Yesterday Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event rewarded the best projects after a week full of presentations, networking, screenings, meetings and panel discussions attracting more than 600 guests from 54 different countries. 

Marge Liiske, the Head of Industry@Tallinn and Baltic event said that it has been exciting five days of masterclasses, discussions, meetings, pitchings and networking. “74 projects - short films, features and TV drama series included - had over 500 pre-arranged meetings, plus all the meetings and deals made in the MEDIA buyers lounge or various meeting places in our conference centre, the Nordic Hotel Forum. We are thankful for all the professionals, who have trusted us as an industry platform, and look forward to seeing their projects grow into beautiful films distributed all over the world,” she added.

This year’s Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event Awards went to the following projects:

Baltic Event Co-Production Market Awards

18 projects were presented in the official selection of the Co-Production Market at Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event during Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. 

Best Project

Eurimages Co-Production Development Award

The award of 20 000 Euros was given to the best project based on its artistic quality and potential for theatrical release.

Winner: The Great Match by Filip Syczynski, Poland

Produced by Anna Rozalska and Aleksandra Aleksander, Match & Spark

Jury comment:

The project convinced unanimously with the strong heartfelt motivation of the director who has a German and a Polish teenage refugee settling the scores of the recurrent European discussion about freedom on the tennis court. 

Screen International Best Pitch Award (offering coverage of the life-cycle of the winning film)

Winner: The File by Jonas Karasek, Slovakia

Produced by Wanda Adamik Hrycova, Wandal Production

Cannes Marché du Film Producers’ Network Award (for Promising Young Producer with free accreditation to next year’s edition)

Winners: Carla Fotea, Romania, and Andreas Kask, Estonia 

Jury of Baltic Event Co-production Market Awards included Uljana Kim, Producer, Studio Uljana Kim, Lithuania, Simon Ofenloch, Commissioning Editor, ZDF ARTE, Germany; Alex Traila, Consultant, National Representative of Eurimages, Romania; Martin Blaney, Screen International, Germany. 

Works In Progress Awards

The fifth edition of International Works In Progress presented 8 projects and the 17th Baltic Event Works in Progress presented 10 projects from the Baltic region and Finland. 

The Post Production Award

Post production services in the amount of up to 10 000 Euros but not more than 2/3 of the expenses incurred at Post Control. The award is given to the project, which successfully combines creative and commercial potential.

Winner: The Pit directed by Dace Pūce, Latvia

Producers: Kristele Pudane, Elīna Zazerska

Production company: Marana Productions

Jury comment: 

The clips we saw left us wanting to see more. This specific coming-of-age story should be universally understood and has cross-border potential.

The Baltic Event Works in Progress Award

The Baltic Event Works in Progress Award is given to the project with the strongest and boldest artistic vision. The award will help the film gain visibility during its promotion and distribution in the Baltic States by covering related costs in the region.

Winner: Brownie directed by Sarah Blaßkiewitz, Germany

Producers: Milena Klemke, Yvonne Wellie, Jakob D. Weydemann, Jonas Weydemann

Production company: Weydemann Bros. GmbH

Jury comment:

With its authenticity, current, relevant subject matter and sense of humour, the nicely-shot Brownie is a film about appearance that digs deeper into many other levels and deserves international distribution.

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event Works in Progress jury included Dhanushka Gunathilake, Cinematographer, Festival Curator, Debra Liang, Level K, and Alissa Simon, Palm Springs IFF, Chicago IFF.
 

Script Pool Tallinn 2019

Global Screen Award (5000 Euros)

The third Script Pool Tallinn competition prize is provided by the leading international sales & distribution company Global Screen GmbH.

Winner: Molly by scriptwriter Nicole Paglia and producer Jessie Mangum

Jury comment:

Molly tells us a story we are not familiar with, but we would love to watch on screen. It is easy to get connected with the characters and their internal conflicts in the love story set in the politics of cold war and frozen Greenland. We believe Molly could be an original and captivating film.

The jury of Script Pool Tallinn: Celine Dornier, Executive Producer at Logical Pictures, Yaron Shamir, Programmer and Special Events Coordinator at Haifa International Film Festival, and Jennyfer Gautier, Buyer and international sales at UDI – Urban Distribution International.