– LATVIA –
Laima Grazdanovica
Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS / Programme Director
Laima Grazdanovica (Latvia) divides her work between theory and practice. Since 2019 she is programme director at Riga International Short Film festival 2ANNAS and has been a curator of short films since 2013. She has graduated from theater and film theory studies in Latvian Academy of Culture, and now is studying MA in Visual Communication at Latvian Academy of Arts. Her work focus is researching personal and collective histories through interconnectivity.
Lauma Kaudzite
Short Film Conference / Managing Director
European Short Pitch / Coordinator
RIGA IFF / festival manager and curator of industry days
Latvian Animation Association
Recently appointed as the Managing Director of Short Film Conference, Lauma is also coordinator of European Short Pitch, as well as the project manager of SHORT RIGA, curator of Baltic Animation Meet-Up and SHORT RIGA Test Screenings – in the context of Riga International Film Festival. She is also part of the selection committee for SHORT RIGA, European Short Pitch and Baltic Pitching Forum, works in Latvian Animation Association and manages industry events in 2ANNAS – short film festival in Latvia.
– ESTONIA –
Laurence Boyce
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and PÖFF Shorts / Programmer, Short Film Programme Director
Short Film Conference / Chairman of the Board
Film journalist and critic, member of FIPRESCI, the London Critics Circle, the European Film Academy and BAFTA
Laurence Boyce was born in Leeds, UK and gained a BA on Film and Literature from the University of Warwick. He began his career in 1999 as a programmer and moderator for the Leeds International Film Festival (where he still advises to this day) and also spent time as the director of GLIMMER: Hull International Short Film Festival. He relocated to Tallinn, Estonia in 2010 and currently works for the Black Nights Film Festival, an A-List festival. He works as both a programmer for the festival’s main competitions as well being the head of programme (Live Action) for PÖFF Shorts, the short film section of the festival.
Laurence is also an award winning film journalist and critic who has written for numerous publications amongst them Screen International, Variety, Sight and Sound, The Guardian, Cineuropa, Little White Lies and many others. He is a member of FIPRESCI (The International Federation of Film Critics), the London Critics Circle, the European Film Academy and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). He is currently the chairman of the board of the Short Film Conference, a network of short film organisations from across the globe.
Heinrich Sepp
PÖFF Shorts, Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival / Programmer, Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Heinrich Sepp (b. 1990) is a Tallinn-based freelance artist and LGBTQ+ activist working as a marketing coordinator and programmer for the Black Nights Film Festival’s (PÖFF) sub-festivals PÖFF Shorts and Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.
Mariliis Parve
PÖFF Shorts / Programme Coordinator
Mariliis Parve (b.1990) is a short film enthusiast and the programme coordinator for PÖFF Shorts. Parve has been working for the Black Nights Film Festival 8 years as an executive assistant and a volunteer coordinator for its subfestival Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF).
Mirjam Mikk
Estonian Film Institute / International Distribution Coordinator
Mirjam Mikk is part of the Marketing Department at the Estonian Film Institute, coordinating the international distribution of Estonian films.
– LITHUANIA –
Rimantė Daugėlaitė-Cegelskienė
Lithuanian Shorts / Managing director
Vilnius International Short Film Festival / Head of the Festival
Baltic Pitching Forum / Head of the Forum
Rimantė Daugėlaitė has been the head of the Vilnius International Short Film Festival since 2009 and the managing director of the Lithuanian Short Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts” since 2012. Rimantė has been working in the audiovisual sector for nearly ten years and has coordinated multiple culture, film promotion projects and initiatives, also produced several Lithuanian short films. She graduated from Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Film Production (BA) and Vilnius University in Political Science (BA). R. Daugelaite is an alumna of the “Berlinale Talents”, “MAIA Workshops”, a member of “EWA Network”.
Gabrielė Cegialytė
Lithuanian Shorts / Projects’ Manager
Vilnius International Short Film Festival / Festival producer
Baltic Pitching Forum / Coordinator
Gabrielė Cegialytė graduated from Vilnius University (Lithuania) in 2016 with BA in Communication. After graduation she started working at the Lithuanian short film agency “Lithuanian Shorts”, which specialises in curation, promotion and distribution of Lithuanian short films both nationally and internationally. Gabrielė coordinates various “Lithuanian Shorts” projects including Baltic short film industry event “Baltic Pitching Forum”, short film script development residency “Baltic Shorts Residency”, annual “Lithuanian Shorts” catalogue, International Short Film Day celebration in Lithuania, “Lithuanian Shorts Mentorship” for women in film and TV. She has been part of Vilnius International Short Film Festival’s team since 2015 and became festival producer in 2018.
Akvilė Būgaitė
Lithuanian Shorts / Projects’ Coordinator
Akvilė Būgaitė (b. 1999) – is currently studying Creative Industries at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. She spent one semester abroad as an Erasmus + student at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, where she developed a solution project for a social challenge. Akvilė is working as a projects’ assistant at Lithuanian Shorts Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts”. She also worked in a Baltic Pitching Forum as an assistant back in 2021 and as a volunteers’ coordinator at 15th Vilnius International Short Film Festival (2022).
