The Baltic Pitching Forum 2025 has revealed the slate of short film projects for its upcoming event

The film industry event, taking place in Vilnius between 7 and 10 October this year, reveals 12 projects from the Baltic (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia) and this year’s guest country, Hungary.

BPF is one of the leading events in the Baltics for showcasing emerging and talented filmmakers from the region, providing them with invaluable industry advice and valuable experience from several industry professionals in attendance.

Estonia participates with three titles: Decay of Strawberry Moon (dir. Maroš Pulščák, prod. Henry Laasalu), a drama about a freshly broken-up couple set up during strawberry picking season, Maie and Mummi (dir. Kadri-Maria Külaots, prod. Kerdi Oengo), an animation based on the director’s adaptation of her own award-winning children’s book, and Mutation (dir. Liisi Grünberg, prod. Aurelia Aasa), a dark-humoured animation about one kid’s dream of a perfect apple orchard.

Three projects also represent Latvia. The Toast (dir. Žanete Skarule, prod. Antra Cilinska-Dombrovska) is a drama about a woman challenged by a moral dilemma at her younger sister’s engagement dinner. Velta (dir. Dan Silov, prod. Nadīna Anna Larionova) is a gripping story about an elderly man who is searching for his wife’s grave, and When Ripples Meet (dir. Rūta Ronja Pakalne, prod. Antra Gaile, Līga Gaisa) follows a young woman on her trip of self-liberation during a dance residency.

From Lithuania comes Bobo (dir. Tauras Čeledinas, prod. Justė Michailinaitė), a children’s animation about a depressed dog who discovers his jazz idol is playing in a distant seaside town, Last Curonian Cow (dir. Dovydas Drakšas), a fiction film in which Juzė, the last remaining cow in the Curonian Spit, embarks on a journey through a land that is becoming increasingly alien to her, and The Pigeon of Our Time (dir. Agata Tracevič, Edita Rudak, prod. Marija Lenkutytė-Bartoševič, Giedrė Burokaitė), a surreal animation in which our protagonist heads on a mundane journey, walking through a community that knows him and despises him.

The BPF’s guest country Hungary will be represented by 72 (dir. Nóra Horváth, prod. Anna Bartók), a powerful drama about a young woman on the social and geographic margins who fights for control over her own body, Purity (dir. Vilmos Heim, prod. András Soós, Gábor Osváth), a fiction film which sees a sports team spiral into a self-destructive regime of purification and control, and Sun in Retrograde (dir. Adél Szegedi, prod. Barnabás Tóth-Justh) a hybrid of animation and live-action which is a romantic drama set in post-pandemic Budapest – told in reverse.

More about the selected projects HERE.

The Baltic Pitching Forum will kick off in September with participants taking part in individual online consultations for their short film scripts with Anna Bielak (Poland). During the main event in October, participants will engage in pitching training and attend open lectures by industry representatives (to be announced). They will also present their projects to a panel of industry experts, who will provide feedback and select the winning projects. Further details on the attending experts and lectures will be announced in mid-September.

Projects from the Baltic region can win participant rights at two industry events: the European Short Film Co-production Forum EURO CONNECTION, a part of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (France), and the ShorTO Film Market, along with its initiative “You only Pitch Twice” (Italy). Additionally, one project will be awarded a Baltic Producers MEDIA Award (€1,000), initiated by the Creative Europe MEDIA Desks in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The Forum’s partners will hand out additional prizes: a Sound Post-Production Award – for sound post-production services valued at 2000 €, established by Up Records studio (Lithuania), and The Radiator IP Sales Distribution Award, which consists of the consultancy and guidance of the filmmakers in creating a bridge between the production and the actual distribution of film festivals and beyond.

Baltic Pitching Forum is organised by the Lithuanian Short Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts”. The event is 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 International Film Festival, Latvian Short Film Agency and PÖFF Shorts (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival). Partners: Creative Europe MEDIA Desks in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; Italian Short Film Centre; Estonian Film Institute; Friss Hús Budapest International Short Film Festival.