Leading short film industry event, to be held in Vilnius on 6-9 October, reveals slate of 12 projects from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and – guest country – Italy.
Published: 31.08.2026.
The 14th edition of the Baltic Pitching Forum (BPF) has announced the 12 short film projects that will get the opportunity to be pitched to a panel of international film industry experts. Recognised as one of the leading industry events in the Baltics, the Baltic Pitching Forum showcases talented filmmakers from the region and beyond, offering them invaluable industry advice and experience from a wide range of film professionals.
The chosen Estonian projects include Blue Tower (dir. Mari Koff, prod. Sergo Kibus, Kadriann Kibus), an animation about two characters struggling to maintain a fragile balance, only to unleash chaos and reveal their hidden sides. Also on hand will be fiction short film project Smart Men (dir. Liina Särkinen, prod. Kirill Volkov), a story about lonely widows, AI husbands, and the real man who disrupts their fragile coexistence, and fiction film A Working Mother (dir. Hanna-Mirtel Paas) which sees a burnt-out mother escaping family life, only to rediscover herself in solitude.
From Latvia comes Mara's House (dir. Egija Smeile, prod. Tabita Paula Avotiņa, Matīss Kaža), in which a mother’s 55th birthday descends into a grotesque, absurd family nightmare. The second project about the arrival of a faded Hollywood star, which sparks rumors, intrigue, and absurdity in Riga, is Seeing John Malkovich (dir. Ildze Felsberga). The Latvian selection is rounded out by Bacon Bun (dir. Žanete Skarule, prod. Dominiks Jarmakovičs), in which a boy’s search for belonging leads to painful consequences.
The projects from Lithuania will be made up of three animated films. There will be a portrait of aging and loneliness, as a grandmother watches her circle of friends slowly disappear, called The Phonebook (dir. Nina Chubinishvili, prod. Giedrė Burokaitė), a mixed-media animation exploring memory, resistance, and the legacy of Lithuanian librarian, humanist, and rescuer of Jews Ona Šimaitė in Walks. I Love, Therefore I Am (dir. Gintarė Valevičiūtė-Brazauskienė, prod. Justė Beniušytė) and, lastly, a short animated project Meat Jelly (dir. Emilė Maigytė, prod. Marija Lenkutytė-Bartoševič, Agnė Adomėnė), in which a young woman confronts her relationship with her body, moving between past and present toward self-acceptance and healing.
The BPF’s guest country will be Italy, with the first project from the country being Creature! (dir. Irene Dionisio, prod. Emanuele Segre) – a fiction film about childhood, death, grief, and the fragile boundary between reality and imagination. The second Italian project is Melting (dir. Andrea Grasselli, prod. Gianluca Rossi) – a poetic, experimental journey through glaciers, mythology, ecological disaster, and the fragile bond between humans and ice. Final project, The Belly of the Whale (dir. Niccolò Salvato, prod. Mara Crăcăleanu), tells the story of a young Senegalese immigrant confronting trauma, homesickness, and violence in Milan.
You can find out more about the selected projects HERE.
For participants pitching projects, the Baltic Pitching Forum programme begins in September with individual online script consultations led by Polish scriptwriting consultant Anna Bielak. During the main event in October, participants will further develop their pitching skills through dedicated training sessions and gain insights from industry professionals during open lectures. The programme will culminate in project presentations before a panel of international industry experts, who will offer feedback and select the winning projects.
More information about the attending experts and lecture programme will be announced in mid-September.
Baltic Pitching Forum is organized by the Lithuanian Short Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts”. The event is partly financed by the Lithuanian Film Centre, Vilnius City Municipality, Audiovisual Works Copyright Association “AVAKA” and Baltisches Haus. Associated partners: Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Riga IFF, Latvian Short Film Agency and PÖFF Shorts (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival). Partners – Creative Europe MEDIA Desks in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Italy, Italian Short Film Center, Estonian Film Institute, Embassy of Italy in Lithuania, ShorTO Film Market, European Short Film Co-production Forum Euro Connection, UP Records, Baltic Talent Agency.
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CONTACT PERSON
Ieva Daugialaitė
Digital Communication Coordinator
Baltic Pitching Forum &
Lithuanian Short Film Agency
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