All projects will be screened during Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event Works in progress pitching on Thursday 19 November in Apollo Plaza cinema.
International Works in Progress
According to Helen Räim, the Project Manager of International Works in progress comments on this year’s selection: “International Works in progress selection shows that no matter where in the world the stories are created, human empathy and understanding can be recognised as common themes everywhere. From viewing the world through a new parent trying to search for compassion for themselves in their vulnerability of new dynamics, to the reality of the changing world we need to accept and finally landing to the questions of belonging in the later chapters of life. This allows us to observe a full circle of life through the selected films. With that all in mind, this year’s lineup was created to show our support for these 16 projects for finalizing their films and to create some buzz already before they eventually reach the wider audience.”
Six projects make up the International Works in Progress selection. From Spain, Marina Palacio presents And So It Will Go On (Gariza Films), a drama told in reverse in which Germán grows younger as a once-empty village fills up again. In Leopard Spots, a Japan–United Kingdom production directed by Josh Trigg and made by On Par Productions, Kingyo Films and Geronimo Boy Film, a mother’s fear of abandonment threatens her relationship with her daughter in a rural Japanese factory town.
French director Théo Gottlieb explores memory and acceptance through a physicist obsessed with changing the past in Luci Looped in Limbo (HIERSOIR FILMS). The Montenegro–Albania–Serbia project Požari, directed by Nina Tratnik and produced by CODE BLUE PRODUCTION, follows a girl coming of age amid summer fires in Podgorica.
Denmark’s Without You, from director Nils Holst-Jensen and Hyæne Film, centres on a mother whose daughter’s disappearance brings an unsettling sense of freedom. Kyrgyzstan is represented by The Elderly Store, directed by Amanbek Azhymat for the National Film Studio Kyrgyzfilm, in which a 70-year-old man has just 15 days to make life interesting before facing “recycling.”
CHECK THE INTERNATIONAL WORKS IN PROGRESS PROJECTS HERE
Baltic Event Works in Progress
Helen Räim, the Project Manager of Baltic Event Works in Progress says: “with Baltic selection, we’re highlighting the up-and-coming projects from the region, be it from strong established authors or a more experimental view of filmmaking. Courage to think wider and bring these ideas to life is the cornerstone of strong local cinema that is not limited to only our region. It occurred that there is a strong theme with the circle of life this year with Baltic projects reflecting the subjects of humanity, safety in this layered reality of our world.”
Five titles feature in Baltic Event Works in Progress. Estonia is represented by A Midnight Pilgrimage, a tragicomedy from director Katrin Ruus and Exitfilm about a carefree journalist suddenly faced with holding his family together; and Paraiso, Outer Space, a Tin Can production directed by Carlos E. Lesmes, offering a nocturnal reflection on chance encounters, change and grief.
From Lithuania comes Concrete Music, directed by Saulius Baradinskas for Viktorijos filmai, MB, in which a musically gifted teenager flees his mafia family and seeks to avenge his mother’s death through music. Latvian filmmaker Elza Gauja presents Marry Then Die (VFS FILMS), a dark comedy built around an extraordinary agreement between two strangers: Zigis will help Anya end her life, but only if they marry first.
Completing the selection is Burlaks, a Latvia–Georgia tragicomedy written and directed by Gatis Ungurs and produced by Sunday Rebel Films. Its unlikely protagonist, a bored sawmill worker, becomes caught in a wager between God and the Devil.
CHECK THE BALTIC EVENT WORKS IN PROGRESS PROJECTS HERE
Just Film Works in Progress
Kärt Väinola, project manager of Just Film Works in Progress, comments, “We were drawn to films that offer young audiences space for reflection and lead them into unfamiliar places and emotional territory. Questions of identity and belonging resonate through nearly every project and are explored with lightness of touch in some projects and with unflinching honesty in others. It's precisely the range that allows young viewers to really experience, rather than merely observe, the lives unfolding before them.”
Just Film Works in Progress brings together five stories of childhood, family and growing up. Germany’s Uncle Egg, directed by Torfinn Iversen for Fjordic Film, sends a 12-year-old boy from Northern Norway to Germany with his eccentric uncle in search of his biological father. In Lithuania’s The Queen of England Stole My Parents, director Ernestas Jankauskas and Dansu Film follow an adopted girl on a journey to save her biological parents.
The Reef, a Germany–Estonia–Finland project directed by Phillip Donnellon and produced by eyrie entertainment GmbH, sends two siblings into a mysterious parallel world where they fight for its inhabitants’ freedom. Another journey of escape unfolds in 1970, a Serbia–Luxembourg–Hungary–
Rounding out the selection is All Girls, a Bulgarian project directed by Boyana Avdjieva for On Pointe Productions, in which two childhood best friends face the possible end of their bond after a devastating nightclub tragedy.
CHECK THE JUST FILM WORKS IN PROGRESS TITLES HERE
The best projects both in the Baltic and International Works in Progress will be granted 7000 euros, consisting of 6000 euros worth of services by Studio Beep, together with a 1000 euros travel allowance.
The best project of Just Film Works in Progress will receive a 1000 euro monetary prize to help the film gain visibility by covering promotion and publicity costs.
About Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event
Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event (ITBE) is the leading business and networking platform for the audiovisual industry in Northern Europe. Held annually in November as part of the renowned Black Nights Film Festival, in Tallinn, Estonia, ITBE brings together a vibrant international community of filmmakers, producers, sales agents, and decision-makers. Last year the event welcomed over 850 industry professionals across its eight-day programme.
In 2026, Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event celebrates its 25th edition, taking place from 9–20 November.
