Film Events in the Baltics

Welcome to the Baltic filmscape! Here you can find a short (but hopefully sufficient) guide to key film festivals and industry events in the Baltic countries.

By Tristan Priimägi

ESTONIA

Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) is the biggest Estonian film festival, and founded in 1997. Since 2014, it is the only FIAPF-accredited A-category film festival in the Nordic region, with 78,825 admissions in 2022. It takes place in November, offering people a true experience of Nordic darkness, mainly illuminated by two of the festival’s main programs consisting solely of world and international premieres – main competition and debut competition – and quite a few intriguing side programs. Closely connected to PÖFF and taking place at the same time is Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event – a cluster of different industry initiatives, including the Baltic Event co-production market, series market, and film market; Discovery Campus, European Genre Forum and many others. In 2022, they hosted 760 industry delegates from 55 countries.

In the documentary field, DocPoint Tallinn is providing quality documentary art from all over the world. Taking place in the beginning of February, it offers hits from the previous year and brand-new films, with an emphasis on current affairs, artistic docs, and exotic locations.

It is a sister festival to DocPoint Helsinki, and besides the festival program, Helsinki and Tallinn are also connected through DocPoint FINEST Market, presenting a selection of new Finnish and Estonian documentaries to international documentary professionals. Outside Tal- linn, Matsalu Nature Film Festival specialises in nature documentaries, and Pärnu Film Festival in anthropological films.

As a country with a strong tradition in animation, Estonia deserves its own animation festival – a spot filled by Animist, founded in 2021, bringing the best of modern animation to its audience, and introducing fresh Estonian animation. Extensive international competition is divided in blocks by theme, and complemented by lectures and workshops, seeking connection points between animation and other fields of life.

Latvia

Latvia’s capital Riga is hosting its biggest film event, Riga International Film Festival, taking place in autumn. It was established in 2014 and quickly became one of Latvia’s most celebrated cultural events. In their programming, RIGA IFF aims to mix the old with the new, and the obscure with the famous. Every October, around 200 films are screened, with an audience of about 25,000. RIGA IFF FORUM is visited by about 500 film professionals each year, with an aim to strengthen old connections and create new ones. Every year the main prize of the festival, the Golden Rooster, goes to a feature film from the Baltic Sea region.

Artdocfest is holding up the flag of quality documentaries in Latvia. The festival was founded already in 2007 as Artdocfest in Moscow by the acknowledged documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky, but the festival had increasing troubles with the powers. In 2014, Mansky moved to Riga and started the Artdocfest section at RIGA IFF. Since 2021, Artdocfest/ Riga has been running separately, and the third edition of the festival is coming in March, with the focus on Ukraine and the topics of war.

The most experienced industry event in Latvia is the Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (Baltic Sea Docs), taking place in September and bringing together documentary professionals from the Baltic, Nordic, Eastern European countries and Caucasus to introduce a variety of documentary projects to potential funders, buyers, and programmers. Baltic Sea Docs was founded in 1997 and initially took place in Denmark, and was a travelling event between the Baltic countries since 2002, only to settle down permanently in Riga in 2006.

Lithuania

Lithuania’s biggest film festival is Vilnius International Film Festival “Kino Pavasaris”, founded 28 years ago, and taking place in spring (the title is a hint, pavasaris means spring in Lithuanian). Over the years, it has seen an upsurge in attendance and media coverage, securing its position on the Nordic-Baltic festival landscape and in Lithuania’s cultural life.

Another significant feature film event in Vilnius, Scanorama, focuses its programming on contemporary European cinema and cinematic trends, presented in different thematic sections.

Regarding documentaries, Lithuania has two main events that have an international focus.

Inconvinient Film Festival is the only documentary film festival in the Baltics with a specific focus on human rights, looking to unite cinema and activism. Running as a hybrid event it is one of the most attended documentary film events in Lithuania, attracting more than 17,000 participants per edition. Skalvija Cinema Center in Vilnius hosts a smaller, cosier alternative, the Vilnius Documentary Film Festival, launched in 2004. Vilnius Documentary Film Festival aims to show documentary filmmaking in its infinite variations, introducing renowned guests and thematic discussions.

Vilnius International Short Film Festival is the only short film festival in Lithuania and one of the biggest short film festivals in the Baltic countries. Established in 2006, the festival has become a unique platform in Lithuania, screening the newest and best short films from all around the world made by the upcoming generation of talented filmmakers. Vilnius is also a home city of the well-known short film industry event Baltic Pitching Forum which presents the newest short film projects from Baltics. Both Vilnius ISFF and Baltic Pitching Forum are organized by the Lithuanian short film agency Lithuanian Shorts. BF