Selected Projects 2025admin2025-06-04T14:25:09+03:00
A Guide to Grief | Latvia
director Ivars Zviedris | producers Ivars Zviedris, Liene Ulmane | production company Documentarian
Documentary filmmaker captures his grief after his youngest daughter’s suicide. After her funeral, he begins observing his mourning process, using both modern and spiritual tools to understand his loss. Gradually, documenting grief becomes a form of cinematic therapy.
director Adelina Borets | producer Glib Lukianets | production company Gogol Film
A Ukrainian breakdancer chases Olympic glory, risking his family. The film explores the emotional cost of dreams amidst war. Lussy Sky, with his family, flees to Poland, seeking safety. Torn between ambition and family, he risks losing his loved ones.
Bride of the Invisible | Lithuania, Poland
director Audrius Stonys | producers Marija Stonytė, Mantas Kazlauskas | production company UKU films, co-production company Drygas Film Production
In a world veiled by existential darkness, Sister Sofija sets out to find true, invisible holiness – unbound by institutions, quietly dwelling in the hearts and stories of ordinary village people.
Creaturama – Epic of the Animals | Finland, Estonia
director Juha Suonpää | producer Juha Suonpää | production company Swamphead Oy | co-producer Liis Nimik (Klara Films)
What if animals became filmmakers? Creaturama is a mesmerising journey through hidden forest realms that shifts visual agency from humans to animals. Captured by automatic trail cameras left in the forest for several years, the film reveals a magical world just beyond our sight.
Cuba. Deprivation | Latvia
director Staņislavs Tokalovs | producers Līva Vernere, Uldis Cekulis | production company VFS Films
The film follows Raul, a 58-year-old Cuban in Latvia, who returns home after 20 years to see his dying mother, and his stepson Stanislav, the filmmaker, who joins him to explore how his father’s absence and life with Raul shaped his identity.
DNA of the Nation | Ukraine, Lithuania
director Ivan Sautkin | producer Ivanna Khitsinska | production company Babylon`13 | co-producer Ringailė Leščinskienė (Zero Copy)
Mykhailo Baidakov considers himself a direct descendant of the famous Ukrainian poet and national prophet Taras Shevchenko and is ready to prove it with the help of DNA testing. However, will the relatives of the iconic person, who have built a real religious cult around his name, like it?
Elīna Garanča: The Symphony of Life | Latvia, Germany, Austria
director Signe Birkova | producers Gints Grūbe, Dārta Vijgrieze | production company Mistrus Media | co-production company 3B-PRODUKTION
As the rules are shifting within the global realm of opera, Elīna Garanča finds herself at the summit of her stage life, making plans for ending yet simultaneously continuing her career. Her talent, self-discipline and personality make stopping impossible as she makes an unfulfilled dream come true.
Face It Without Fear | Sweden, Ukraine
director Svitlana Lishchynska | producer Fredrik Lange | production company Vilda Bomben Film | co-producer Svitlana Lischynska
A Ukrainian who once served as a Soviet occupier in Afghanistan witnesses Russia’s invasion of his homeland. Breaking decades of silence, he shares the mindset of an occupier with Marina, a filmmaker seeking to understand what turned her own veteran father into a monster.
Garden of Anna | Latvia, India
director Kristīne Briede | producer Kristīne Briede | production company Vino Films | co-producer Rajani Mani (Elephant Corridor Films)
Uncovering the legacy of European missions through the extraordinary life of Latvian missionary Anna Irbe — a “gardener of souls” whose journey, set against the backdrop of colonial and postcolonial India, illuminates the cultural and historical dynamics of her time and today.
directors Peter Akar, Rita Balogh | producer Rita Balogh | production company OTHER FILMS
A raw, immersive coming-of-age documentary co-created with charismatic Gen Z teens over five turbulent years. Blending self-shot and observational footage, it captures identity crises, depression, and fleeting joy—as they search for meaning in a world changing faster than anyone can keep up.
Maria Is On TV | Lithuania
directors Viktorija Mickutė, Ieva Balsiūnaitė | producer Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė | production company Just A Moment
Once upon a telenovela, the Marias taught their viewers to dream bigger, cry harder, and wait for endless love – now, the women return to ask, ‘Who wrote the script?’
Missing in Action (wt) | Ukraine, Norway
directors Kateryna Holovko, Marharyta Melnychuk | producers Aliona Kachkan, Eugene Rachkovsky | production company TABOR | co-producer Martin Walther (Walther Bros)
Natalia is a 50-year-old woman whose life was changed by war. She has devoted herself to the search for her missing brother, Vitaliy. Faced with an ambiguous loss, Natalia goes through a journey from mourning to post-traumatic growth and discovers a new purpose in helping others.
Olimbi – Mother Courage | Croatia
director Karlo Mlinar | producer Filip Filković | production company More-Magnets
“Olimbi – Mother Courage” tells the story of a widowed mother in 2003 Albania, who, along with three of her four children, is diagnosed with HIV at a time when treatment is unavailable. Overcoming significant challenges, she fights for survival and ultimately changes history.
Operation Champion | Georgia
director Mariam Nikolaishvili | producer Irina Gelashvili | production company Radium Films
Gvantsa, a 31-year-old wheelchair fencing champion, trapped between a surgery that could save her health and the sport that gives her purpose — sacrificing everything to stay on top, unaware that she is being used as a pawn in Georgia’s political game.
director Miina Alajärvi | producer Oona Saari | production company Illume
Rapland is a documentary musical exploring urban rap culture in the stoic mental landscape of small villages in North Finland. For the film’s protagonists, hip hop is a way to express an identity rooted in the periphery. But can rapping liberate them from the sense of inherited hometown angst?
director Marija Stonytė | producers Akvilė Žilionytė-Khan, Mantas Kazlauskas, Marija Stonytė | production company UKU films
Haunted by childhood trauma, 32-year-old Roland turns to tantra and shamanic rituals for healing. But his most unexpected therapeutic practice is repairing washing machines. As he fixes what’s broken, he asks: is it true that real men don’t cry?
director Gailė Garnelytė | producer Akvilė Žilionytė-Khan | production company Artišokai
Rita is doing everything to be a good mother but poverty and disability make it extremely difficult.
The Perfect | Estonia, Finland
director Laura Liventaal | producer Hõbe Ilus | production company Sui | co-producer Oona Saari (Illume)
The journey of becoming a woman behind the scenes of extreme self-control. Why do we hide our pain?
The Roads of Forgotten Dreams | Estonia, Germany
director Joosep Matjus | producer Katri Rannastu | production company Wildkino | co-producer Claudia Zenkert (SEETREE)
The Roads of Forgotten Dreams is the story of people that live in the outskirts of the Nordic and Baltic countries – rural places where communities are still alive to carry forward traditions and the art of living in harmony with nature – through the journey of Italian photographer Luca Berti.
The Wars We Play | Germany, Ukraine
directors Anton Yaremchuk, João Pedro Prado | producers Vincent Edusei, Maritza Grass | production company Carousel Film
As Brazilian footballers come to play in war-torn Ukraine, each displaced Ukrainian teammate moves one step closer to the front. As the war threatens to divide the locker room, the game becomes a mirror of a struggling nation.
Threads of My Ancestors | Estonia
director Carlos Lesmes | producer Merili Laur | production company Tin Can
A mother and son’s imaginary quest for roots, belonging and the stories that make us who we are.
Women and War | Poland, Germany, Ukraine
directors Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski | producer Maciej Kubicki | production company Telemark | co-producers Hans-Robert Eisenhauer (Ventana Film), Natalie Krasilnikova (Art Dialog)
Three Ukrainian women — Yulia, Irina, and Olena — survivors of captivity, torture, and sexual violence, undergo therapy for war trauma. Through their courageous struggle to heal, the film shows a powerful female perspective on resilience, strength, and reclaiming life from the lasting scars of war.
COMING SOON | films in post-production stage from previous BSD editions
In the Winds of the Icefields | Estonia
director Mihkel Oksmann | producer Hõbe Ilus | production company Sui
The 87-years-old ice sailor is crafting his last ice boat. When the filmmaker goes to capture his grandfather engineering this utopian vessel, the latter asks him to jump on the boat instead. Their race against time begins. If only there was ice.
My Family and Other Clowns | Estonia
directors Heilika Pikkov, Liina Särkinen | producer Ülo Pikkov | production company Silmviburlane
How to survive parenthood, when you have a lot to juggle? A film about love and parenthood, chasing a dream and making sacrifices. A story full of tears and laughter that resonates with every family.
Požerskis: In Focus | Lithuania
director Joris Skudra | producer Justė Michailinaitė | production company Broom Films
Celebrated photographer Romualdas lives for fame, recognition, and awards. But who is he without all these labels, distractions, and noise? Soon, he figures it out.
Shut the Fuck Up! | Ukraine
director Taisiia Kutuzova | producer Alona Savchuk | production company Crimean Waves
Serhiy, a young activist, battles corruption and prejudice, symbolizing Ukraine’s brave new generation of leadership. Shut the Fuck Up! follows his pursuit of justice and inner peace, reflecting the resilience and determination of a nation striving for change.
