In 2025, eight projects have been selected for the 11th European Genre Forum, a six-month training cycle for up-and-coming European genre filmmakers. During the Marketing and Packaging Lab in Tallinn, the last event of the genre training programme, the participants will present their projects at a public pitching event.  

Tallinn Lab is part of the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event (I@T& BE) of the Black Nights Film Festival.

The project selection of the 11th European Genre Forum saw a wide variety in genres. Dystopian sci-fi, folk horror, thriller, fantasy, tragicomedy, and mystery are reshaped in the projects of up-and-coming producers and directors. As usual, the projects present a broad geographic spread, with nine co-production countries represented.

In addition to training to prepare the projects for reaching the industry audience at a public pitching event on November 20th, sessions will focus on digital marketing and VFX. Joanna Solecka from Digital Panda marketing agency and Arnon Manor, until recently a vice president on visual effects at Sony Pictures, will run the talks and assist in developing the projects.

Following the co-operation from last year, one of the projects will receive an award of 25,000 euros, consisting of one day rental of an LED stage, preceded by one day of pre-lighting for the production of a selected film.

The award, presented by a virtual production studio, ATM VIRTUAL, will be handed out to the project that could use the virtual production services the best.

Radosława Bardes, Managing Director and co-owner of ATM Virtual, comments: “We are delighted to partner with the European Genre Forum for a second year. We believe that virtual production is a revolutionary tool for filmmakers, and we are committed to embracing and empowering the creativity of the next generation of genre storytellers. We look forward to seeing how the winning project leverages our cutting-edge technology to realize their ambitious vision.”

The EGF teams presenting the projects in Tallinn are:

AR Lives – Michael Kleinfield – director | Jinglin Huang – screenwriter (Germany, Taiwan)

Blood – Mika Pajunen – producer | Aleksi Hyvärinen - producer (Finland)

Blue Lada – Tõnu Hiielaid – producer | Urmet Piiling - director (Estonia)

Burial Patrol – Mattia Puleo - producer (Italy)

Like Air – Elvira Dulskaia – director | Julietta Sichel, Rozalie Brozkova - producers (Czech Republic)

Little Bird – Faye Jackson - director, screenwriter | Carley Armstrong - producer (United Kingdom)

The Sleepers – Didac Gimeno - director | Marco Lledo - producer (Spain)

The Stranger – Visna Mamic – director (Croatia)
 

Details of each project can be found on the EGF website: europeangenreforum.com

The European Genre Forum (EGF) is a collaboration between the Imagine, Fantastic Zagreb festivals, and I@T& BE. Together, they offer a training programme that aims to boost the careers of future European players in the genre film industry through three talent labs, packed with training, panels, mentoring, and pitching sessions. The Screenwriting and Directing Lab takes place during Fantastic Zagreb Film Festival in July, The Producing Lab in Amsterdam during the Imagine Fantastic Film Festival in late October, and The Marketing and Packaging Lab in Tallinn is scheduled for the I@T& BE of the Black Nights Film Festival in November.