Baltic Event Unveils 15 Projects Led by Basque and Lithuanian Talent

The Baltic Event Co-Production Market will pitch 15 projects seeking financing at Tallinn's Black Nights Film Festival from Nov. 18-20. The selection, drawn from 110 submissions across 34 countries, spans ten territories: Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia and Spain.

Two titles lead the slate. The first is "La Koreana," a feature debut by Basque director Joana Moya, produced by Sirimiri Films, the company founded by Estibaliz Urresola, director of the Berlinale winner "20,000 Species of Bees." The film won the Ikusmira Berriak Prize at San Sebastian 2025. The second is the horror satire "Wild Love," helmed by Lithuanian director Jonas Trukanas ("Pensive") for Afterschool, the producer behind the 2021 Venice Horizons winner "Pilgrims" and the 2024 Locarno winner "Drowning Dry."

The lineup also includes the Ukrainian-German-Czech animation "Family Squad" from Kostiantyn Fedorov, produced by Animagrad, the studio behind "Mavka: The Forest Song," released in 149 countries with a worldwide gross above $25 million. Latvia's VFS Films, credited with "The Rossellinis" and "Immortal," brings "In the Truth" by Toms Harjo, a personal film about growing up in a Jehovah's Witness community.

What does the market change for the region?

Six of the 15 projects come from the Baltics, a share aimed at boosting regional talent and co-production ties with other attending territories, including Spain's production hub. The focus was "very natural," according to the market's co-managers, Helen Räim and Kärt Väinola, as the Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) turns 30 and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event marks its 25th edition. Baltic momentum has grown since the Oscar for "Flow": the Latvian documentary "Ulya" screened in Cannes' Un Certain Regard this year, and "Vesna," a Lithuania-France-Ukraine-Estonia co-production pitched at last year's market, landed in Cannes' Special Screenings.

Räim and Väinola identified belonging, love and growing up as "the strongest collective themes." "Heavier themes such violence, war and death also appear," they said, "although often as secondary threads, approached through humor, satire and the search for oneself."

"This year's lineup shows filmmakers who are not afraid to face their own questions, doubts and worries about the world they live in and to dream of the world they hope for," they added.

Eight of the 15 projects are feature debuts, often backed by "producers with strong track records at Venice, Berlin and Locarno," the co-managers noted. The slate also carries a strong run of children's and family stories built on fantasy and animation.

All 15 projects compete for the €20,000 ($22,300) Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, judged by a panel including Eurimages' Stefan Prohorov, Red Sea Souk director Holly Daniel and Estonian producer Ivo Felt of Allfilm ("Tangerines," "The Fencer").

The projects at a glance

• "At Your Service" – Magnús Jónsson, Iceland/Estonia. A dark comedy about a terminally ill artist who starts a euthanasia business after Iceland closes its nursing homes.
• "The Boy Who Loves the World" – Steven Wouterlood, Netherlands. An adaptation of a celebrated Dutch children's book. "It's an adventurous family film that dares to reflect on a polarized world, while leaving audiences with a deep sense of wonder and zest for life," says producer Maiike Neve.
• "Clusterfuck" – Juho-Pekka Tanskanen, Finland. A portrait of "youth and violence and how easily things can go sideways," says producer Paria Eskandari of Danish Bear Productions.
• "Family Squad" – Kostiantyn Fedorov, Ukraine/Germany/Czech Republic. A comedy drama in which a man who dies by accident gets a second chance and sets off on a journey of self-discovery.
• "Hide and Seek" – Dace Puce, Latvia/Estonia/Sweden. A thriller about a Latvian mother in Sweden accused of abusing her daughter. "The project addresses themes that extend beyond Latvia: migration, belonging, adaptation, parental responsibility, children's rights, and the challenges of navigating unfamiliar legal and social systems," says producer Elīna Jozauska.
• "In the Truth" – Toms Harjo, Latvia.
• "The Informatics Olympiad" – Adas Burksaitis, Lithuania. "Rooted in the specific world of provincial Lithuania and post-Soviet education, the film speaks universally about loneliness, addiction, burnout and the struggle to move beyond the identity imposed on us by others," says Greta Akcijonaite of Magic Films.
• "Lady Thatcher's Feast" – Marcin Kluczykowski, Poland. Based on true events from 1996, when a canteen owner is chosen to prepare a banquet for Margaret Thatcher. "Food is not simply part of the setting," says producer Piotr Śmiechowski. "It becomes a way of expressing emotions, class differences, care, ambition and identity."
• "La Koreana" – Joana Moya, Spain. Set against a landscape shaped by iron mining, exploring nature, memory and human exploitation.
• "My 19-Year Old Granny" – Victoria Zadorska, Ukraine/Lithuania/Czech Republic. A retro dress teleports a schoolgirl to 1975 Soviet Ukraine. "We want to connect three generations of women across two timelines and reveal what it truly costs to finally trust yourself," says producer Olena Yershova.
• "My World Upside Down" – Daniel Rihák, Slovakia. When 12-year-old Miško discovers his brother is gay, he tries to save him "from hell," with backfiring results.
• "Shadows of Summer" – Helen Takkin, Estonia. A drama on "power dynamics, bullying, and co-dependency" that interweaves a participatory theater performance with events from 16 years earlier, says producer Elisabeth Madisson of Nafta Films.
• "Summer of the Moth" – Veera Lamminpää, Finland. A grumpy elderly gardener and a time-traveling moth rediscover imagination and hope, told through stop motion and live action.
• "Wild Love" – Jonas Trukanas, Lithuania/Estonia. "'Wild Love' is a rare Baltic horror satire," say producers Klementina Remeikaitė and Rūta Kiaupaitė. Set on Saaremaa Island, it sends nostalgia for the 2000s reality hit Robinsons "spiraling into a zombie outbreak."
• "Zona" – Bartosz Brzeziński, Poland/Lithuania/Estonia. A young Ukrainian deserter finds refuge with an elderly woman in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. "War trauma is explored through a fresh lens, combining an intimate character study with the haunting backdrop of the Chernobyl wilderness," says producer Klaudia Pachuta.

With eight debuts, a €20,000 prize on the table and a jury drawn from Eurimages, the Red Sea Souk and Allfilm, the Tallinn market offers the clearest early test of which Baltic and European projects will surface at festivals over the next two years.