As top industry names and emerging talents meet in Vilnius from October 10-13, BPF will host events on intimacy co-ordination, talent agents and co-production opportunities.
The 11th Baltic Pitching Forum will be focused on the pitching of 12 projects from the Baltics which will take place on October 12. The event participants will pitch their work to the panel of industry experts alongside the Baltic Producer’s Jury.
Projects selected from Estonia are Pulcinella (dir. Hleb Kuftseryn, prod. Kadriann Kibus), Stiina (dir. Elisabeth Kužovnik, prod. Andreas Kask) and Mari, Sweetie (dir. Vivian Säde, prod. Eve Tisler, Gabrielė Vaičiūnaitė, Vesta Tučkutė). From Latvia hail Ainas (dir. Monta Gāgane, prod. Katrīna Karple), In Her Locket (dir. Sandija Miglava, prod. Kristiāna Kalniņa) and Thank You For Your Review (dirs. Līva Polkmane and Marta Šleiere, prod. Emīls Alps). Lithuania’s three projects are Out (dir. Kristijonas Dirsė), On Conductor Street (dir. Gintė Regina, prod. Akvilė Žilionytė) and Drifting Apart (dir. Martynas Kundrotas).
Read more about the selected projects here.
Baltic Pitching Forum is also welcoming its first guest country from outside the Baltic Sea region, namely Greece. With a reputation for the defiantly surreal and achingly human, Greek cinema – especially short films – have garnered many plaudits over the last decade. The projects included are Cuddle Party (dir. Ioanna Digenaki, prod. Manos Tzivakis), Tropic of the Mourning Gecko (dir. Stavros Markoulakis, prod. Ioanna Bolomyti) and The Incomplete Truth About Everything (dir. Emma Doxiadi, prod. Ioanna Bolomyti). In celebration of Greece being the guest country, there will also be a screening “The Drama Festival is Travelling to BPF: Greek Highlights from 2020-2022”, a short film programme of lauded short films from the country presented by the Drama International Short Film Festival.
Aside from giving immediate feedback to the pitches, the BPF Panel will award two short film projects (from the Baltic States) with participant rights to the European Short Film Co-production Forum Euro Connection (part of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival), and the Talents and Shorts Film Market (TSFM) and its Pitching Session You Only Pitch Twice.
This year’s BPF Panel will consist of Alessandro Giorgio (Talents and Short Film Market, Italy), Antoine Guillemot (sales agent, oriGine Films, France), Basel Mawlawi (producer, Kinana Films, Sweden), Elise Notseck (distributor/sales agent, Shortcuts, France), Julie Rousson (coordinator of Euro Connection, programmer at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, France), Ben Vandendaele (sales agent, Radiator IP Sales, Belgium) and Sari Volanen (TV commissioning editor, Yle TV, Finland).
The Baltic Producers’ Jury will be made up of Anu Veermäe-Kaldra (Menufilmid, Estonia), Guntis Trekteris (Ego Media, Latvia) and Klementina Remeikaitė (Afterschool, Lithuania)
who will select the Best Short Film Project and award it with Baltic Producers MEDIA Award – a 1000 EUR cash prize, initiated by the Creative Europe MEDIA Desks in Lithuania, Latvia
and Estonia.
Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle will award one of the Baltic Pitching Forum’s projects with the Yle TV Pre-buy Award worth 2500 euros.
During its four days, the BPF will also include a number of open lectures and discussions. Most of the events will be for onsite participants, though pitching sessions will be live-streamed and accessible to all registered professionals. For attending event or watching pitching sessions online – pre-registration is required here.
Pitching expert Gabriele Brunnenmeyer will present “Go Out and Pitch!” which will focus on the central elements of a convincing pitch, examining the importance of preparation as well as structuring a presentation that resonates with the audience. Brunnenmeyer will also lead the participants through extensive pitch training.
Providing an overview of the most important co-production opportunities within and involving Greece, Barbara Dukas (Pitching Lab, Drama International Short Film Festival) will present “Greece: Everything You Wanted to Know About Co-production Possibilities”. The programme also includes Austėja Milvydaitė, Head of MEDIA Office at Creative Europe Desk, discussing Creative Europe MEDIA and opportunities for short filmmakers.
“In the Director's Vision: The Harmonious Collaboration of Directors and Intimacy Coordinators” will explore the vital partnership between film directors and intimacy coordinators. Presented by Irma Pužauskaitė, film director, intimacy coordinator and co-founder of the Lithuania based Baltic Intimacy Professionals, the event will attempt to gain insights, engage in practical exercises, and learn about creating safe, inclusive film sets.
“Talent Agency Ecosystem and Practices" will see Aleksandra Aleksander, talent agent for the Poland based Match and Spark, focus on the central elements of a cooperation between talent and agent or manager. Romanas Matulis will discuss Crew United's, the largest European online network for all audiovisual industry professionals, most important and crucial functions, as well as its unique selling points.
See the full programme here.
The 11th Baltic Pitching Forum will take place on October 11-13 at the National Gallery of Art (Konstitucijos ave. 22 Vilnius). The event is open to the general public and free of charge.
The Baltic Pitching Forum is organised by Lithuanian Short Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts” in partnership with Riga International Film Festival, Riga International Short Film Festival
2ANNAS, and PÖFF Shorts (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival). “Lithuanian Shorts” is supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture. The project is supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture, Audiovisual Works Copyright Association “AVAKA” and Vilnius City Municipality. Partners – Creative Europe MEDIA Desks in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Greek Film Centre, Drama International Short Film Festival and Vilnius Film Office.