“Baltic Women in Film Mentorship 2024-2025” Program Announces the Selected Mentees

This week marks the start of the fourth season of the Baltic Women in Film Mentorship Program (BWiFM 2024-2025). The program features 15 women from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, representing various fields of the audiovisual industry, including directing, producing, screenwriting, cinematography, acting, and film criticism. The participants will learn from experts in the Baltic audiovisual industry, enhance their professional skills, expand their networks, and gain insights into film festivals.

The Baltic Women in Film Mentorship Program is the first regional mentorship initiative for women in the audiovisual industry. Through guidance from mentors, the selected participants are empowered to confidently pursue their professional goals while deepening their skills and competencies. The program aims to create a network that not only promotes gender equality but also facilitates the sharing of experience, knowledge, and contacts, and fosters the growth of the Baltic film industry.

BWiFM lasts for seven months (October 2024 – April 2025). During this period, selected mentees will engage in regular meetings with their mentors—professionals from the Baltic audiovisual sector. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to attend webinars and workshops on topics such as mental health, leadership, self-promotion, and more. They will also expand their professional networks at key industry events, including the Riga International Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Vilnius Short Film Festival, and Vilnius International Film Festival “Kino Pavasaris”.

The program selected five participants from each Baltic country. From Lithuania: producers Džiuginta Gabrielė Radavičiūtė and Kotryna Ramanauskaitė, production coordinator and screenwriter Ana Kazanceva, director and photographer Vaiva Botyriūtė, and cinematographer Monika Jašelskytė. The Latvian participants include editor Līna Brauna, producers Katrīna Karple and Marta Šleiere, screenwriters and directors Betija Zvejniece and Juta Jākobsone. The Estonian participants are actress and director Karmen Mai Karus, producers Mariann Jürior and Merili Laur, animation director Agnes Milla Bereczki, and film critic Katharina Kala.

The mentorship program is organized by the Lithuanian short film agency “Lithuanian Shorts” in collaboration with the Women in Film and Television Association (WIFT LT). Institutional partners include the European Women Audiovisual Network (EWA, Belgium). The program is financed by Nordic Culture Point, the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Program for Culture, and the audiovisual authors’ association “AVAKA.”