24/03/2021 - Vilnius IFF’s industry event will welcome 24 European debut film projects in development and 8 films in post-production, a series of other sections and its Talents Nest for emerging professionals

Taking place entirely online this year from 14 to 16 April, E-Meeting Point – Vilnius (e-MPV), the leading Lithuanian industry forum, is aiming to support the regional industry which was heavily affected by the pandemic with an expanded and inclusive line-up. As always, the audiovisual industry event of the Vilnius International Film Festival will showcase upcoming European debut films and will expand a network between different European macro-regions, from the Baltics to the Caucasus and Western Europe.

Alessandra Pastore, head of industry at Meeting Point—Vilnius, comments: “Due to the challenges of the past year, we have decided to support a larger number of projects, and to invite a wider audience of decision makers to attend and discover new voices. It’s a win-win situation: exposure for producers and projects, but also opportunities for decision makers to discover more films with more screenings. This year’s program is an exciting test. Once our lives return to normal, we will use what we have learned to innovate our film industry.”

E-Meeting Point–Vilnius’ main pitching session, Coming Soon, includes a higher number of participating feature projects than before, reaching a total of 24 — 12 fiction and 12 documentaries — hailing from 23 countries. The participating filmmakers will have the opportunity to pitch their projects and set individual meetings with industry professionals. Furthermore, the e-MPV Industry Screenings have also increased their number of projects and are presenting four fiction and four documentary works-in-projects from the Baltics, which will be screened for sales agents, buyers, and festival programmers.

As for the other sections of e-MPV, these include the newly-created Lithuanian Room, a catalogue of upcoming non-debut Lithuanian films which is reserved for sales agents and festival programmers; Talents Nest, a series of dedicated development sessions with industry experts for a cohort of 15 carefully selected emerging film professionals from Baltic, ex-Soviet, and Caucasian countries; Talks on Tomorrow, a series of specialised panels and talks covering trailer editing, marketing, repertory film distribution and more; and Innovation Day LAB, an event dedicated to Baltic distributors and exhibitors, in cooperation with Europa Cinemas.

As for the prizes of e-MPV, the Coming Soon Awards feature the cash prize of €5,000 offered by the Lithuanian Film Center, the AVAKA Award for best Lithuanian pitch accompanied by €1,000 in cash, the Sunny Side of the Doc Award, which offers free accreditation to the 2021 edition of Sunny Side of the Doc; and the Marché du Film Award, which offers free accreditation to 2021 edition of Producers Network at Cannes Marché du Film. Furthermore, the Talents Nest Awards include the Baltic Pitching Forum award, which offers free accreditation to the 2021 edition of Baltic Pitching Forum, and the TSFM Award, which offers free accreditation to the 2021 edition of Torino Short Film Market.

E-Meeting Point—Vilnius’ 2021 partners include patronage from Eurimages, Europa Cinemas, MAIA Workshops, Torino Short Film Market, When East Meets West, MIDPOINT Institute, Sunny Side of the Doc, T-Port, Lithuanian Film Center, Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Lithuania, Avaka, Go Vilnius, Vilnius Film Office, and Baltic Pitching Forum.

Here is the complete selection of the 2021 Meeting Point Vilnius:

Coming Soon 2021

Fiction

9^th Step - Irma Pužauskaitė (Lithuania)
Producer: Lukas Trimonis

A Hero of Our Time - Mirac Atabey (Turkey)
Producer: Mirac Atabey

Carbon [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Ion Bors (Moldova/Romania)
Producers: Ion Bors, Sergiu Cumatrenco, Sergiu Pascaru, Marin Cumatrenco

The Day I Found A Girl in The Trash [+see also:
trailer
interview: Michał Krzywicki
film profile] - Michał Krzywicki (Poland)
Producer: Natalia Bednarska

I Am Fine, Thanks [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ernestas Jankauskas, Gabija…
film profile] - Ernestas Jankauskas (Lithuania)
Producers: Gabija Siurbytė, Greta Akcijonaitė

La Palisiada [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philip Sotnychenko
film profile] - Philip Sotnychenko (Ukraine)
Producers: Sashko Chubko, Valeria Sochyvets

Our River… Our Sky - Maysoon Pachachi (UK/France/Germany/Qatar/Kuwait/UAE)
Producer: Talal Al-Muhanna

Piligrims - Laurynas Bareiša (Lithuania)
Producer: Klementina Remeikaitė

Runner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrius Blaževičius
film profile] - Andrius Blaževičius (Lithuania/Czech Republic)
Producer: Marija Razgutė

Songs About Love [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Tomasz Habowski (Poland)
Producer: Marta Szarzyńska

Troubled Minds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lauris Abele, Raitis Abele …
film profile] - Raitis Abele, Lauris Abele (Latvia)
Producers: Kristele Pudane, Roberts Vinovskis, Raitis Abele

Upurga [+see also:
interview: Uģis Olte
film profile] - Ugis Olte (Latvia)
Producer: Uldis Cekulis

Documentaries

Aurora’s Sunrise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Inna Sahakyan
film profile] - Inna Sahakyan (Armenia/Germany/Lithuania)
Producer: Vardan Hovhannisyan

Burial [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Emilija Skarnulytė (Lithuania/Norway)
Producer: Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė

Children of Change - Helene Jasinskaja (Belarus)
Producer: Helene Jasinskaja

Good Life - Viktorija Šiaulytė, Marta Dauliūtė (Lithuania/Sweden/Finland)
Producers: Viktorija Šiaulytė, Marta Dauliūtė

Investigative Journalists - Živilė Mičiulytė (Lithuania)
Producer: Stasys Baltakis

Life After Death - Nerijus Milerius (Lithuania)
Producer: Stasys Baltakis

Lovebinge - Simona Žemaitytė (Lithuania)
Producer: Akvilė Žilionytė

Pink is The Camouflage of Space  - Charlotte Strömberg Eliasson (Sweden)
Producers: Elin Bennett, Hanna Hannerz-Simå

The Right to be Forgotten - Adina Sadeanu (Romania/Belgium)
Producer: Ana Maria Pirvan

Roma - Olha Zhurba (Ukraine/Denmark/Netherlands)
Producer: Darya Bassel

The Wire - Tiha Gudač (Belgium/Lithuania/Norway/Croatia)
Producers: Frederik Nicolai, Lukas Trimonis

Yoyogi Haiku - Max Golomidov (Estonia/Japan)
Producers: Volia Chajkouskaya, Ivo Felt

Industry Screenings

Fiction

Cinephilia - Algimantas Puipa (Lithuania)
Producer: Uljana Kim

Lotto - Zaza Khalvashi (Georgia/Lithuania)
Producer: Sulkhan Turmanidze

Prologos - Mantas Kvedaravičius (Lithuania/Greece)
Producer: Mantas Kvedaravičius

Wild East - Matīss Kaža (Latvia)
Producer: Matīss Kaža

Documentaries

Back from New York - Ramunė Rakauskaitė (Lithuania)
Producers: Arūnas Matelis, Ramunė Rakauskaitė

Homo Sovieticus - Ivo Briedis (Latvia/Lithuania/Czech Republic)
Producers: Elīna Gedina-Ducena, Gints Grūba

Kernagis - Andrius Lekavičius (Lithuania)
Producer: Andrius Lekavičius

Mirror [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Siddhant Sarin, Debankon Solanky (India/Lithuania/South Korea)
Producer: Siddhant Sarin