Participants of Baltic Women in Film Mentorship Program’s 6th season revealed
The sixth edition of the Baltic Women in Film Mentorship (BWiFM) programme will kick off next week, bringing together 15 emerging female film professionals from the Baltic states and Ukraine. This year’s participants represent a wide range of occupations across the audiovisual industries, including directing, producing, screenwriting, cinematography, film criticism and acting. Over the course of the programme, they will have the opportunity to learn from established industry professionals from across the Baltics, develop their skills, expand their professional networks and gain valuable insights into the inner workings of the film industry.
The Baltic Women in Film Mentorship is the first and only regional mentorship programme dedicated to women working in the audiovisual industries. It provides a supportive environment for emerging professionals to pursue their career goals, deepen their knowledge and develop new projects. The programme aims to advance gender equality in the audiovisual sector, strengthen regional collaboration and encourage the exchange of knowledge, experience and professional connections. Through these efforts, it seeks to make a lasting contribution to the growth of the Baltic film industry and increase the visibility of women working within it.
This year’s selection includes four participants from each of the Baltic countries and three women from Ukraine.
The Lithuanian participants are screenwriter and director Kamilė Višnevskaja; director and producer Ksenia Frolova-Ochrimenko (Ksenia Ore); director Sotera Kupinaitė; and architect, urbanist and emerging documentary filmmaker Emilija Martinkevič.
Latvia will be represented by producers Emma Daniela Grāpe and Rēzija Grēta Štrausa; cinematographer and audiovisual artist Beatrise Zviedre; and film editor and director Ance Brīvlauka.
The selected participants from Estonia are screenwriter and director Hanna-Mirtel Paas; set and production designer, producer Anke Leen Ledda Mikk; producer Greeta Võsu; and screenwriter, film critic and film festival coordinator Mirell Talbre.
Joining them from Ukraine are animation director and 2D artist Olena Onyshchuk; director and producer Marina Baibarza; and Vilnius-based actress Daria Andriianenko.
The mentorship programme will run for seven months, from October 2026 to April 2027. Throughout this period, the selected mentees will meet regularly with their mentors – established audiovisual industry professionals from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Alongside individual mentoring sessions, participants will take part in workshops, seminars and informal gatherings exploring topics such as mental health, leadership, self-promotion and other issues relevant to their professional development. Another integral part of the programme is participation in some of the region’s leading film industry events, including the Riga International Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and Vilnius Short Film Festival. The BWiFM also grants mentees a one-year membership at European Women’s Audiovisual (EWA) Network.
The Baltic Women in Film Mentorship program is organized by the Lithuanian Short Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts” in partnership with Women in Film & Television Lithuania, Riga International Film Festival, PÖFF Shorts and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Vilnius Short Film Festival and European Women’s Audiovisual Network. The program is partly supported by the Lithuanian Council of Culture and the Audiovisual Works Copyright Association AVAKA.
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