The meeting was organized by the International Department, Cinecittà/DGCA, with experts explaining how to benefit from local talent and incentives. Organized by the International Department, Cinecittà/DGCA, the meeting ‘Meet your Baltic partners: co-production support, tax incentives, cash rebate’ was held at the Italian Pavilion. Discovering the various Baltic funds supporting the film industry, with experts explaining how to benefit from local talent and incentives.
Published: 31.08.2025.
Roberto Stabile, Head of Internationalization, Cinecittà/DGCA, introduced the proceedings.
Laura Salerno, representative for international funds and minority co-productions, speaks on behalf of MiC-DG Cinema and Audiovisual: "It was a real challenge to open up to countries with which we were not used to co-producing or developing. In Italy, there is a tendency to think that we can only do this with countries with which we have cultural or geographical contiguity. But times have changed. It is now clear that diversity can also lead to great results. That is why we have increased the budget from €30,000 to €40,000 with our Baltic partners. It may not be a huge budget, but it is a very important start. And we are beginning to collaborate by writing screenplays, giving projects an international touch. The call for proposals will be published this year, no later than December 1. We are all members of the European Union, and the 2017 European Convention on Cinematographic Co-productions in Rotterdam is our basis.
Moderated by Davide Abbatescianni, journalist and film critic, Cineuropa.
Speaking for Estonia are Edith Sepp, CEO, Estonian Film Institute, and Evelin Penttilä, Producer/Partner, Stellar Film.
“The focus of our support is the author and their productions,” says Sepp. "We have a fund of €100,000, but the application process is very simple. This will allow you to have an Estonian co-producer. The second fund, which is particularly interesting, is cash reimbursement. From January 2026, you can request a refund of 40% and 30% of expenses incurred in Estonia, and we will also increase the budget to €10 million per year. This is very important for a small country like Estonia, and we hope that the number of Italian producers coming to Estonia will increase. And two sound stages are on the way."
Penttilä comments: “We look forward to welcoming you with the Italian delegation. The program is effective and profitable, we are reliable and fast, and since I am halfway through my collaboration with an Italian production partner, we can be friendly and get to know each other before immediately talking about business. Estonia is a country rich in talented people who want to work internationally.”
We then move on to Latvia, represented by Dita Rietuma, CEO, National Film Centre of Latvia, and Uldis Cekulis, CEO/Producer, VFS FILMS.
Of course, Flow's international success is still fresh. “We have great opportunities for co-production,” says Rietuma. "We have a lot to offer, not just animation. There are sculptures of dogs and cats all over the country, but we also have many different spaces. We are members of NATO, our population is less than 2 million, and we have an airport with excellent connections to the greenest countries in Europe. The nature is beautiful, with forests, lakes, long white beaches, and very diverse architecture, allowing us to shoot stories set in many different eras. We also have buildings designed by Italian architects and remnants of the Soviet presence.
In terms of money, we have a minority co-production fund. A 20-20% cash rebate, for 5 million per year. We have crews with extensive experience in international productions, who are also able to collaborate with Estonian and Lithuanian colleagues. We can offer a large backlot and there are many films shot in Latvia, such as Kristen Stewart's The Chronology of Water, which was shown at Cannes, but also Assayas' The Kremlin Wizard, which is being shown here in Venice, and Lonitsza's The Prosecutors.
Cekulis specifies, “as a documentary filmmaker, I learn to dance a different dance on every occasion.” He presents Tango of Life, a story of love, Parkinson's disease, and dance therapy. Then there are The Rossellinis and Roberto Rossellini – Living without a script, both of which focus in some way on the director of Rome, Open City.
And finally Lithuania, with Laimonas Ubavicus, CEO, Lithuanian Film Centre, Deimantas Saladžius, Head of Film Production Department, Lithuanian Film Centre, Emilija Sluškonytė – CEO | Producer, AUSTRÈ Studio.
The Lithuanian Film Centre was founded in 2012, a public administration with a budget of 11.2 million. 9.25 million is allocated to projects to be financed. There are two festivals in Vilnius, one for short films and one international. A human rights festival in October and Scanorama in November, as well as another on games and animation.
Among other things, the center finances the development, production, and promotion of films, the dissemination of Lithuanian cinema abroad, the collection of statistics, the maintenance of archives, and the management of tax incentives available for feature films, TV series, documentaries, and animation.
Up to 30% can be saved on the Lithuanian portion of the production budget.