Industry@Tallinn and Baltic Event 2025 Award Winners Unveiled

The winners of the 24th edition of the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event portion of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) have been unveiled, and they include the likes of Dice-Cing-o-Mat, The Well, The Convulsionsand The Queen of England Stole My Parents.

A total of 17 film projects at various stages of scriptwriting, development, or post-production were honored, plus two promising producers were recognized.

The industry strand of PÖFF wrapped on Friday afternoon with a session entitled “Filming in Ukraine 2026.”

Earlier in the week, an international jury selected the drama series project Wool as the most promising project in the fifth edition of the TV Beats Co-Financing Market. Written by Birkir Blaer Ingolfsson, Mladen Maticevic, Stephie Theodora, and Milena Dzambasovic, produced by Hörður Rúnarsson and Milena Dzambasovic, and co-produced by Danna Stern, production companies Film Road Production, ACT 4, and In Transit Productions, Wool is based on a true story and “knits together fashion with female empowerment in a rural meets international setting, making it as relevant today as it was then,” the jury said.

Meanwhile, TV Beats market partner TV Drama Vision handed out the Select Award to the Spanish project Dark Watersdirected by Víctor Garcia, written by Amèlia Mora and Héctor Manteca, and produced by Juan Solá, Mark Abela, Tono Folguera, and Maria Rocher. The project “blends supernatural mystery, climate-change thriller and a tale intertwining the mythological worlds of Iceland and the Ebro Delta in Catalonia,” the jury noted.

Meanwhile, the TV Beats Co-Production Market Public Favorite Award honoree is Nuclear Sunset Cruisewritten and directed by Florian Gallenberger, whose Quiero ser won the Academy Award for best live-action short film in 2001, and produced by Martin Lehwald and Philipp Goeser.

Also this year, the Serial Bridges Baltic Best Project Award was handed out to the Lithuanian project Therapieswritten and directed by Birute Kapustinskaite based on her own play, and produced by Dagne Vildziunaite. “When a sharp-tongued professor checks into a remote hospital expecting peace and privacy during chemotherapy, she ends up in a six-bed cancer ward full of loud, impossible-to-ignore women, including her old college nemesis,” reads a synopsis for the project. “Beating cancer might be the goal, but first, they’ll have to survive each other.”

Check out the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event 2025 award winners and jury comments below.

Discovery Campus
Music Meets Film “Director-Composer Lab: Composing the Cut” Workshop Award. The award includes a two-hour career mentoring session by Miriam Cutler.

Winner: Nicolò Braghiroli

The jury included: George Christopoulos, Miriam Cutler

The jury commented: “The Music Meets Film Award, presented by OTICONS Film Music Agency, is given to an emerging composer who demonstrates outstanding creative skills and artistic promise during the workshop with Baltic Film, Media and Arts School “Director-Composer Lab: Composing the Cut”, led by renowned film composer Miriam Cutler. The combined skillset of a great film composer at work was showcased during the creative process, and that is how efficiently they collaborated with the director and how effectively they converted that collaboration into a score that worked with the narrative. That rare skillset is what makes this talent one to keep an eye on for the future. The award is presented by George Christopoulos, founder of OTICONS.”

Best upcoming cinematographer of Frame Within a Frame 2025
The winner is awarded a Golden Ticket to the ‘Cinematography lab’ workshop on Focus pulling by Team 4 Set.

Winners:
Gemma De Miguel Morell from Spain for the film Cura Sana.
Tanel Topaasia from Estonia for In Between

The jury commented: “The Frame Within a Frame Golden Tickets for the cinematography film; lab by Team4Set are awarded to two films celebrating visual mastery: one for its vibrant, raw aesthetic and dynamic camerawork, and the other for its masterful use of lenses and contrast, painting with light.”

The jury included: Steve Calavitis, Ville Penttilä, Rauno Ronkainen, John-Christian Rosenlund, Philippe Ros.

Frame Within a Frame Lens Award by ARRI is an award for the best cinematographer, celebrating their profound contribution to the art and techniques of cinematography.

Winner: Jolinna Ang from Singapore for the film I’ll Leave You Words .

The jury commented: “For a work of striking visual poetry, this beautifully shot film captivates with magical colors, fluid compositions, and a rhythmic harmony of movement and montage. A film whose cinematography not only supports its story, but seems to breathe it into being.”

The jury included: Steve Calavitis (ARRI / Camera Nordic), Philippe Ros (Co-Chair IMAGO Technical Committee), Ville Penttilä (Member – International Cinema Lighting Society)

The Black Nights Stars

The actors and actresses attending the Black Nights Stars 2025 received the Black Nights Film Festival and International Casting Directors Association Awards.

The awards were presented to Freddie Mosten Jacob, Karolina Bruchnicka, Kasparas Varanavičius, Kristiin Räägel, Saku Taittonen, Samirah Breuer, Tessa Hoder and Ursel Tilk.

Script Pool

Script Pool Award was given to the most promising project, receiving an exclusive opportunity to attend The Write Retreat in Mallorca, presented by TEGOS Legal.
Winner: White Ship
Writer and Director: Teresa Väli
Producer: Inger Põder
Production company: Homeless Bob Production, Estonia

The jury commented: “Thank you to all five teams for sharing their promising projects with us. It’s a privilege to have had access to your work. One project has stood out as the winner today for its bold, emotionally resonant, and universally relevant story that has the potential to speak powerfully to audiences of every generation. The director’s short films and strong cinematic ambition for her first feature has convinced us to grant White Ship the opportunity of making the most out of the writing retreat.”

The jury included: Yana Georgieva, Head of Sales at Bankside, UK; Camille Segura consultant, France and Per Damgaard Hansen, producers at Paloma Productions, Denmark.

Script Pool Public Favorite Award:
Winner: Apoteos
Written and directed by: Christopher Nilsson
Producer: Annegret Kunath
Production company: Råtunge Produktion, Sweden

The winner will receive two free accreditations for Industry@Tallinn @ Baltic Event 2026.

European Genre Forum

The European Genre Forum was given to the most promising project receiving a 25,000 euro award by a virtual production studio ATM Virtual consisting of one day rental of an LED stage, preceded by one day of pre-lighting for the production of a selected film.

Winner: Little Bird
Writer and Director: Faye Jackson
Producer: Carley Armstrong
Production company: True Moon Pictures (United Kingdom)

The jury commented: “Little Bird is an ideal candidate for an ATM Virtual award because it perfectly demonstrates the creative potential and technical necessity of Virtual Production.
High-Impact Visuals: The project requires complex supernatural environments (Hell’s portal, the Devil’s domain) and demanding flying sequences, which are precisely what VP stages excel at producing efficiently and realistically.
Demonstrates VP Value: The story’s core need for accurate interactive lighting (infernal glow, high altitude light) and immersive real-time environments makes it a powerful showcase for the superior quality and efficiency of in-camera VFX.
Unique Storytelling: Awarding this project helps ATM Virtual support innovative, ambitious genre filmmaking and allows filmmakers to execute grand visual ideas that might otherwise be budget-prohibitive.
The one day of VP stage time would allow the team to capture a crucial, visually challenging scene (like the initial portal opening or a key flying moment) with professional-grade, high-fidelity backgrounds and lighting.”

Works in Progress

Special Award by TRT.
The winner will be granted 5,000 euros (by TRT – The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation).

Winner: Dice-Cing-o-Mat
Writer and director: Kristijonas Vildziunas
Producer: Uljana Kim
Production company: Studio Uljana Kim, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia

The jury commented: “Based on the emotions experienced during the pandemic period, which affected the entire world and physically distanced us from one another, and through a father’s quest for identity and the rebuilding of family bonds, enriched with fantastical elements and presented with a strong directorial style and a nuanced narrative approach, the Lithuania–Estonia–Latvia co-production Dice-Cing-o-Mat has been awarded the TRT Award.”

The jury included: TRT representatives Esra Demirkiran, Faruk Güven.

Best International Project.
The winner will be granted 7,000 euros, consisting of 6,000 euros worth of services by Studio Beep, together with 1,000 euros travel allowance.

Winner: Prince
Writer and director: Federico Borgia
Producer: Francisco Magnou, Isabel Garcia, Pancho Magnou
Production company: Montelona, ​​Argentina, Uruguay

The jury commented: “For its evocative, visually rich imagery and the sense that this is a story we genuinely want to see unfold — a work that lingered with us long after viewing.”

The jury included: Zadig Paloyan, International Sales Executive, Le Pacte, France;
Arnon Manor, Vice President of Visual Effects at Sony Pictures; independent filmmaker, writer, producer, and director, USA; Amaia Serrulla, Head of Films and Documentation Department, San Sebastián International Film Festival, Spain.

International Works in Progress Public Favorite Award:
Winner: The Convulsions
Writer and director: Blanca Camell Galí, Anna Zisman, David Gutiérrez Camps
Producer: Joan Carles Martorell, Iréna Lopez, Luis Ortas, Alice Baldo, Miguel Ángel Abuja, Pablo Gregorio Venegas
Production company: Auca Films, Bapla Films, Timber Films, Cinetica Produccions, IMY Productions, France, Sp ain

The winner will receive two free accreditations for Industry@Tallinn @ Baltic Event 2026.

Best Baltic Project
The winner will be granted 7,000 euros, consisting of 6,000 euros worth of services by Studio Beeptogether with 1,000 euros travel allowance.

Winner: Dice-Ching-O-Mat
Writer and director: Kristijonas Vildziunas
Producer: Uljana Kim
Production company: Studio Uljana Kim, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia

The jury commented: “For the compelling blend of a fantasy-leaning proposal with the emotional challenge faced by the protagonist, and for making us eager to see how this takes shape both visually and narratively.”

The jury included: Zadig Paloyan, International Sales Executive, Le Pacte, France; Arnon Manor, Vice President of Visual Effects at Sony Pictures; independent filmmaker, writer, producer, and director, USA; Amaia Serrulla, Head of Films and Documentation Department; San Sebastián International Film Festival, Spain

Baltic Event Works in Progress Public Favorite Award:
Winner: Lex Julia
Writer and director: Laura Hyppönen
Producer: Merja Ritola, Co-produced by Magdalena Zimecka, Marianne Ostrat, Marta Krzeptowska, Daniel Lägersten
Production company: Greenlit Productions Oy, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Poland

The winner will receive two free accreditations for Industry@Tallinn @ Baltic Event 2026.

The Best Just Film Project
The winner received a 1,000 euro monetary prize to help the film gain visibility by covering promotion and publicity costs.

Winner: Switzerland
Writer and director: Maria Fernanda Gonzales
Producer: Norma Velasquez
Production company: Lucuma Salvaje, Suena Peru, Argentina, Peru

The jury commented: Switzerland impresses with a strong and striking visual style that grabs you right away. The three young protagonists bring a bold, dynamic energy to the film and the rough, unpolished feel makes the story even more authentic. The themes of growing up are very relatable, they allow a young audience to easily identify with the film. And the city of Lima really becomes a character of its own, adding depth and atmosphere to the film.

The jury included: Marjo Kovanen, PhD, Head of the Unit for the Promotion of Audiovisual Culture at KAVI, National Audiovisual Institute, Finland; Meel Paliale, Director (“Rolling Papers”); Veerle Snijders Head of Netwerk Filmeducatie at the Eye Film Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Just Film Works in Progress Public Favorite Award
Winner: Switzerland
Writer and director: Maria Fernanda Gonzales
Producer: Norma Velasquez
Production company: Lucuma Salvaje, Suena Peru, Argentina, Peru

The winner will receive two free accreditations for Industry@Tallinn @ Baltic Event 2026.

Baltic Event Co-Production Market

Baltic Event Co-Production Best Project
The winner was handed the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000.

Winner: The Well
Writer and director: Petra Koivula, Siiri Halko
Producer: Jenni Jauri
Production company: Silmu Films, Finland

The jury commented: The Well offers a nuanced and emotionally perceptive portrait of a sisterly relationship destabilized by changing roles in a family. The film’s blend of social and quiet magical realism promises a distinctive, atmospheric aesthetic. The story’s thematic resonance around identity, foster care, and emotional dependency gives it substantial artistic weight while at the same time allowing it to relate to relational shifts occurring in many families. The jury believes that this promising debut of young director Siiri Halko, produced by Jenni Jauri has the potential to be deeply affecting and cinematic.”

The jury included: Els Hendrix, Senior Adviser at the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and German representative to Eurimages; Katrin Pors, producer at Snowglobe, Denmark; Jörg Schneider, commissioning editor at ZDF, Germany.

The jury also handed out the Eurimages Special Co-Production Development Award to an Ukrainian projectworth €20,000.

Winner: Alice wants to live
Writer and director: Denys Sabolev, Vitaliy Dokalenko
Producer: Andrejs Ekis, Vitaliy Dokalenko
Production company: Ganzafilm

The jury commented: “Alice wants to live allows for a deeply atmospheric and emotionally truthful depiction of post-traumatic intimacy. Sadly enough, we all know that the trauma still continues. Kyiv is portrayed not as a battlefield but as a lived-in, wounded landscape, giving the film a quietly resonant authenticity that distinguishes it from more conventional war dramas.”

Producers Network Prize for two promising young producers.
The award was one free pass to Producers’ Network 2026 awarded by Cannes Marché du Film.

Winner: No salvation coming
Writer and director: Vojtěch Strakatý
Producer: Jan Čadek
Production company: Beginner’s Mind, Czechia

The jury commented: “This project offers a grounded, socially conscious heist narrative that compellingly reflects the precarity of young adults trapped by debt, underpaid work, and housing insecurity.”

Winner: Vesna
Writer and Director: Rostislav Kirpicenko
Producer: Stasys Baltakis, Vitalii Sheremetiev, Helena Pokorny, Oleksii Zgonik
Production company: Film Jam, Matka Films, Ukraine, France, Lithuania

The jury commented: “Vesna is an authentic drama with emotional depth exploring the challenge to survive under Russian occupation.”

Baltic Event Co-Production Market Public Favorite Award:
Winner: The Queen of England Stole My Parents
Writer: Aleksandra Chmielewska
Director: Ernestas Jankauskas
Writer-Producer: Gabija Siurbytė
Producer: Viktorija Rimkute
Production company: Dansu Films, Lithuania, Poland

The public favorite award winner in the Baltic Event Co-Production Market category will receive an award worth 4,500 euros from Gorodenkoff Productions that consists of using their virtual production studio for one day.