Twenty-six documentary film projects have been selected for the 29th edition of Baltic Sea Docs, the co-production and co-financing forum located in Riga, Latvia, and running 31 August to 5 September 2025. The selection includes 22 projects in development and at production stage, along with four projects in post-production presented in the forum’s Coming Soon section.
Every year, Baltic Sea Docs brings together documentary professionals from over 20 countries, serving as an important meeting platform for filmmakers from the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and beyond. As in previous years, the selection features a strong presence from the Baltic states, alongside projects from Ukraine, Finland, Poland, and other countries in the region.
This year’s project line-up reflects “a strong engagement with urgent contemporary issues and deeply personal narratives,” organisers write. “Many projects explore the enduring impacts of war, such as Face It Without Fearby Svitlana Lishchynska, portraying intergenerational trauma and complicity in violence. Others tackle personal rediscovery and loss, such as A Guide to Grief by Ivars Zviedris, while several stand out for their experimentation with form and authorship, from animal-led storytelling (Creaturama – Epic of the Animals) to hybrid observational styles (Kind of Adults, a self-documented portrait of Gen Z teens).”
Two of the projects have been invited to Baltic Sea Docs through collaboration with other industry platforms. Operation Champion ((Radium Films, Georgia), a portrait of a para-athlete set against a backdrop of political turbulence, received the Baltic Sea Docs Award at this year’s East Doc Platform. Meanwhile the war-and-football allegory The Wars We Play (Carousel Films, Germany/Ukraine) was awarded at DOK.forum München.
The Baltic Sea Docs pitching sessions will take place 4–5 September. Before that, the selected project teams will join a preparatory workshop led by international industry experts Tue Steen Müller and Mikael Opstrup (Denmark). The tutor team will also include film directors Salomé Jashi (Georgia) and Mia Halme (Finland), producer Darya Bassel (Ukraine), and film editor Phil Jandaly (Sweden).
Alongside the industry forum, a public screening programme of recent creative documentaries will take place in Riga and several regional towns between 2–7 September. Click here for more information about the selected film projects.
BALTIC SEA DOCS 2025 SELECTED PROJECTS:
- A Guide To Grief (Latvia) Director: Ivars Zviedris Producers: Ivars Zviedris, Liene Ulmane (Documentarian)
- Brake for Gold (Poland) Director: Adelina Borets. Producer Glib Lukianets (Gogol Film)
- Bride of the Invisible (Lithuania, Poland) Director: Audrius Stonys. Producers: Marija Stonytė, Mantas Kazlauskas (UKU films). Co-production company: Drygas Film Production
- Creaturama – Epic of the Animals (Finland, Estonia) Director: Juha Suonpää. Producers: Juha Suonpää (Swamphead Oy), Liis Nimik (Klara Films)
- Cuba. Deprivation (Latvia) Director Staņislavs Tokalovs. Producers Līva Vernere, Uldis Cekulis (VFS Films)
- DNA of the Nation (Ukraine, Lithuania) Director: Ivan Sautkin. Producers: Ivanna Khitsinska (Babylon`13), Ringailė Leščinskienė (Zero Copy)
- Elīna Garanča: The Symphony of Life (Latvia, Germany, Austria). Director Signe Birkova. Producers: Gints Grūbe, Dārta Vijgrieze (Mistrus Media). Co-production company 3B-PRODUKTION
- Face It Without Fear (Sweden, Ukraine) Director: Svitlana Lishchynska. Producers: Fredrik Lange (Vilda Bomben Film), Svitlana Lischynska
- Garden of Anna (Latvia, India) Director Kristīne Briede. Producers: Kristīne Briede (Vino Films), Rajani Mani (Elephant Corridor Films)
- Kind of Adults (Hungary) Directors: Peter Akar, Rita Balogh. Producer: Rita Balogh (OTHER FILMS)
- Maria Is On TV (Lithuania) Directors: Viktorija Mickutė, Ieva Balsiūnaitė. Producer: Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė (Just A Moment)
- Missing in Action (wt) (Ukraine, Norway) Directors Kateryna Holovko, Marharyta Melnychuk. Producers: Aliona Kachkan, Eugene Rachkovsky (TABOR), Martin Walther (Walther Bros)
- Olimbi – Mother Courage (Croatia) Director Karlo Mlinar. Producer Filip Filković (More-Magnets)
- Operation Champion (Georgia) Director Mariam Nikolaishvili. Producer: Irina Gelashvili (Radium Films)
- Rapland (Finland) Director:Miina Alajärvi. Producer: Oona Saari (Illume)
- RepairMan (Lithuania) Director: Marija Stonytė. Producers: Akvilė Žilionytė-Khan, Mantas Kazlauskas (UKU films)
- Rita (Lithuania) Director: Gailė Garnelytė. Producer: Akvilė Žilionytė-Khan (Artišokai)
- The Perfect (Estonia, Finland) Director: Laura Liventaal. Producers: Hõbe Ilus (Sui), Oona Saari (Illume)
- The Roads of Forgotten Dreams (Estonia, Germany) Director: Joosep Matjus. Producers: Katri Rannastu (Wildkino), Claudia Zenkert (SEETREE)
- The Wars We Play (Germany, Ukraine) Directors: Anton Yaremchuk, João Pedro Prado. Producers: Vincent Edusei, Maritza Grass (Carousel Film)
- Threads of My Ancestors (Estonia) Director: Carlos Lesmes. Producer: Merili Laur (Tin Can)
- Women and War (Poland, Germany, Ukraine) Directors: Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski. Producers: Maciej Kubicki (Telemark), Hans-Robert Eisenhauer (Ventana Film), Natalie Krasilnikova (Art Dialog)
COMING SOON | FILMS IN POST-PRODUCTION STAGE FROM PREVIOUS BSD EDITIONS
- In the Winds of the Icefields (Estonia) Director: Mihkel Oksmann. Producer: Hõbe Ilus (Sui)
- My Family and Other Clowns (Estonia) Directors: Heilika Pikkov, Liina Särkinen. Producer: Ülo Pikkov (Silmviburlane)
- Požerskis: In Focus (Lithuania) Director: Joris Skudra. Producer: Justė Michailinaitė (Broom Films)
- Shut the Fuck Up! (Ukraine) Director: Taisiia Kutuzova, Producer: Alona Savchuk (Crimean Waves)
