SHORT RIGA: Tests Screenings — Baltic short film presentations for experts
The section is dedicated to young talents eager to learn, practice, get inspired, and expand their creative horizons: each year 8 to 10 young film-makers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are invited to present their short films to a panel of international experts that provide an in-depth analysis of their work.
The screenings are open to all RIGA IFF industry badge holders and other registered participants. To register as an observer, please contact the curator Anna Zača via anna@rigaiff.lv
Projects
Therapy (working title)
Genre: Documentary
Country: Latvia
Estimated run time: 26 min, international cut 15 min
Producer: Antra Gaile. Mistrus Media, antra.gaile@mistrusmedia.lv
Project of ‘Latvian code. Latvia 100’ Public Television support.
Premiere: 2018/2019
Stage of production: No color correction, no sound design
I have this feeling that I have never had my own thoughts and feelings, always those have been the thoughts, the ideas and feelings of others, and I have just existed among those.
Senses
Genre: Creative documentary
Countries: Estonia, Latvia
Estimated run time: 25 min
Producer: Eliza Jordane, Baltic Film and Media School, jordane.eliza@gmail.com
Premiere: 2018
Stage of production: Finished
Three independent stories collide in a film, exploring different perspectives of what senses mean, if one of them is lost.
On Time
Genre: Fiction
Country: Lithuania
Estimated run time: 18 min
Producer: Ona Kontryna Dikavičiūtė
Premiere: 2018
Stage of production: Completed
Julė is 27. She is always late everywhere. She is about to become a judge, but the fact that she is always late gets in the way. She starts going to driving lessons that should help to solve her problem. Here she meets a driving instructor Artūras.
Windows
Genre: Fiction, Documentary
Country: Lithuania
Estimated run time: 20 min
Producer: Akvilė Žilionytė, akvilezilionyte@gmail.com
Premiere: 2018
Stage of production: Sound post production
In last 7 years I lived in 5 countries and 16 houses. Now I have 3 days to pack my things. It‘s my sixteenth home from which I‘ll move myself out. I'm packing things and through my window I see another 215 windows. I'm filming what I wouldn‘t forget about them.
One Life
Genre: Documentary
Country: Lithuania
Estimated run time: 20 min
Producer: Andrėja Čebatavičiūtė, Moonmakers,ce.andreja@gmail.com
Premiere: 2018
Stage of production: Starting visual post-production, finalizing film sound design and soundtrack with a composer planned by the middle of October 2018
The unusual life of a commercially produced butterfly. In the private farm, butterfly is born only to be sold as a prop for a classical concert. His journey to the music hall reflects struggle to survive in the modern day civilization.
The Last Man
Genre: Fiction
Country: Latvia
Estimated run time: 20 min
Premiere: 2019
Stage of production: Rough cut
The Monk, The Nihilist, The Fool and The Girl. One of them will remain to be the last man in the world.
Duna
Genre: Fiction
Country: Latvia
Estimated run time: 15 min
Producer: Gunda Bergmane, gundabergmane@gmail.com
Premiere: 2018
Stage of production: Planned to be in a final stage of editing by October 2018
Young woman Duna remembers her previous lives in different centuries. Each one of the lives is connected with one person who kills Duna every time. Duna finds herself in a situation where she has the opportunity to escape from this endless circle, sacrificing what is most dearest to her.
Teofrastus
Genre: Animation
Country: Estonia
Estimated run time: 15 min
Producer: Andres Mänd, Nukufilm OÜ, andres.mand@nukufilm.ee
Premiere: 2018
Stage of production: Film is mostly finished, no colour correction and no final audio mix
A tale of freedom and compassion, set in the 1980s. Cat Teofrastus lives a homeless life at a train station. One day, he is offered a home. However, happy life in the countryside is short-lived when Teofrastus is taken to the big city and gets lost on the streets.
Meyerhold’s Flight
Genre: Fiction
Country: Latvia
Estimated run time: 18 min
Producer: Una Celma, Deep Sea Studios, fenixfilm@inbox.lv
Premiere: 2019
Stage of production: Final copy completed
A cinematic dream/collage exploring the life, times and choices of Russian avant-garde theatermaker Vsevolod Meyerhold.
Gently Into The Night
Genre: Fiction
Country: Latvia
Length: 20 min
Producer: Aija Bērziņa, Tasse Film, aija@tasse.lv
Premiere: 2019
Stage of production: Last touch-ups before the final cut, no final sound and no color grading
Feith and Dallas, a married couple, are struck with news on their son's sudden death. They are going to the morgue to recognise his remains. Meanwhile on the same road 17 years ago they find out that they might become parents. In a lonely gas tank they stop to meet themselves from 17 years ago and have no choice, they must confront their past and future.
Experts
Anna Purkrábková
Representative of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, CzechiaMember of the festival’s selection committee and Program Coordinator at the Program Department of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Prague Short Film Festival. Her focus, as a programmer, is German speaking and Arabian countries. Coordinates the KVIFF Future Frames section that promotes young European filmmakers. She had cooperated with other festivals and TV productions as well as produced several short films.
Asja Krsmanović
Representative of the Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia and HerzegovinaMember of the Sarajevo Film Festival team – initially carried out the pre-selection and coordinated the Competition Programme – Short Film section. Since 2017 – programmer of the Competition Programme – Student Film that presents a platform for emerging regional film professionals. She has worked as an assistant director on several short films. Freelance scriptwriter and theatre critic. Dramatist of numerous theatre plays, as well as some radio and television projects.
Dāvis Sīmanis
Filmmaker, professor, and theorist, LatviaLatvian filmmaker, scriptwriter, editor, theorist, and lecturer. He has directed a number of documentary and fiction feature films. Teaches directing and film theory at universities in Riga and Helsinki. His works have participated and have been awarded in a number of festivals around the world. Contributing writer for the magazines Rīgas Laiks and Studija. His film Exiled (2016) won Best Film at the Riga International Film Festival.
Wouter Jansen
Representative of Some Shorts – a film festival distribution agency, the NetherlandsHas been the head of programming at the Oscar Qualifying Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen for 10 editions. As there is a gap in the knowledge of filmmakers about the festival scene, he founded Some Shorts – a festival strategy and distribution agency that specializes in visually powerful and daring short films of all genres and feature documentaries. The company supports emerging talented filmmakers and promotes their works internationally.
Mari-Liis Rebane
Animation expert, EstoniaAnimation expert at the Estonian Short Film Center. Programme curator and jury member at various film festivals. She has coordinated Estonian animation programmes abroad and advised the Estonian Film Institute for animation funding. Has been director of Animated Dreams, the biggest animation festival in Baltics (2013–2015). Holds MA degree in Animation and New Media Arts with a focus on interactive and emerging technologies in the digital age.
