When East Meets West (WEMW) has wrapped its 16th edition with an awards ceremony in Trieste, unveiling this year’s main winners. Following three intense days of pitching sessions, works in progress, inspirational labs, talks and meetings, from 18-20 January, the WEMW Co-Production Forum jury announced the two top-awarded projects of the year. The event—hosted by Alessandro Gropplero, head of WEMW, and Alessandra Pastore, market manager—brought together more than 650 professionals from over 60 countries.

The WEMW Co-Production Forum jury, composed of Katharina Boendel (Shellac), Daniela Persico (Locarno Film Festival), Sonja Prosenc (Monoo) and Marija Razgutė (M-Films), awarded the Film Center Serbia Award, a €5,000 cash prize, to the documentary Going Underground, directed by Armands Začs. The project follows a young Latvian civil defense architect whose inspections of bomb shelters for a possible Russian invasion gradually fuel her spiralling fear. The project also received the Taskovski #DocsConnect Award.

The €5,000 Ciclic WEMW Award, granted by the French Centre-Val de Loire Region, went to The Last Dog on Earth, directed by Brazilian filmmaker Nina Kopko. Set in a dystopian future, the film centres on Luana, a rideshare driver one fare away from affording her planned suicide, whose final passenger turns out to be hiding a dog, an animal believed to be extinct. Kopko, also received the EWA Network’s Award for Equality & Inclusion, valued at €500, and the Pop Up Film Residency Award. The jury also delivered the GoGo2025 Residency Award to What Kind of People Are You, directed by Lina Lužytė.

Thanks to partnerships with an extended network of international training programmes and markets, several additional awards were announced. Romanian producer Diana Caravia, selected with the project The Summer Holiday, was awarded a scholarship to attend the EAVE Producers Workshop, while My Name Is Enough received the DAE Talent Development Prize. Producer Čarna Vućinič, attached to Koryo, secured a free badge for the Cannes Marché du Film Producers’ Network, while Rainy Dreams was selected as one of the Spotlighted Projects at Cannes Docs 2026. The CEE Animation Award went to Hair of Hare, directed by Sander Joon.

Across the three WEMW work-in-progress sections dedicated to films in post-production, the international jury of Last Stop Trieste, composed of Tereza Bona Keilova (HBO Europe), Marko Erakovic (Montenegro Film Centre), Anne-Laure Negrin (ARTE – GEIE) and Meike Statema (IDFA), awarded the HBO Europe Award, a €1,000 cash prize, to Birdie by Aneta Ptak, and the Film Center Montenegro Award, worth €2,000, to the Georgian project Sacred Songs, directed by Nona Giunashvili and Mariam Bitsadze.

The jury of This is IT, the work-in-progress section dedicated to films co-produced with Italy or produced by the WEMW spotlight territories, was chaired by Amaury Auge (ACID), Sabrina Baracetti (Tucker Film) and Núria Palenzuela Camon (Indie Sales). The jury awarded the Laser Film Post Production Award to Death Has No Master, directed by Jorge Thielen Armand, including four days of colour grading services and one DCP, for a total value of €10,000. The M74 Award went to Everytime by Sandra Wollner, and includes the creation of 2D Comp visual effects and opening credits, valued at €10,000.

In First Cut+, the works-in-progress section for projects that previously participated in First Cut Lab workshops, the international jury composed of Esra Demirkiran (TRT), Keiko Funato (Alpha Violet), Jessica Kiang (Berlin International Film Festival), Vojtech Kocarnik (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival) and Angela Prudenzi (Venice International Film Festival) awarded the TRT Prize, worth €5,000, to Patty, directed by Luise Donschen.

The HAVC & MIDPOINT Development Award, a €3,000 cash prize, was granted by a jury composed of Alicia Martinez Miguel, Marie-Gabrielle Peaucelle and Millán Vázquez-Ortiz to the German project Manclave, directed by Pablo Pagán and produced by Frederik Ehrhardt.

The Italy-Baltic Development Awards for Co-Production, supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Estonian Film Institute, the Lithuanian Film Centre and the National Film Centre of Latvia, delivered three prizes totalling €40,000. The Italian majority project Jonas, directed by Gregorio Sassoli and co-developed by Corego and Frailty Film, received €20,000. Two Baltic majority co-productions were also awarded: Blue Lada, directed by Urmet Piiling, secured €10,000, while Beautiful Death, directed by Andris Gauja, received the remaining €10,000.

For the second consecutive year, WEMW also presented the Inspirational Lab Special Gifts programme. The CIRCLE Special Gift, offering a place on the Digital Empowerment Programme, was awarded to Paulina Albrecht and Roberta Coutinho Sauerbronn, while the TorinoFilmLab Special Gift, including a spot at a TFL Next Workshop, went to Jérémie Palanque. The programme also included private counselling sessions on green production held by Trentino Film Commission – Green Film.

The 2026 edition of When East Meets West closed with more than 650 registered participants, over 750 scheduled one-to-one meetings, 15 parallel activities across a three-day programme and a dense network of international partners.

Here is the list of winners at the 2026 edition of WEMW:

WEMW Co-Production Forum awards

Film Center Serbia Development Award
Going Underground – Armands Začs (Latvia/Estonia/Finland, documentary)
Production: Mistrus Media, Allfilm, Making Movies

Ciclic WEMW Award
The Last Dog on Earth – Nina Kopko (Brazil)
Production: Vitrine Filmes, Boulevard Filmes

GoGo2025 Residency Award
What Kind of People Are You – Lina Lužytė (Lithuania/Estonia)
Production: Just a Moment, Stellar Film

EWA Network’s Award for Equality & Inclusion
Nina Kopko – The Last Dog on Earth

EAVE Producers Workshop Award
Diana Caravia (Romania) – The Summer Holiday

Taskovski #DocsConnect Award
Going Underground – Armands Začs

DAE Talent Development Award
My Name Is Enough – Marina Arzumanova (Armenia, documentary)
Production: Order Film Production

CEE Animation Award
Hair of Hare – Sander Joon (Estonia, short animation)
Production: AAA Creative

Marché du Film Producers Network Award
Čarna Vućinič - Koryo (Serbia/Croatia)

Cannes Docs Spotlighted Project
Rainy Dreams – Alireza Ghasemi (France/Iran, documentary)
Production: Mystic Makers, Two Dots, Anna Films

Pop Up Film Residency Award
Nina Kopko – The Last Dog on Earth

Last Stop Trieste

HBO Europe Award
Birdie – Aneta Ptak (Poland/Iceland)
Production: Staron-Film, Akkeri Films

Film Center Montenegro Award
Sacred Songs – Nona Giunashvili, Mariam Bitsadze (Georgia)
Production: 17/07 Productions

This Is IT

Laser Film Post Production Award
Death Has No Master – Jorge Thielen Armand (Venezuela/Canada/Italy/Luxembourg)
Production: La Faena Films, Volos Films Italia
Co-production: Deal Productions

M74 Award
Everytime – Sandra Wollner (Austria/Germany)
Production: Panama Film, The Barricades

First Cut+

TRT Prize
Patty – Luise Donschen (Germany)
Production: Fünferfilm UG

MIDPOINT Development

HAVC & MIDPOINT Development Award
Manclave – Pablo Pagán (Germany)
Production: Frederik Ehrhardt

Italy-Baltic Co-development Awards

Jonas – Gregorio Sassoli (Italy/Lithuania)
Production: Corego, Frailty Film

Blue Lada – Urmet Piiling (Estonia/Italy)
Producers: Tallifornia Eriotstarbeline Massiivne Tellis OÜ, Cinefonie

Beautiful Death – Andris Gauja (Latvia/Estonia/Italy/Bulgaria)
Producers: Riverbed, Film Tower, Mammut Film, Agitprop