Works in Progress, which presents films in production or post-production looking for sales agents or festivals for international premieres, presents 17 projects in three categories: Baltic Event Works in Progress, International Works in Progress and Just Film Works in Progress. The selected projects include first features by Student Academy Award winners and a European Film Award winner and new titles by established directors. 

All projects will be screened during Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event on 21-22 November in the cinemas of the Coca-Cola Plaza.

Marge Liiske, head of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, described this year’s selection as very strong, exciting, and diverse, with a record number of submissions making the selection process more competitive than ever. 'We have slightly fewer projects from the Baltics this year, as many international co-productions faced delays due to longer financing periods, but we hope to see those catching up next year,' she noted. Across all categories, we decided to select fewer projects this year, allowing us to give each one double the presentation time compared to previous years. This change ensures that sales agents and festival programmers gain a deeper understanding of each film’s visual style and tone.”

International Works in Progress

The International Works in Progress selection features seven film projects, including four debuts. Among them is the Greek social drama Late Shift by Stefanos Tsivopoulos, a Greek film director, screenwriter, and video artist with over 30 short and medium-length films made across various countries. Wolves, a Swiss social drama, marks the first feature by Jonas Ulrich, whose short film People on Saturday (2020) won the Golden Leopard at the 73rd Locarno Film Festival and was shortlisted for the European Film Award 2020. The German thriller, reflecting on the festival’s Focus Country,  Interior is the debut feature from Pascal Schuh, whose bachelor’s film Auf Platte was a finalist at the 2022 Student Academy Awards. Rounding out the slate of debuts is Aquarium by Tornike Bziava, an actor-director-writer from this year’s spotlight country, Georgia, known for his award-winning short films.

The showcase also presents the German road movie Balance by Björn Schürmann, which tells a very heartfelt story of an estranged father and daughter who take an unexpected journey together. The Panama-Spain-Uruguay co-production Papers, directed by award-winning Arturo Montenegro, takes audiences to the heart of the Panama Papers scandal that shook the world.
 

Baltic Event Works in Progress

This year's Baltic Event Works in Progress showcase presents four powerful social dramas that touch on the common theme of societal expectations and reveal the paradoxical reality of our times - are we allowed to live freely, regardless of age, time and place? 

Our Erika, a co-production of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, is the first feature film by German Golub, winner of the Student Academy Award in the International Short Film category for My Dear Corpses. The story is inspired by the life of young Estonian track cyclist Erika Salumäe, who became a 1988 Olympic gold medallist and "light of the nation".  Another co-production, Call me Calendar (Latvia, Lithuania), is a tragicomedy based on the bestselling Latvian debut novel. The film is directed by acclaimed director Juris Poškus and produced by Madara Melberga, whose interest lies in stories balancing on the edge and her favourite theme - the dilemma. 

The programme also includes two titles from Lithuania. The drama Sand in Your Hair explores whether love can overcome loneliness and resist social taboos, following the love story of the elderly couple Malvina and Kipras. The film is the second feature by director Mantas Verbiejus, whose first, the romantic comedy Divorce, was well received by audiences in Lithuania. Renovation, a debut feature by Lithuanian writer-director-editor Gabrielė Urbonaitė, was part of the EKRAN+ and Mediterranean Film Institute's Script 2 Film training programme. The story explores themes of identity, questioning social expectations and the pressure to conform to traditional roles through the eyes of 29-year-old Ilona. The film is produced by Uljana Kim, whose productions have premiered at major international film festivals and enjoyed domestic box office success.

Just Film Works in Progress

Just Film Works in Progress presents six children and youth films that tell stories about people in different places and times – two of them are created for children. Little Elephant in the Woods is a Dutch-Belgian co-production directed by Belgian-Dutch filmmaker Meikeminne Clinckspoor, known for her Emmy-nominated toddler series Doopie (2020) and dedicated to making cinema for the young. In 2024, the European Children’s Film Association published her manifesto on why the youngest audience is the most important. Another children’s film, the hilarious Finnish family comedy Ella and Friends: Nature Calls is the debut feature from Elin Grönblom, who has written and directed several children's and youth TV series. 

Award-winning filmmaker Luis Campos comes to Tallinn with his debut feature Dirty Land, which follows a 12-year-old boy, Joao, who lives with his troubled father and caring female neighbours. An adventurous youth film, Secret Delivery, is based on a true story of great heroism by little heroes. The film is directed by Slovak director Ján Sebechlebský, who has made more than a dozen documentaries and series. South America is represented by the Argentinian-Uruguayan co-production Emi, directed by Ezequiel Erriquez Mena, which tells the story of 18-year-old Emi, who lives with his adoptive parents but wants to know more about his biological family. The selection concludes with another South American title, The River, a debut feature by Cristóbal García about five adolescents who lose their shack to rising waters during a winter in Santiago, prompting them to embark on an adventure along the Mapocho River to see the ocean.

Jurys and Awards

The jury of Baltic Event and international Works in Progress includes Casey Baron, US Programming Lead of Tribeca Film Festival, Julie Marnay, Program Manager at First Cut Lab and head of European Short Pitch in 2019 and 

Alexis Cassanet, EVP International Sales & Distribution at Gaumont Film Company. 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 1000 euros travel allowance.

The jury of Just Film Works in Progress includes Janne Vierth, Commissioner of feature films, short films, and documentaries for children and youth at the Swedish Film Institute, Film and TV Scriptwriter,

Teresa Lima, Co-founder, programmer, and director of PLAY - International Film Festival for Children and Youth and Eva-Maria Schneider-Reuter, Media Educator and Artistic Director of the Sehpferdchen Film Festival for the generations. The best project of Just Film Works in Progress will receive 1000 euro monetary prize to help the film gain visibility by covering promotion and publicity costs. 

International Works in Progress

1. Title: Aquarium

Original title: Akvariumi

Countries: Georgia

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Mystic

Written by: Tornike Bziava

Directed by: Tornike Bziava

Produced by: Tornike Bziava, Elia Pharsadan, Nino Shengelaya

Production company: Reactormonkey Films, Buni Productions, 29plus7pictures, Shengelaya Productions

Arebato Films
 

2. Title: Balance

Original title: Balance 

Country: Germany 

Genre: road movie, drama

Directed by: Björn Schürmann

Produced by: Björn Schürmann

Production company: projekt:::film

Languages: German, Dutch, English

3. Title: Face to Face

Original title: A la cara

Country: Spain, Belgium 

Genre: drama

Directed by: Javier Marco

Produced by: Odile Antonio-Baez

Written by: Javier Marco, Belén Sánchez-Arévalo

Production company: Pecado Films

Languages: Spanish

4. Title: Interior

Original title: Interior 

Country: German

Genre: thriller, psychological drama

Written by: Timo Ackermann, Pascal Schuh

Directed by: Pascal Schuh 

Produced by: Timo Ackermann, Katrin Haase, Oliver Arnold

Production company: U5 Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. KG, Film University Babelsberg, KONRAD WOLF

Language: German

5. Title: Late Shift

Original title: Late Shift

Country: Greece

Genre: social drama

Written by: Nikos Smpiliris

Directed by: Stefanos Tsivopoulos 

Produced by: Nikos Smpiliris

Production company: Boo Productions

Languages: Greek, Romanian

6. Title: Papers

Original title: Papeles 

Countries: Panama, Spain, Uruguay

Genre: crime film, drama, thriller

Written by: Arturo Montenegro

Directed by: Arturo Montenegro

Produced by: Andry José Barrientos

Production company: Andry José Barrientos

Language: Spanish, English, Turkish

7. Title: Wolves

Original title: Wolves 

Country: Switzerland

Genre: drama, social drama

Directed by: Jonas Ulrich

Produced by: Nicole Ulrich

Production company: Dynamic Frame GmbH

Language: English, Swiss, German

Baltic Event Works in Progress 
 

1. Title: Call Me Calendar

Original title: Kalendārs mani sauc

Countries: Latvia, Lithuania

Genre: adaptation, tragicomedy

Directed by: Juris Poškus

Produced by: Madara Melberga

Production company: Aigars Sermukss

Language: Latvian

2. Title: Our Erika

Original title: Meie Erika

Countries: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia

Genre: biographical, drama

Directed by: German Golub

Produced by: Marju Lepp

Production company: Filmivabrik

Language: Estonian, Russian

3. Title: Renovation

Original title: Renovacija

Countries: Renovacija

Genre: Lithuania

Directed by: Gabrielė Urbonaitė

Produced by: Uljana Kim

Production company: Studio Uljana Kim

Language: Lithuanian, Ukrainian, English

4. Title: Sand in Your Hair

Original title: Smėlis tavo plaukuose

Country: Lithuania

Genre: drama

Directed by: Mantas Verbiejus

Produced by: Živilė Gallego

Production companies: Creative Europe MEDIA, Lithuanian Film Centre, Fralita Films

Language: Lithuanian

Just Film Works in Progress

1. Title: Dirty Land

Original title: Terra Vil

Countries: Portugal, Italy

Genre: drama

Written by: Luis Campos

Directed by: Luis Campos

Produced by: Luis Campos

Production companies: Matiné, dispàrte

Language: Portuguese

2. Title: Emi

Original title: Emi

Countries: Argentina, Uruguay

Genre: drama, youth film

Directed by: Ezequiel Erriquez Mena

Produced by: Laura Mara Tablón

Production companies: Rita Cine, El Cielo Cine

Language: Spanish

3. Title: Ella and Friends: Nature Calls

Original title: Ella ja kaverit menevät metsään

Country: Finland

Genre: children's film, comedy

Written by: Katri Manninen

Directed by: Elin Grönblom

Produced by: Aleksi Hyvärinen

Production company: Don Films

Language: Finnish

4. Title: Little Elephant in the Woods

Original title: Olifantje in het Bos

Countries: The Netherlands, Belgium

Genre: live-action children’s film

Written by: Tijs van Marle, Meikeminne Clinckspoor

Directed by: Meikeminne Clinckspoor

Produced by: Gijs Kerbosch, Guusje van Deuren, Ingmar Conjarts

Production company: 100%

Language: Dutch or English

5. Title: The River

Original title: El Eio 

Countries: Chile, Argentina

Genre: drama, road movie

Written by: Cristóbal García

Directed by: Francisco Bisañez

Produced by: Cristóbal García

Production company: Vórtice Films

Language: Spanish

6. Title: Secret Delivery

Original title: Ticha Posta

Countries: Czechia, Slovakia

Genre: family film, adventure, historical film

Written by: Jiří Stránský

Directed by: Ján Sebechlebský

Produced by: Julietta Sichel

Production company: 8Heads Productions

Languages: Czech, German