The Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (Baltic Sea Docs) handed out its project awards September 10 at the end of its 27th edition which took place on September 3-10.
The forum’s pitching sessions and industry events were hosted in Riga (Latvia), film screenings in several towns across the country and a preparatory workshop for film project representatives in the seaside village of Liepupe. The event brought together filmmakers from the wider Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe, as well as industry experts from Europe and beyond.
24 film projects participated at the forum, represented by film studios from 11 countries, including Ukraine, the Baltic states, Poland, Finland, Sweden, and Georgia. 20 film projects were presented in Riga for the first time and four projects returned to participate in the forum’s new “Coming Soon” session, aimed to showcase films already in the post-production stage.
Zane Balčus, the Baltic Sea Docs project manager, commented: “We are very pleased with this year’s edition and the opportunity to, once again, serve as a platform for important meetings and connections. With an expanded industry programme we were able to bring to Riga more film professionals than ever. We are very happy, together with our partners, to present awards to help filmmakers reach their goals and audiences.”
At the end of the Baltic Sea Docs industry events, selected filmmakers and film projects received the following awards:
- Current Time TV award (€2000 cash award): Eros and Thanatos (Ukraine, director Dmytro Tiazhlov, producer Ella Shtyka, Indie Media Polis)
- BB Post House award (post-production services to the value of €3000): Sacrum and Profanum in Pievenai(Lithuania, director Giedrė Beinoriūtė, producer Jurga Gluskinienė, Monoklis)
- IDFA Spotlight award (participation, travel, accommodation and tailored program at IDFA) Director Eva Dzhyshyashvili, (Ukraine, project Archive. Box#64, producer Natalia Libet, 2Brave Productions, co-producer Valeria Sochyvets);
- Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights award (€2500 cash award for production, post-production or impact campaign costs): project War in Chornobyl (Ukraine, director Oleksiy Radynski, producer Lyuba Knorozok, Kinotron Group)
- Baltic Sea Docs Award (opportunity to pitch at a future edition of Baltic Sea Docs): director Mindaugas Survila (Lithuania) who participated at the forum with Yalla Yalla, produced by Giedrė Žickytė, Moonmakers; director Mihkel Oksmann (Estonia) who presented In the Winds of the Icefields (wt), produced by Hõbe Ilus, Sui; and producer Marina-Evelina Cracana (Film and Tell, Sweden), who presented Vanessa (wt), directed by Åsa Ekman, Martina Iverus, Oscar Hedin, produced by Oscar Hedin.
The pitching sessions took place on September 7-8, moderated by Mikael Opstrup and Tue Steen Müller (Denmark). The projects were presented to a panel of decision-makers representing leading TV channels, sales/distribution companies and festivals/markets.
This year, Baltic Sea Docs offered a broader industry event programme in collaboration with Creative Europe MEDIA Desks. On September 6, a seminar was held with a key-note by the author and curator Barbara Wurm, the head of the Berlinale Forum, on the phenomenon of a documentary approach in fiction films, covering two case studies.
11 Creative Europe MEDIA Desks also collaborated to bring their initiative Travelling Docs to Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (the programme is carried out at a distinct documentary event every year). This year’s Travelling Docs. Share Your Stories was a networking activity for Baltic, Ukrainian and other European documentary producers with the aim to facilitate CE MEDIA Co-development projects.
Throughout the week of the forum, an online film programme was available on the platform filmas.lv administered by the National Film Centre of Latvia. The programme included three films that have previously been presented at the forum in project stage: Diary of a Bride of Christ (2022, director Marta Smerechynska), Gentle Warriors (2020, director Marija Stonyte) and See You Never Ever! (2022, director Ivars Zviedris).
