Baltic Sea Docs

The project selection for the 30th edition of Baltic Sea Docs is out! 🌊

This September, 26 documentary projects from the Baltic States, Ukraine, Finland, Poland, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and beyond will be presented in Riga. Join us in celebrating 30 years of connecting documentary filmmakers and stories across borders!

📍 Riga, Latvia
📅 6–11 September, 2026

The full project selection: https://dokforums.gov.lv/selected-projects-2026/

We would like to share a few words in memory of Simon Drewsen Holmberg, one of the founders of Baltic Sea Docs, written by Lelda Ozola, an early member of the BSD organising team:

"I needed a couple of days to contemplate what it means that Simon is in another world now. He is and he isn’t, as he continues to live in the minds of Baltic documentary professionals (and beyond) forever.

This year, BSD is celebrating its 30th anniversary. It is the most important documentary event in the Baltic countries – highly respected for its professionality and loved for its friendly and inclusive atmosphere. It was founded by Simon Drewsen Holmberg & Bent Noerby Bonde at the Baltic Media Centre on the island of Bornholm in 1997. They were visionaries who saw that unknown Baltic stories are worth breaking out in the world. And they were so true.

The event helped to shape and strengthen the concept of a Baltic documentary film producer – a non-existent profession in the Soviet regime. They saw the value of creative documentaries that had developed in the Baltic countries since 1960s under the censorship of the Soviet Union where you had to tell the truth between the lines and be very creative visually.

Today’s internationally well-known Baltic documentary producers’ names have developed all through the 30 years of Baltic Sea Docs. It is a mind-blowing journey started by a couple of people and their teams. It proves that every one of us can change the world – like Simon did for our documentarians.

On a personal note, Simon has also geared my professional life into what it is today – inviting me to join the Baltic Media Centre’s team at the end of the 1990s. It was a huge step for someone born and raised in the Soviet Union and helped me to adapt to the new Western reality much quicker, gaining invaluable professional know-how in those two years on Bornholm. And it was Simon who ‘planted’ me in the team of the National Film Centre of Latvia so that the knowledge gained in Denmark continues to grow together with the Latvian film industry. I am SO GRATEFUL for having such a rewarding and interesting job until this day.

Simon has undoubtedly left his footprint in the Baltic documentary scene, and it cannot be erased. And we are sure that he’ll continue to guide us as a guardian angel from the silver lined heaven – filled with light, harmony and a wonderful sense of humour. RIP."

Lelda Ozola

In the photo by Agnese Zeltiņa: Simon Drewsen Holmberg at the reception hosted by the Danish Cultural Institute in the Baltic States to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Baltic Sea Docs in 2021.

Last days to submit your documentary project to the upcoming 30th anniversary edition of Baltic Sea Docs!

📅 6 – 11 September, 2026
📍 Riga, Latvia
📩 Apply by 6 May

Filmmakers from the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus are invited to submit their projects. Companies from other European countries may also apply if their project relates to these regions or involves a regional co-producer.
Show us the work!

Worth checking out for documentary professionals! 🙌

🎬 Creative Europe Desk Poland / Program Kreatywna Europa invites to a conference “Focus on Documentary Storytelling”, dedicated to production, promotion, and distribution of documentary films.

📅 21 April 2026 (Tuesday)
🕒 11:00–15:00
📍 Online (Zoom)

Among speakers:
Anna Gawlita (Kijora Film)
Helle Faber (Made in Copenhagen)
Katarzyna Kuczyńska (HAKA Films)
Stephanie Fuchs (Autlook Filmsales)
Petar Mitric (Filmotor)
Artur Liebhart (Against Gravity)
Oli Harbottle (Dogwoof)
Katarzyna Wilk (KFF Sales)

The event takes place as part of the 35th anniversary of the MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe, which has long supported the development of European documentary cinema and its international visibility.

Participation is free of charge; registration is required.
Follow the link in comments for a full programme and registration link! 👇

🌊 One month left to apply for the 30th edition of Baltic Sea Docs!

If you’re working on a feature-length creative documentary, Baltic Sea Docs offers the opportunity to connect with international industry professionals, take part in a three-day workshop, pitch your project, and explore co-production possibilities.

📅 6–11 September 2026
📍 Riga, Latvia
📩 Applications are open until 6 May

Open to filmmakers from the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus, as well as projects with a regional connection.

🔗 Apply now: https://dokforums.gov.lv/project-submission-guidelines-2026/

REplay.lv skatāma lietuviešu režisores Giedres Beinorjūtes filma "Svētais un laicīgais Pievēnos" – sirsnīgs novērojums par īpašu Lieldienu tradīcijas saglabāšanu kādā ciematā Žemaitijā.

Filma rudenī izrādīta Dokumentālo filmu foruma programmā. Tā kopproducēta Latvijā studijā Mistrus Media, filmas komponists ir Vestards Šimkus.

⛪️ "Reizi gadā nomaļš ciemats Lietuvas ziemeļrietumos atdzīvojas, lai svinētu katoļu Lieldienas un saglabātu senu, gandrīz izzudušu tradīciju — Krusta sargāšanu Lieldienu naktī. Ar smalku humoru un cieņu pret vietējo kopienu filmas veidotāji novēro ciema kopienas gatavošanos Lieldienu vigīlijai un ieved skatītāju Lieldienu nakts īpašajā atmosfērā. Filma rosina pārdomas par svētā un laicīgā līdzāspastāvēšanu mūsdienu pasaulē."

Vēl 2023. gadā filma tapšanas stadijā prezentēta Baltic Sea Docs industrijas sadaļā.

This week at East Doc Platform in Prague, we had the honour of presenting the Baltic Sea Docs award to one of the participating projects. It went to "House in a Bottle" (dir. Anna Morawiec, prod. Agata Jujeczka, Vision House, Poland, in development), “a confession of five people who had to be adults as children, and remain children as adults.”

Our jury statement:
“A thoughtfully and creatively developed project on a topic that resonates all too widely, exploring how early experiences shape the ways we move through the world as adults. By creating space for connection and shared reflection, it offers something genuinely needed in our societies.”

"House in a Bottle" is invited to participate at the 30th edition of Baltic Sea Docs this September, offering further visibility and opportunities to connect with key figures in the international documentary scene.
Congratulations to the team!

And many thanks to Institute of Documentary Film for hosting an excellent event!

📷 Institute of Documentary Film – Štěpán Lohr

A few days left to submit projects to CEDOC MARKET! 📣

We are accepting documentary project submissions for the 30th edition of Baltic Sea Docs! 🌀

Looking for partners, new opportunities and international visibility? Apply by 6 May and take your project further!

🙌 Read more on Cineuropa 👇

Applications open for the 30th Baltic Sea Docs 17/03/2026 - Documentary filmmakers can now submit their projects for the leading Baltic-region industry event, which offers key networking and co-production opportunities in Riga this September

A call to producers in Estonia and Lithuania –
it's one month to apply to the EURODOC workshop in Tallinn!

The workshop will be an opportunity to get a deeper insight into international coproduction skills, benefit from personalized mentoring, and to create meaningful connections with international documentary professionals!

Applications are open until Friday, March 20, 2026.