Baltic Women in Film Mentorship
“Baltic Women in Film Mentorship” (BWiFM) is the first mentorship program exclusively for women in all areas of film and TV industries in the Baltic states. Through mentorship activities, the BWiFM seeks to increase the exchange of best practice, knowledge, contacts and interest in the Baltic film culture and pay attention to gender equality. The core of the mentorship program is building an effective contact-exchange and matchmaking marketplace where women, working in the Baltic audiovisual industry, would have an opportunity to be mentored by the industry experts and encouraged to develop their professional skills, competences and create new audiovisual projects or services.
BWiFM is a one-to-one relationship, focused on the needs of the mentee to develop specific competencies, skills, and a problem-solving attitude, as well as on the availability and capability of the mentor to provide advice on those issues. It is a program where the experience and knowledge of the mentor match the specific needs of the mentee.
Duration of the program – 7 months (October 2024 – April 2025).
The working language of the program is English.
The mentorship program is organized by the Lithuanian Short Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts” and the “Women in Film & Television Lithuania” association, in partnership with the Riga International Film Festival (Latvia), Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Estonia), “Meeting Point – Vilnius” (Lithuania), and the European Women Audiovisual Network (EWA, Belgium). Funding for the program was provided by the Nordic Cultural Institute “Nordic Culture Point” and the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture.
The open call has been closed. Selected participants will be informed through the email.
Rules and regulations HERE.
Application form HERE.
Eligible participants
Who can apply
The application is available for young women who are citizens of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or have a right of a permanent residence in the countries mentioned above, and who:
– Working in different areas of film and TV industries;
– Are under the age of 30;
– Are willing to enter the audiovisual industry, change the professional path or continue her career in film/TV industries;
– Willing to deepen professional knowledge or widen her horizons in different areas of film/ TV industries;
– Eager to learn/be coached by the industry professional;
– Can attend the program fully – participate in all the online/on-site events.
Selection criteria:
– Applicant’s motivation will be the key selection criterion;
– Clarity of their specific goal set for the mentorship program;
– Participant’s experience, motivation and professional growth potential.
Mentorship program structure
• Matchmaking: mentees + mentors and their monthly individual meetings;
• Monthly online get together with mentees and industry guests;
• Self-education webinars and workshops;
• Visiting industry events at the international film festivals in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
The program will include the following activities for the selected participants**:
• Program introduction workshop;
• Monthly online gatherings-meetings for the mentees;
• Online webinars on such topics as mental health in the film industry, leadership, self-presentation;
• Industry events: attending Riga International Film Festival (Latvia), Black Nights Film Festival (Estonia), Vilnius Short Film Festival (Lithuania), Vilnius International Film Festival “Kino Pavasaris” (Lithuania) and its industry events.
** the activities’ list might change or vary due to unplanned circumstances
Baltic Women in Film Mentorship 2021-2022
For the first year of this initiative, 44 applications have been submitted. 15 mentees of the three Baltic countries have been chosen to take part in the mentorship activities.
Lithuania:
Jogilė Ramoškaitė, content creator and actress
Indrė Juškutė, film director
Vilma Razmutė, graphic designer and animator
Ilona Stankevičienė, producer
Bon Alog, visual artist
Latvia:
Gunda Bergmane, producer
Zane Buksa, junior producer
Līga Požarska, film journalist
Beatrise Maija Krievina, art director and production designer
Alise Zariņa, film director and writer
Estonia:
Jaanika Arum, film director, writer and actress
Nadya Tjuška, filmmaker
Birk Rohelend, screenwriter
Ragne Mandri, film director and writer
Bojana Babic, film director and writer
Baltic Women in Film Mentorship 2022-2023
Lithuania:
Vesta Tučkutė, film director and producer
Milda Buškevičiūtė, student
Milda Valiulytė, film curator and programmer
Salvija Vaičikonytė, illustrator
Latvia:
Ieva Aleksejeva, filmmaker
Ilze Bloka, director and performer
Linda Rudene, playwright
Anna Konovalova, cinematographer
Estonia:
Doris Tääker, director
Vivian Melder, screenwriter, director and producer
Emel-Elizabeth Tuulik, film critic
Anna-Maria Jams, foley artist
Ukraine:
Vira Kravchuk, scriptwriter
Baltic Women in Film Mentorship 2023-2024
Lithuania:
Martyna Ratnik, curator and filmmaker
Erdvilė Girinkaitė, filmmaker
Rugilė Pranculytė, screenwriter and filmmaker
Saulė Savanevičiūtė, film critic and curator
Pata Popova, producer, filmmaker and artist
Latvia:
Dace Čaure, film critic and curator
Una Cekule, director and producer
Melānija Gulbe, producer
Madara Lote Peizuma, cinematographer
Kate Jansone, film director and animator
Estonia:
Grete Kaio, producer and journalist
Henelis Notton, screenwriter
Alesja Suzdaltseva, director
Inger Põder, producer
Liisbeth Kala, actress and visual artist
Baltic Women in Film Mentorship 2024-2025
Lithuania:
Džiuginta Gabrielė Radavičiūtė, producer
Kotryna Ramanauskaitė, producer
Ana Kazanceva, production coordinator and screenwriter
Vaiva Botyriūtė, director and photographer
Monika Jašelskytė, cinematographer
Latvia:
Līna Brauna, editor
Katrīna Karple, producer
Marta Šleiere, producer
Betija Zvejniece, screenwriter and director
Juta Jākobsone, screenwriter and director
Estonia:
Karmen Mai Karus, actress and director
Mariann Jürior, producer
Merili Laur, producer
Agnes Milla Bereczki, animation director
Katharina Kala, film critic
