Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (Baltic Sea Docs) has concluded the project selection for its 25th edition that will run on 1-12 September. 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 18 selected projects represent film studios in 17 countries including Poland, Armenia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Russia, among others.
Established in 1997 in Denmark, Baltic Sea Docs will celebrate its 25th edition this year. For 17 years the event has been taking place in Riga, Latvia where each September it gathers around 150 documentary film professionals for a preparatory workshop, public pitching sessions, individual meetings, and seminars. This year the forum will be organised in a hybrid format.
The film projects to be presented at Baltic Sea Docs 2021:
9-Month Contract ‒ Georgia / 1991 Productions
Director: Ketevan Vashagashvili; Producers: Nino Chichua, Anna Khazaradze
The Cello ‒ Finland /Illume Ltd
Director: Kira Jääskeläinen; Producer: Oona Saari
Dedovshina ‒ Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
Director/Producer: Elyor Nemat
Exchange ‒ Armenia / Ulik film production
Director: Aren Malakyan; Producers: Vahagn Khachatryan, Sona Karapoghosyan
Father’s Children ‒ Latvia / Woodpecker Pictures
Director: Karlis Lesins; Producer: Dominiks Jarmakovics
Girls’ Stories ‒ Poland / Pinot Films
Director: Aga Borzym; Producers: Agnieszka Rostropowicz-Rutkowska, Marta Duzbabel
Happiness ‒ Estonia, Russia / Marx Film
Directors: Dmitry Kubasov, Anastasia Murashkina; Producers: Max Tuula, Maria Gavrilova
The Invisibles ‒ Poland / Hasko Film
Director: Piotr Bernaś; Producer: Aleksandra Szczesna
Irena ‒ Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria / Moonmakers
Director/Producer: Giedre Zickyte
Machina Faust ‒ Estonia / Flo Film OÜ
Director/Producer: Kaupo Kruusiauk
The Manifesto of Tenderness ‒ Russia / Etnofund
Director: Ksenia Okhapkina; Producer: Vlad Ketkovich
Mara ‒ France / Les Steppes Productions
Director: Sasha Kulak; Producer: Louis Beaudemont
Moscow Nights ‒ Ireland, Germany, Romania / akajava films
Director: Irina Maldea; Producer: Brendan Culleton
Scarecrows ‒ Latvia / VFS FILMS
Director: Laila Pakalnina; Producer: Uldis Cekulis
Searching for the Goddess ‒ Lithuania / Moonmakers
Director: Lina Lytė Plioplytė; Producer: Andrėja Čebatavičiūtė
Stranded ‒ Latvia / Ego Media
Director: Stanislavs Tokalovs; Producer: Guntis Trekteris
Up in the Air ‒ Ukraine / ALBATROS COMMUNICOS UKRAINE
Director: Oksana Syhareva; Producer: Anna Kapustina
Upper Tensta, Stay or Go? ‒ Sweden / KW produktion ab
Directors: Karin Wegsjö, Nazira Abzalova; Producer: Karin Wegsjö
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), Salomé Jashi (Georgia), director of Taming the Garden (2021) and The Dazzling Light of Sunset (2016), sales and acquisition expert Gitte Hansen (Switzerland), film editor Phil Jandaly (Sweden), and others.
Film project pitching sessions will take place on 8-9 September. The projects will be presented to a panel of decision makers representing TV channels, sales and distribution companies such as MDR (Germany), YLE (Finland), Cats and Docs (France), BBC (UK), Al Jazeera (Qatar), TVP (Poland), LTV (Latvia).
In parallel to industry events, a film programme of international documentaries will be presented to wider public, as well as an anniversary programme of films presented at Baltic Sea Docs at a project stage over the years. The screenings will be held in cinema and online.
Baltic Sea Docs is organised by the National Film Centre of Latvia and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, State Culture Capital Foundation (special programme “KultūrElpa”) and Riga Municipality. More information about the selected film projects and the event is available on Baltic Sea Docs homepage.
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