Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 Catalogue by Lithuanian Shorts

12-13 OCTOBER, 2018 | VILNIUS, LITHUANIA ORGANIZER

CO-ORGANIZERS

Contents 2 3 4 13 14

Introduction Schedule Trainer and panelists Panel discussion List of selected projects

16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32

● County Court (EE) ● Encounters (EE) ● Synesthesia VR (EE) ● Behind the Curtain (LV) ● Breaking the Circle (LV) ● Meeting Again (LV) ● Blueberries & Milk (LT) ● Girl and the Piano (LT) ● Wishes (LT)

34 35 38 42 43

Awards Lithuanian Producers’ Jury BPF Alumni Focus Forum team Map of venues #BPF2018

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Introduction 2018 is a celebratory year for the Baltic States as we celebrate our respective 100th birthdays and we’re sure that this spirit of exuberance will be reflected within the latest edition of the Baltic Pitching Forum. While the festivities have been an acknowledgement of both the tragedies and triumphs of the pasts of our countries, they are also a celebration of the bright future that they face as they take on new challenges and achieve new goals. The Baltic Pitching Forum has always thrived on preparing a new generation of filmmaker to face the challenges of the future, one which includes new forms of filmmaking such as VR and an industry dealing with changing attitudes to diversity and inclusion. We’ll do this through practical training, with the participants gaining a grounding in pitching which will provide an important skill as their careers develop, and also bringing in a number of industry professionals who will not only provide invaluable advice on the presented projects but also be at the heart of many talks and debates about filmmaking, the industry and the future. In what is now becoming a tradition for the Baltic Pitching Forum, we’ll be welcoming back some former BPF alumni who will talk more about their experiences and share some tips on how to get films into the wider world. The BPF may not have reached its centenary but we’ll continue to march on into the future and celebrate the filmmaking talents present in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Baltic Pitching Forum team 2

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Schedule 12 OCTOBER , Friday

13 OCTOBER, Saturday

Moderator: Laurence Boyce

9.00 – 9.30 Registration

09.00 – 9.30 Registration

(morning coffee)

9.30 – 9.45 Introduction

9.30 – 11.00 Pitching session I

9.45 – 10.00 Creative Europe MEDIA:

11.00 – 11.15 Coffee break

What about shorts? (Austėja Milvydaitė, Creative Europe Desk Lithuania, MEDIA office)

11.15 – 12.30 Pitching session II

10.00 – 10.45 Pitching training, part

I: Presenting Yourself and Your Project (Gabriele Brunnenmeyer)

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch break 13.30 – 16.00 For participants only:

Debriefing & group work (Gabriele Brunnenmeyer)

10.45 – 11.00 Coffee break 11.00 – 11.45 Pitching training, part

16.00 – 16.30 Awards ceremony

II: Presenting Yourself and Your Project (Gabriele Brunnenmeyer)

16.30 – 17.00 Coffee break

11.45 – 12.30 BPF Alumni focus

One-to-one meetings with the Panelists

17.00 – 19.00 For participants only:

12.30 – 13.30 Panel discussion:

Festivals & Online - Together or Apart? 13.30 – 14.30 Lunch break 14.30 – 19.30 For participants only: Group work (Gabriele Brunnenmeyer)

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Event venue: Contemporary Art Centre, Vokiečių str. 2, LT- 01130 Vilnius, Lithuania. Organizer reserves the right to change the program. More information: www.bpf.lt

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Forum trainer

Gabriele Brunnenmeyer Germany

After some years as a journalist and film critic, Gabriele Brunnemeyer was working in various fields within the film industry: she was running the MEDIA Antenna Berlin-Brandenburg, acting as an artistic adviser for the MEDIA training initiative Moonstone International, as well as artistic director for Connecting Cottbus till the end of 2010. From 2013 till December 2014 she was the head of studies of the MEDIA supported training program Maia Workshops. From 2013 till 2018 she joined the conference coordination of the IDM Film Conference Incontri in Italy. Since 2005 Gabriele is working for the Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film as a freelanced project and script advisor. Furthermore Gabriele consults script development, packaging and project presentation for single independent projects as well as for training initiatives and events as First Films First, Baltic Pitching Forum, Euro Connection, Sam Spiegel School, HFF Munich and Berlinale Talents and running the program Pack & Pitch in the frame of Talents Sarajevo.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

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Forum moderator

Laurence Boyce Estonia

Laurence Boyce, member of BAFTA, FIPRESCI, the European Film Academy, London Critics’ Circle and the board of the Short Film Conference, has been a film journalist and film programmer for the past eighteen years. He started out at the Leeds International Film Festival in the UK to become an award-winning critic for various outlets, including Sight and Sound and Screen International, – and a programmer, specialising in short film, for various festivals. Currently residing in Tallinn, Estonia, he is the head of programme for the live action section of PÖFF Shorts. Besides that, he works as a programmer of feature films at the A-List film festival Black Nights.

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Panelists

Agnė Adomėnė Lithuania

Creative producer Agnė Adomėnė focuses on developing and producing artistic animated films. In 2012 she founded production company ART SHOT, her first completed film “Ragnarok” (dir. Urtė and Johan Oettinger) was awarded by Lithuanian Film Academy and selected to many international festivals. Two of her latest projects won Baltic Pitching Forum and were selected to Euro Connection 2017 (“The Juggler”, dir. Skirmanta Jakaitė) and European Short Pitch 2018 (“Elena”, dir. Birutė Sodeikaitė). Agnė is one of the founders and a board member of the Lithuanian Animation Association, a member of the European Animation Awards, the Lithuanian Film Academy and the Independent Producers Association of Lithuania. Member of the Jury at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2018.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Laurent Crouzeix France

Laurent Crouzeix is on the executive team of the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival and Market. He is a Programmer at the festival and Project Manager on the shortfilmdepot.com online platform. Laurent is also Coordinator of Euro Connection, the co-production meetings for shorts he launched in 2009 as part of the Short Film Market in Clermont-Ferrand. He also produces targeted industry meetings towards project development and film distribution. He is currently making his first stop motion animation film together with director Luis BriceĂąo.

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

Inga Diev Canada

Inga Diev serves as the General Manager of Ouat Media, a Toronto-based international sales and distribution company specializing in short films. In her role, Inga is responsible for the company’s business operations and oversees all the film sales and acquisitions. Prior to joining Ouat Media, Inga spent over a decade working in film production and broadcast programming, most recently, at Sundance Channel Canada. Inga shares her expertise of the film industry by chairing in festival juries and participating in guest panels around the world, including Toronto International Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival. For the past five years, she has also served on the Board of Canadian Filmmakers’ Distribution Centre, Canada’s foremost non-commercial distributor and resource for independently produced film.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Jing Haase Sweden

Jing Haase is Festival Manager for shorts and docs at the Swedish Film Institute. As part of the International Department she promotes contemporary Swedish films of all genres outside Sweden in the various arenas provided by festivals, markets and other special events. Before moving to Sweden, she was the Market Manager at Nordisk Panorama, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of Nordic short and documentary films. There, she organised the NP Market, the online screening room and a series of talks with market professionals as well as promoted the films registered at Nordisk Panorama internationally and provided advice on international distribution of short films.

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

Karolis Kaupinis Lithuania

Karolis Kaupinis is a Lithuanian screenwriter and director. He holds MA in Political Science, worked as a journalist and presenter in Lithuanian National Broadcaster (LRT). His first short fiction film “The Noisemaker” (2014) was selected to Pardi di domani competition in Locarno Film Festival and has been screened at more than 60 international film festivals ever since, also winning two Lithuanian Film Academy awards “Silver Crane” in 2015. Kaupinis’ second short film “Watchkeeping” (2017) had national premier at Vilnius IFF Short Competition. Both short films were awarded at European Short Pitch. Kaupinis’ debut feature film “Nova Lituania” is in post-production stage and will be screened in 2019. He is currently working on his second feature film.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Enrico Vannucci Italy

Enrico Vannucci works as a short film advisor for the Venice Film Festival and Quebec City Film Festival, and as a short film programmer for the Torino Short Film Market. He has been working in film festival programming teams since 2010. In recent years he has written essays on the short and feature film festival ecosystem. Finally, he has covered major film festivals as a journalist since 2009.

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

Sari Volanen Finland

Sari Volanen is a commissioning editor at YLE Finnish Broadcasting Company. She works at the co-production department producing short films and documentaries mainly with Finnish independent film makers and producers. She is in charge of the strand of New Cinema on YLE/Teema, which shows quirky and cinematic films regardless of length and genre.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

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Panel discussion FESTIVALS & ONLINE – TOGETHER OR APART? In the nascent bloom of the digital world, short films were often seen as the perfect content. While it perhaps never quite reached the utopian ideals that some had hoped for the short film world, an online release for a short film is now crucial to many filmmakers. But so is screening at a film festival. With some festivals still demanding that they will only screen films that have not screened online, what becomes more important for a filmmaker? Does your online release strategy have to be very different to your festival release strategy? Or can they be more complementary than one first thought? We’ll discuss many pressing issues of the film festival versus online debate with a panel representing many differing views from across the industry.

Moderator:

Karolis Kaupinis (director and screenwriter, Lithuania)

Laurence Boyce Participants:

Enrico Vannucci (Venice Film Festival, Quebec City Film Festival, Torino Short Film Market, Italy)

Agnė Adomėnė (Art Shot, Lithuanian Animation Association, Lithuania) Laurent Crouzeix (Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival and Market, Euro Connection, shortfilmdepot. com, France)

Sari Volanen (YLE TV, Finland)

Inga Diev (Ouat Media, Canadian Filmmakers’ Distribution Centre, Canada)

Time:

Jing Haase (Swedish Film Institute, Sweden)

Contemporary Art Centre, Vokiečių str. 2, LT–01130 Vilnius, Lithuania.

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12 October, 12:30-13:30 Venue:

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Selected projects English title

Original title

Genre

Director

Producer

County Court

Maakohus

Fiction

Eeva Mägi

Karolina Veetamm

Encounters

Kohtumised

Fiction

Jürgen Volmer

Gabriel Dettre

Synesthesia VR

Sünesteesia VR

VR Fiction

Rein Zobel

Kalev Smidt

Behind the Curtain

Fiction

Gleb Nagorny

Lelde Kovalova

Breaking the Circle

Fiction

Reinis Spaile

Undine Buka

Meeting Again

Atkalredzēšanās

Fiction

Kristīne Vītola

Jānis Putniņš

Blueberries & Milk

Mėlynės su pienu

Fiction

Milda Baginskaitė

Girl and the Piano

Žmogus ant fortepijono

Animation

Jurga Šeduikytė

Giedrė Burokaitė

Wishes

Norai

Fiction

Ieva Šakalytė

Kristina Ramanauskaitė

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

County Court Maakohus

“County Court” is a short fiction film about ex-husband and ex-wife fighting for their child’s custody and alimony in court. However, the court proceeding is not so much about the child and his rights, but a revenge of two ex-husbands, who are so full of harassment and humiliation that they forget their son completely. This rather conventional court story is presented in a rather unconventional way. Director: Eeva Mägi Producer: Karolina Veetamm Genre: Fiction Estimated running time: 15 min. Production country: Estonia Estimated budget: 55 000 EUR Funding in place: 7 500 EUR Production company: the diverse creative team of “Alasti Kino” (“Naked Cinema”)

is committed to making films of premium class. Whether it is a full-length film or a TV commercial, every piece of work for us, is a piece of art, and so it will be treated with respect and with a heart. So later we could sign the outcome with a beaming smile. The continuous trust from our clients and several acknowledgements from different film and advertising festivals have let us know the naked and beautiful truth – we are doing right thing.

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Director Eeva Mägi

Producer Karolina Veetamm

Eeva Mägi was born in 1987 in Estonia. In 2015 she obtained MA in Directing Documentary from Baltic Film and Media School. Her graduation film “Simply a Man” has been screened at several festivals. Her last short film “Lembri Uudu” had its international premiere at DOK Leipzig and has later participated in many festivals: PÖFF Shorts, Go Short Nijmegen, Sarajevo Film Festival etc. In March 2017 she participated at Werner Herzog workshop “Filming in Cuba with Werner Herzog”. In 2018 she was given a young filmmaker’s award by Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Her approach to film is rather experimental and surreal.

Karolina Veetamm was born in 1990 in Estonia. She holds a master’s degree in Film Production from Baltic Film and Media School. She’s been working as a freelance producer after graduation. She’s been a production manager of many feature films as “Maria’s Children”, “Eia Christmas at Fantom Owl Farm” and “Days that Confused”. She’s been a producer of many short films and music videos. Contacts: karolina.kafka@gmail.com

Contacts: eevamagi@gmail.com

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Encounters Kohtumised

“Encounters” is a short film that brings together five stories inspired by real life events of different times and places of the Estonian past. They all depict certain - sometimes fearful - moments of encounters with love interests, or even beloved-ones in historically difficult, rapidly changing times. These tales – life changing moments from the past - are fragmental, delicate episodes of human relationships that later evolved into lives lived together. Each story consists of two or three scenes only forming sort of a “postcard” sent to us from the past. They are tiny, gentle events from many years ago, of people who are presently living their last years or – in some cases – are not among us anymore. Director: Jürgen Volmer Producer: Gabriel Dettre Genre: Fiction Estimated running time: 22 min. Production country: Estonia, Germany Estimated budget: 20 000 EUR Funding in place: 1 150 EUR Production company: Nojah Film was founded in spring 2018 by freelance film-

maker Jürgen Volmer. Since then its main focus has been producing short films and having co-operations with small theatres in Estonia. Nojah Film values creative collaborations and possibilities for intermedial art projects.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director Jürgen Volmer

Producer Gabriel Dettre

Jürgen Volmer has studied film directing in Baltic Film and Media School, where he directed 4 short films before graduating in 2015. After graduation, he went on to working as a freelancer on several short films, documentary and theatre projects.

Gabriel (Gábor) Dettre, director/writer/ producer, lived in New York City for many years, before moving back to his native Budapest. Subsequently, he lived in Brussels and in Tallinn for several years, before moving to Berlin, where he presently lives.

Contacts: jyrgen.volmer@gmail.com

Contacts: gabrieldettre@gmail.com

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Synesthesia VR Sünesteesia VR

Albrecht is a detective with sensitive powers. His sense of the world is extraordinary - a smell, sound or touch can ignite vivid images of different places and worlds. But this comes at a price - Albrecht is constantly looking for new ways to escape the dystopian routine of police work. One day Albrecht starts investigating a strange suicide case and comes to contact with a bottle of mysterious substance. The substance gives him very clear visions and he starts unraveling the origins of this dark bottle and a new drug epidemic that is about to begin. Albrecht must use his supernatural talent and skills as detective to find who is responsible. In the end, he is able to destroy the evil character behind the substance but finds himself trapped between worlds. Director: Rein Zobel Producers: Rein Zobel, Kalev Smidt Genre: VR Fiction Estimated running time: 10 min. Production country: Estonia Estimated budget: 40 000 EUR Funding in place: 20 000 EUR Production company: “Maru VR Productions” is an Estonian virtual reality con-

tent production company. Founded in 2016, it quickly became the most productive VR content company in Estonia, having completed about 15 VR projects so far. This includes 360 degree video production, real-time 3D graphics, interactive apps and other services. The clients of the company include the city of Tallinn, Estonian Film Foundation, Ministry of Energy of Georgia, city of Pärnu, Elisa Estonia and others. “Synesthesia VR” will be Maru VR’s first opportunity to bring together it’s creative and technical talent for a narrative film experience.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director/Producer Rein Zobel

Producer Kalev Smidt

Rein Zobel is a director and producer born in 1984. After attaining a master’s degree in Psychology, he went to Denmark to attend a film course. This led to him working as an editor, animator and director for 7 years. In 2015, Rein graduated Baltic Film and Media School in Film Arts as a Film Director. While working mainly in advertising, Rein also became interested in virtual reality and co-founded VR content creation company Maru VR Production in 2016. Rein’s ultimate purpose is to explore the storytelling potential of VR and how it differentiates from film.

Kalev is an Estonian freelance creative producer and production manager. He graduated with a bachelor´s degree in Film Arts at the Baltic Film and Media School of Tallinn University in 2017. He has been working in film industry since 2012 producing several short films, commercials and music videos. He is now working more as a creative producer developing documentaries and short films. In addition, he is working as a freelance creative director in advertising. He was a founder/creative director of social campaign “#mustlumi” in March 2018, which raised awareness about depression and reduced stigma that surrounds it in Estonian society.

Contacts: rein.zobel@maruVR.ee

Contacts: kalev@ehajakoit.ee

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Behind the Curtain After a stroke, elderly orchestra conductor – Janis, loses ability to walk. Janis’ doctor suggests avoiding the stress of his job. Otherwise, he can get fully paralyzed. Janis’ condition tortures his mental stability. Janis does not submit to the recovery plan by his nurse – Eva, nor does he speak about the upcoming concert. When the anger fades out, Janis experiences the moments of solitude. He imagines how ambient sounds transform into the orchestral playing. Unable to fulfil simple tasks, Janis notices his dependence on Eva. He challenges her with sharp comments, but Eva proves her professionalism and gains Janis’s trust. Step by step, Janis understands that people are not instruments to play on. Consequently, inspiration returns to Janis – he hears music everywhere and secretly starts conducting. Janis exercises to fight his condition. He must defeat his fate and give his final performance – the symphony of life. Director: Gleb Nagorny Producer: Lelde Kovalova Genre: Fiction Estimated running time: 20 min. Production country: Latvia Estimated budget: 10 000 EUR Funding in place: Searching for

funding opportunities Production company: “Dream Light Studio” is a full-service video production

company based in Riga (Latvia) with international experience in filmmaking.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director Gleb Nagorny

Producer Lelde Kovalova

Gleb Nagorny was born in Riga, Latvia. After school he decided to follow his dreams and study cinema. Gleb finished BA Film Studies degree at the University of Surrey and MA Film degree at Edinburgh Napier University (Screen Academy Scotland). Currently he is working as a freelance camera operator and DOP, whilst writing and directing his own independent short films and music videos.

Lelde Kovalova was born in Latvia. She finished Riga International School of Economics and Business Administration (RISEBA), where she gained bachelor and master degrees in Audiovisual Media Art with specialization in cinema and TV producing. Lelde has experience in several genres: she produced feature films, short films, TV episodes, commercials and music videos. Currently she owns her video production studio – “Dream Light Studio”.

Contacts: glebnagorny@gmail.com Contacts: lpodniece@gmail.com

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Breaking the Circle Breaking the Circle is a social drama about 16 year-old Maria who looks for a way to disconnect from her dysfunctional mother. Her mother lives in a suburb and lately has been closely involved in a local religious cult. Maria wants to break out of this ill culture that surrounds her. The decision is even harder because the mother - the only family she has. Things change after Mariaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curious visit to a contemporary dance class. During a simple warm up exercise Maria realizes that there is a way out of her current situation. This impulse inspires her to make a crucial step - she looks for a help among her friends and gains the courage to begin an independent life. Director: Reinis Spaile Producer: Undine Buka Genre: Fiction Estimated running time: 12 min. Production country: Latvia Estimated budget: 25 000 EUR Funding in place: 5 000 EUR

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

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Director Reinis Spaile

Producer Undine Buka

Reinis Spaile is a 29 year-old film director and writer from Latvia. He has studied Marketing and Philosophy in Vancouver and Holland, and Film Directing in Tallinn. Currently he works in Riga and is involved in many different projects ranging from commercial content to art documentaries. He has a distinct voice and a natural drive to convey significant social messages in his narrative works.

Undine holds BA degree in Film Production and just recently graduated the USC MA Film and TV Producing program. Between her studies for the past seven years she has worked as a producer and line producer on fictional and documentary features and different short formats. Contacts: undinebuka@gmail.com

Contacts: rspaile@gmail.com

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

Meeting Again Atkalredzēšanās

Evia arrives to visit her old friend in her country house. Both ladies are spending a sunny day together drinking tea and taking a walk as they used to many times before. However there are suspicion peculiarities happening around them in a form of as if personalized, false or augmented nature. They all may be explainable – it is worth a try maybe... Or though it isn’t? Director: Kristīne Vītola Producer: Jānis Putniņš Genre: Fiction Estimated running time: 25-29 min. Production country: Estonia Estimated budget: 19 000 EUR Funding in place: – Production company: Visjaunākais laiks/Visjaunākais Rīgas teātris – multimedia

company focusing on performance, films, contemporary art, music.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director Kristīne Vītola

Producer Jānis Putniņš

Kristīne Vītola is a cross media artist, has MA degrees in Scenography (Latvian Art Academy, 2009) and Theatre Directing (Latvian Culture Academy, 2013). In 2016 she established a cross disciplinary production company - Visjaunākais laiks/Visjaunākais Rīgas teātris. Currently works on art projects as director, writer, visual artist, performer and producer.

Jānis Putniņš is a Latvian director, writer and producer, known for “Paslēpes” (2001), “Vogelfrei” (2007), “Degošais” (2016) etc. He studied Film Directing at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston (BFA, 1994) and at the Latvian Academy of Culture (MA, 2017). Currently is the Head of the National Film School of the Latvian Academy of Culture and also runs his own production company “Camera Obscura”.

Contacts: kristineivitolai@gmail.com

Contacts: freiputns@gmail.com

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Blueberries & Milk Mėlynės su pienu

While preparing for the First Communion, a ten-year-old Ula gets her first period, which takes her on a mission to find out what death really means. Director: Milda Baginskaitė Producer: Not attached yet Genre: Fiction Estimated running time: 15 min. Production country: Lithuania, United Kingdom Estimated budget: 40 000 EUR Funding in place: 10 000 EUR

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director Milda Baginskaitė

Milda Baginskaitė is a Lithuanian director and screenwriter. After finishing MA in Film Directing at the Northern Film School, UK, Milda now works as a freelance filmmaker, music video director, script reader and 3rd AD in film and television across the UK. Contacts: m.baginskaite@gmail.com

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Girl and the Piano Žmogus ant fortepijono

Mora is an impassive woman. She lives in a fantastical world where each individual area corresponds to her inner state. She transforms into a little girl and starts travelling in this world. Little Mora dives through dark caves and deep oceans, survives a deadly storm floating on a huge grand piano. She finds her secret superpower – a wind rises when she is playing music. Mora continues her journey using this newly found power and finds another person – the Man with a Hole in His Head. Paying no attention to him, the girl makes her way deeper into the forest, following a mysterious light hovering way above the tree line. Winter comes. The Man gets freezing cold. Only upon finding it she understands that the goal of her journey was not what she thought it was. She builds a complex mechanical/musical piece of equipment and saves the Man. Director: Jurga Šeduikytė Producer: Giedrė Burokaitė Genre: Animation Estimated running time: 8 min. Production country: Lithuania Estimated budget: 40 000 EUR Funding in place: 16 400 EUR Production company: “Meno Avilys” operates in audio-visual field in a targeted

way since the beginning of its activities. The company has been acting in the area of film education and heritage since 2005. In 2006 it initiated the first national film education project in Lithuania “Film at My School”. The company publishes film compilations on DVD which are accompanied by teaching guides. Since 2015 “Meno Avilys” started to work in film production field with an aim to promote Lithuanian film industry and to cooperate with young filmmakers.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director Jurga Šeduikytė

Producer Giedrė Burokaitė

Jurga was born into a family of musicians. In 2005, she began her solo music career under the stage name Jurga. Her debut album, “Aukso Pieva” includes twelve songs, most of them written by Jurga herself. Shortly after this, Jurga received many Lithuanian awards and won the MTV European Music Award for the Best Baltic Act. In 2009, Jurga published a childrens book “Pasaka apie Slieką ir jo draugą Pašiauštą”. She worked as composer on a number of films. In 2017 she won a Silver Crane award for the soundtrack of short animated film “Running Lights” (dir. Gediminas Šiaulys).

Giedrė Burokaitė was born in 1985, lives in Vilnius, Lithuania. She got a BA degree in Cultural History and Anthropology and a MA degree in Arts Management. In 2015 she initiated a film production platform in NGO “Meno avilys”, which specializes in the area of film education and film preservation. The aim was to promote Lithuanian film industry and to cooperate with young filmmakers. Giedrė produced number of short films: “Jackie” (2014), “Doggone” (2015), “The Roots Are Bitter” (2016), “The Contest” (2018) and currently is working on her first full-length documentary “People, Animals and Things” and two short animated films.

Contacts: jurga.seduikyte@gmail.com

Contacts: giedre@menoavilys.org

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Wishes Norai

Juste (20) is spending her free-time at the music festival in the middle of the forest. It’s getting late, Juste takes her backpack and goes on the road to hitchhike a car home. Suddenly, there stops the aggressive gang, which Juste saw in the festival. The gang starts insulting Juste, she tries to ignore them and hitchhike another car. No one stops. The girl goes to the nearest village, hoping that someone will help her. She knocks to one house doors, but the owners just turns the lights off - no one wants to open doors for strangers so late. The gang keeps following Juste in the village streets. It’s dark, Juste is angry and tired of brutal gang behavior. Juste cannot stand them anymore, she turns into savage to get rid of them. Director: Ieva Šakalytė Producer: Kristina Ramanauskaitė Genre: Fiction Estimated running time: 10 min. Production country: Lithuania Estimated budget: 25 000 EUR Funding in place: – Production company: “Revoliucijos ideja” (“Idea of Revolution”) is a company

with years of experience, recently orientated in production of music videos, short and feature films. Our aim is the production of challenging, competitive and unique films of artistic value.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director Ieva Šakalytė

Producer Kristina Ramanauskaitė

Born in 1991, in Vilnius, Lithuania. Finished Film Directing (MA) studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Her short fiction film “There are No Tulips” (2016) was premiered at Vilnius IFF “Kino pavasaris”. Ieva is now working as a freelancer at various projects.

Kristina Ramanauskaitė (born in 1991) is a film producer based in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 2015 Kristina has graduated Creative Industries studies at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and been working as a producer and CEO of “Idea of Revolution” since 2013.

Contacts: ieva.sakalyte@gmail.com

Contacts: kristina@magicfilms.co

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Awards The international 7-member panel awards two Best Short Film Projects with:

Participant rights at the European Short Film Co-production Forum EURO CONNECTION as part of the 41st Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in February 2019. The award also covers up to 400 EUR of travel expenses to Clermont-Ferrand (France).

Participant rights at European Short Pitch by NISI MASA in January and March, 2019. The award also covers the participation fee of 400 EUR.

Lithuanian Producers MEDIA Award Baltic Pitching Forum will be observed by three experienced Lithuanian producers interested in spotting new regional talents. This group will select the best project and award it with a 1000 EUR cash prize! Come and meet three producers on Saturday morning, before the official pitching starts and get to know the ones you might be working with in the future. This initiative is co-organized with the Creative Europe Desk Lithuania MEDIA office under the Lithuanian Film Centre.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

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Lithuanian Producersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jury

Stasys Baltakis After getting an education as an actor in Lithuania, Stasys moved to Germany where he assisted Professor Rudolf Ortner, then he moved to Canada and worked as an owner of Snappy Foto and Video Centers for 10 years. Then there was an education in CalArts (California Institute for the Arts) and receiving a degree of MFA (Master of Fine Arts). Switching from photography to film and cinema was a next step in biography and now, since 18 years of experience in producing TV and cinema ads in Canada and the US, Stasys is busy producing films in Lithuania. For many years he was an Associated Professor at Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy so all his employers are handpicked to be producers at this small though dynamic film making company Film Jam.

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

Živilė Gallego Graduate of EAVE 2011 and ESoDoc 2017, Živilė Gallego is also a member of European Film Academy (EFA), Lithuanian Film Academy (LiKA), Lithuanian Independent Producer’s Association (NPA) and European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA). In 2009 Živilė Gallego has established her own production company Fralita Films, where she is currently working with feature and documentary films production. In 2015, Fralita Films celebrated Alantė Kavaitė’s Best Director award for “The Summer of Sangaile” at the Sundance Film Festival. Currently in the festival circuit is the anima-doc “The Man Who Knew 75 Languages” by Anne Magnussen and Pawel Debski, along with Donatas Ulvydas‘ drama „Emilia. Breaking Free”. Currently in production is a feature film “Family” by Austėja Urbaitė and in post-production – a short film “My Lady of the Camelia” by Edouard Montoute.

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Lukas Trimonis A graduate from the Baltic Film and Media School in Estonia and the UK’s National Film & Television School, Lukas set up his company iN SCRiPT in 2013 and produced Eglė Vertelytė’s debut feature “Miracle” which premiered in Toronto in 2017. Fascinated by well-crafted scripts and strong characters, he is currently working on two co-productions: Juris Kursietis’ second feature “Oleg” (with Latvian POM Aija Berzina) and Virginija Vareikytė and Maximilien Dejoi’s feature documentary “I’ll Stand By You”.

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

BPF Alumni Focus Winter in the Rainforest Talv vihmametsas

Winner of the Baltic Pitching Forum 2015 In a hidden corner of the world there is a place where all impossible dreams come true. In a rainforest amidst lush nature fragile porcelain animals can be found. Strange white stony creatures are born in wild river streams, birds with feet like human fingers hunt for flying fish, vicious spiders catch miniature dancers into their traps... This is a surreal world inhabited by creatures never seen before. Time here passes in a strange way moving in an unexpected paste. As the film is shot in nature the changes of light create a strange shift between the passing of time and the movement of the characters. Tropical nature, ceramic creatures and Nordic music form a surreal world with bizarre sensation of seeing something unknown but familiar at the same time. Director: Anu-Laura Tuttelberg Producer: Andres Mänd, Anu-Laura Tuttelberg Co-producers: Agnė Adomėnė (Art Shot), Daniel Irabien Peniche (Estudio Carabás) Genre: Animation Length: 8 min. Production countries: Estonia, Lithuania, Mexico Total budget: 125 000 EUR Production company: Nukufilm Studio deals with all kinds of puppet animation

(stop-motion) techniques: puppet and cut-out animation, modelling, pixilation and computer animation. Some animation techniques worked out by our film team do not even have a name yet. Currently there are 25 people working for Nukufilm Studio, most of whom are qualified directors, artists, puppet makers, decoration artists, lighting technician, animators, operators and their assistants, montage technicians and sound editors. We hire other professionals depending on the extent and complicity of projects. Premiere: 2018 November

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director/Producer Anu-Laura Tuttelberg

Producer Andres Mänd

Anu-Laura Tuttelberg graduated MA degree in Animation at Estonian Academy of Arts in 2013. She made her first animation “Fly Mill” (“Kärbeste veski”, 2012), a puppet film, as her graduation film. “Fly Mill” was screened at about hundred festivals around the world and won more than 20 prizes including 6 Grand Prix. Her first film after graduation, a short animated film “On The Other Side Of The Woods” (“Teisel pool metsa”), premiered in June 2014 at Annecy International Animation Festival. She has made set designs for several short stop motion animations and given workshops of stop motion animation.

Andres Mänd studied Theatrical Directing in Estonia, Animation in Russia and Art Management in Finland. He worked as an animator in Nukufilm for 13 years and is currently the Head of Nukufilm Studio. He has animated over 40 puppet films, including TV commercials and music videos. Andres was an associate professor and the Head of the Animation department at Volda University College in Norway, producing the majority of the student films at Volda over the last 12 years. Andres has served in the past as judges on short or animated film festival panels in Norway, Cuba and Estonia.

Contacts: anulaura@gmail.com

Contacts: andres.mand@nukufilm.ee

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

The Juggler Žonglierius

Winner of the Baltic Pitching Forum 2016 We live in the same house, but in different apartments, jobs, situations, believes, visions. Each in our own compartment, we fool ourselves that the world is one and that it exists. Sometimes it seems that an incomprehensible thread becomes visible and I am on a verge of understanding… This film is about the other side of life - the scary, unknown side we never fully grasp, but we know is there, somewhere near, so close. Director: Skirmanta Jakaitė Producer: Agnė Adomėnė Co-producer: Delphine Schmit Genre: Animation Estimated running time: 11 min. Production countries: Lithuania, France Total budget: 110 400 EUR Production company: ART SHOT is an independent production company, fo-

cused on developing and producing artistic animated films. The founder and producer of the company, Agnė Adomėnė, aims to produce visually engaging animations with the potential for international co-production and distribution. In 2016 ART SHOT produced film “Ragnarok” (A short puppet animation directed by Urtė Oettinger and Johan Oettinger, Lithuanian - Denmark co-production) was awarded by Lithuanian Film Academy as The Best Lithuanian Animation Film of the year. Premiere: 2018 November

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Director Skirmanta Jakaitė

Producer Agnė Adomėnė

Skirmanta Jakaitė is both director and animator with experience in animation production since 1989. “The Juggler” is her third directed film. The previous films were also made using the technique of 2D drawn animation. A graduation film “We May Meet, We May Not” was screened at many acclaimed international film festivals including Ottawa IAF, Hiroshima IAF, Clermont-Ferrand ISFF. Her debute film “Non-euclidean Geometry” (co-directed with Solveiga Masteikaitė) was awarded with Ecumenical Jury Prize at Oberhausen SFF and received Special International Jury Prize at Hiroshima IAF as well as The Lithuanian Film Academy award.

Creative producer Agnė Adomėnė focuses on developing and producing artistic animated films. In 2012 she founded production company ART SHOT, her first completed film “Ragnarok” (dir. Urtė and Johan Oettinger) was awarded by Lithuanian Film Academy and selected to many international festivals. Two of her latest animation projects won Baltic Pitching Forum – “The Juggler” by Skirmanta Jakaitė and “Elena” by Birutė Sodeikaitė. Agnė is one of the founders and a board member of the Lithuanian Animation Association, a member of the European Animation Awards, the Lithuanian Film Academy and the Independent Producers Association of Lithuania. Member of the Jury at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2018.

Contacts: skirmanta@gmail.com

Contacts: agne@artshot.lt

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

Forum team Marija Razgutė LITHUANIAN SHORTS Lithuanian Short Film Agency marija@filmshorts.lt

Laima Graždanoviča 2ANNAS Riga International Short Film Festival laima@2annas.lv

Rimantė DaugėlaitėCegelskienė LITHUANIAN SHORTS Lithuanian Short Film Agency info@filmshorts.lt

Peter Murdmaa Estonian Short Film Center shortest@shortest.ee Laurence Boyce PÖFF Shorts Black Nights Film Festival laurence.boyce@gmail.com

Gabrielė Cegialytė LITHUANIAN SHORTS Lithuanian Short Film Agency office@filmshorts.lt Anna Zača SHORT RIGA Riga International Film Festival anna@rigaiff.lv

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Venues GEDIMINO PR. VILN

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1 Contemporary Art Centre (CAC)

Vokiečių str. 2, LT–01130 Vilnius

Pylimo str. 22D, LT-01118 Vilnius

2 Grotthuss Hotel

5 La Boheme Restaurant

Ligoninės str. 7, LT–01134 Vilnius 3 Comfort Hotel

Šv. Ignoto str. 4, LT-01144 Vilnius 6 Vilnius Coach Station

Kauno str. 14, LT-03210 Vilnius

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4 Freunde Restaurant

Sodų str. 22, LT-03211 Vilnius

Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 – Vilnius

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Love European films? Ever dreamed of going to an awards ceremony? Test your knowledge and join the competition! We are giving away 10 trips to the European Film Awards taking place in December 2018 in Seville, travel and accommodation included. Take the quiz at wealllovestories.eu/efa until the 5th of November and win a chance to meet European film stars and professionals!

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Baltic Pitching Forum 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vilnius

28. 11 â&#x20AC;&#x2022; 3.12.2018 Riga International Short Film Festival

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