDIE, Petit a Petit Production, Marx Film. Producers: Yevgeny Gindilis, Rebecca Houzel, Max Tuula, Maria Gavrilova. Director: Evgeny Milykh)
Atonal Glow (Georgia / Spark. Producer/Director: Alexander Koridze)
Blind Pit (Italy, Latvia / Nacne sas, Baltic Balkan Productions. Producer/Director: Federico Schiavi)
Courage (Belarus, Germany / Living Pictures Production GbR, Illusion Film Company. Producer: Jörn Möllenkamp. Director: Aliaksei Paluyan)
Diary of a Bride of Christ (Ukraine / DIGITAL RELIGION LLC. Producer: Natalia Libet. Director: Marta Smerechynska)
Experts of Love (Estonia / KUUKULUR FILM OÜ/ Moonwalkers FILM. Producer: Andres Maimik. Director: Eva Kübar)
Fight (Armenia / MOTIF FILMS, Vie Des Hauts Production. Producer: Sona Margaryan. Director: Lilit Movsisyan)
The Girls of 1960 (Latvia / Fenixfilm. Producer: Matiss Kaza. Director: Una Celma)
Home Is Where the Films Are (Kosovo / Arena, 39films. Producer/Director: More Raça)
The Land (Latvia / Mistrus Media. Producers: Gints Grūbe, Elīna Gediņa – Ducena. Director: Ivars Seleckis)
Life After Death (Lithuania / Film Jam. Producer: Stasys Baltakis. Director: Nerijus Milerius)
Life of Ivanna (Russia, Norway, Finland/ Ethnofund Film Company, Ten Thousand Images, Illume Oy. Producers: Vladislav Ketkovich, Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Petrri Vijalainen. Director: Renato Borrayo Serrano)
Love in the Time of Corona (Lithuania, Italy / Just a moment. Producer: Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė. Directors: Virginija Vareikyte, Maximilien Dejoie)
Nina Gets Married (Poland / Pinot Films. Producers: Marta Duzbabel, Agnieszka Rostropowicz-Rutkowska. Director: Andrzej Szypulski)
Nord Express (Latvia, Estonia / Mistrus Media, Allfilm. Producers: Gints Grūbe, Elīna Gediņa – Ducena. Director: Kārlis Lesiņš)
Podnieks On Podnieks (Latvia / JURIS PODNIEKS STUDIO. Producer: Antra Cilinska. Director: Anna Viduleja)
Shut the Fuck Up! (Ukraine, France / Digital Religion, East Roads Films. Producers: Stephane Siohan, Olga Beskhmelnytsina. Director: Taisiia Kutuzova)
Sunny (Georgia / Terra Incognita Films, Sunny Films. Producer: Nato Sikharulidze. Director: Keti Machavariani)
The Trans Syrian Express (Finland, Russia / Illume Ltd, 317-Films. Producers: Pertti Veijalainen, Sergey Vinokurov. Director: Alina Rudnitskaya)
Underling In Bird Kingdom (Estonia / Allfilm. Producer: Ivo Felt. Director: Marko Raat)
Waitersgate (Poland / ZK Studio. Producer: Malgorzata Prociak. Director: Konrad Szolajski)
We Are Animals (Finland / Tuffi Films. Producers: Elli Toivoniemi, Venla Hellstedt, Director: Saila Kivelä, Vesa Kuosmanen)
When the Harmattan Blows (Poland / Pinot Films. Producers: Marta Duzbabel, Agnieszka Rostropowicz-Rutkowska. Director: Edyta Wroblewska)
Prior to the public pitching sessions, project teams will be provided with training opportunities to enhance their project presentations. The tutors of Baltic Sea Docs this year will be the documentary film consultants Tue Steen Müller and Mikael Opstrup (Denmark), Péter Kerekes, lecturer at DocNomads Joint Masters programme, director of Cooking History (2009), Velvet Terrorists (2013) among other titles, Emma Davie, the director of Becoming Animal (2018), I Am Breathing (2013), one of the internationally most acclaimed Lithuanian film directors Audrius Stonis, Gitte Hansen, sales and acquisition representative at First Hand Films, Nino Orjonikidze who’s most recent film A Tunnel (2019) was presented at the First Appearance competition programme at IDFA, film editor Phil Jandaly (Sweden), and others.
Pitching sessions will take place on 3-4 September. The projects will be presented to a panel of decision makers representing TV channels, sales and distribution companies such as Cats and Docs (France), Syndicado (Canada), BBC (UK), NHK (Japan), EER (Estonia), LTV (Latvia), and others.
In parallel to industry events, a film programme of latest award-winning documentaries will be presented to wider public.
Baltic Sea Docs is organised by the National Film Centre of Latvia, with financial support from Creative Europe Media programme, and Riga Municipality. For the first time Baltic Sea Docs is partnering with the online platform Pitch the Doc.
More information about the selected film projects and the event is available on Baltic Sea Docs homepage: http://balticseadocs.lv/industry/
Information prepared by:
Ieva Lange
Representative of the Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries
National Film Centre of Latvia
ieva.lange@nkc.gov.lv
+371 22189061