Baltic Shorts Highlights from Cannes 2022
Lithuanian film Cherries plays in Official Short Film Competition; Lithuanian and Latvian producers take part in New Producers Room and Estonian project selected for Focus WiP
The 75th Festival De Cannes will prove that 2022 is yet another strong year for shorts from the Baltic region as films and filmmakers from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will make their presence known to audiences and industry professionals in attendance at the biggest film festival in the world.
Cherries (Uogos) from Lithuanian director Vytautas Katkus and producer Marija Razgute will compete with eight other films in the Cannes Official Short Film Competition, selected out of more than 3500 entries.
The film sees a recently retired father invites his son to help him with the cherry picking in the garden. But the father is in no hurry to finish the cherry job though, as he tries to catch up with his son.
It is the second time that Katkus has participated in Cannes with previous film Community Gardens (2019) becoming the first Lithuanian film to participate in the Semaine de la Critique program.
The screening of Cherries will prove extra sweet for Katkus as he has just been announced as the winner of Le Semaine de la Critique Next Step programme for 2022. The scheme helps talented short-film directors make the leap to feature films. His win was for the project The Visitor (Producer: M-Films), which follows Danielus’ journey as a young man makes a new life for himself in a foreign land where he does not speak the language and doesn’t know anyone.
Industry professionals attending Cannes Short Film Corner will also get to see more great short films from the Baltic region as, for the second time, Baltic Shorts presents a special seven short film collection called “Baltic Shorts” in the Cannes Court Métrage Video Library.
Available between 23-27 May, all accredited festival and market visitors will have the possibility to view the film collection containing the freshest short films from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Seven animation and fiction shorts represent some of the most exciting filmmakers currently working in the region and display the creativity and unique sensibility of films from the Baltic region. Many of the films are work-in-progress or just recently finished and looking for the distribution, sales opportunities or festival premieres. Full information on available films can be found at: HERE.
2022 will also see a new initiative for the Short Film Corner | Rendez-vous Industry in the New Producers Room. The scheme aims to highlight 10 up-and-coming producers and offer them a space where they can explore the co-production opportunities in specific territories, and therefore build strong bonds for the future and benefit from a series of dedicated sessions centered around the production & distribution fields.
Baltic Shorts has selected two short film producers to take part in the New Producers’ Room – Justė Michailinaitė (Broom Films, Lithuania) and Alise Rogule (Mima Films, Latvia). Both producers are alumni of the pitching event “Baltic Pitching Forum” in 2021.
More information about initiative and participants: HERE.
Also at Short Film Corner | Rendez-vous Industry, the Focus WiP aims to highlight short film projects currently in production or post-production to key decision-makers, such as international festival programmers, distributors, institutions, producers and buyers. The Focus WiP provides guidance to short filmmakers through mentoring sessions and gives them the opportunity to promote their work-in-progress.
Amongst the six short film projects selected for the Focus WiP there will be the Estonian project Jungle Law (director Madli Lääne, producer Marianne Ostrat, Alexandr Film). The project has been previously developed at the script development program “Baltic Shorts Residency” and presented at the “Baltic Pitching Forum” in 2019.
More information about the program and selected projects: HERE.
During the Short Film Corner | Rendez-vous Industry events, which will be held from Monday 23 to Friday 27 May, 2022, there will be a Baltic delegation representing the key festivals and industry players in the Baltic short film world. These will include representatives of Lithuanian Short Film Agency and Vilnius International Short Film Festival Rimante Daugelaite and Gabriele Cegialyte, and short film programme manager at Riga International Film Festival – Lauma Kaudzite.
Baltic Shorts presentation at Short Film Corner | Rendez-vous Industry is supported by Lithuanian Film Center, National Film Centre of Latvia and Estonian Film Institute.
