Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event will present 16 new film projects at its Works in Progress showcase on 19 November, where movies currently in production or post-production will be seeking sales agents and festival premieres. The line-up is divided into Baltic Event Works in Progress, International Works in Progress and Just Film Works in Progress, highlighting both emerging filmmakers and established directors. Screenings will take place at the Apollo Plaza cinema in Tallinn.

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This year’s selection explores the themes of family relations, freedom, grief and belonging, with projects ranging from intimate psychological dramas to imaginative adventures for younger audiences. Helen Räim, project manager of International Works in Progress and Baltic Event Works in Progress, highlighted the common thread running through the international selection, noting how the films explore empathy and understanding across different cultures and stages of life.

The International Works in Progress section features six films spanning Europe and Asia. Spanish director Marina Palacio presents And So It Will Go On, a drama told in reverse, in which Germán grows younger as a once-empty village gradually fills up again. In Leopard Spots, directed by Josh Trigg, a mother’s fear of abandonment threatens her relationship with her daughter in a rural Japanese factory town.

French filmmaker Théo Gottlieb explores memory and acceptance in Luci Looped in Limbo, which follows a physicist obsessed with changing the past. The selection also includes Fires, directed by Nina Tratnik, about a girl coming of age amid summer fires in Podgorica (see the news). Denmark is represented by Without You, directed by Nils Holst-Jensen, in which a mother experiences an unsettling sense of freedom following her daughter’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Kyrgyz director Amanbek Azhymat presents The Elderly Store, about a 70-year-old man with just 15 days to make life interesting before facing “recycling”.

The Baltic Event Works in Progress section will showcase five features from the region, highlighting established authors and more experimental approaches to filmmaking. Estonia is represented by A Midnight Pilgrimage, a tragicomedy directed by Katrin Ruus, in which a carefree journalist suddenly finds himself responsible for holding his family together (see the news). Colombian filmmaker Carlos E Lesmes (A Loss of Something Ever Felt) presents Paraiso, Outer Space, a nocturnal reflection on chance encounters, change and grief.

Lithuanian director Saulius Baradinskas brings Concrete Music, about a musically gifted teenager who flees his mafia family and seeks to avenge his mother’s death through music (see the news). Latvian filmmaker Elza Gauja (A Postcard from Rome) presents Marry Then Die, a dark comedy built around an extraordinary agreement between two strangers: Zigis will help Anya end her life, but only if they get married first. Completing the selection is Burlaks, a tragicomedy written and directed by Gatis Ungurs, whose bored sawmill-worker protagonist becomes caught in a wager between God and the Devil.

The Just Film Works in Progress strand presents five projects for younger audiences, exploring childhood, family relations, identity and belonging. Norwegian filmmaker Torfinn Iversen presents Uncle Egg, in which a 12-year-old boy travels from Northern Norway to Germany with his eccentric uncle in search of his biological father (see the news). In The Queen of England Stole My Parents, Lithuanian director Ernestas Jankauskas (I Am Fine, Thanks) follows an adopted girl on a journey to save her biological parents.

The selection also includes The Reef by Phillip Donnellon, in which two siblings enter a mysterious parallel world and fight for its inhabitants’ freedom. Serbian filmmaker Darko Lungulov presents 1970, a drama about a 13-year-old boy who sets out with a hippie girl in search of a new family (see the news). Rounding off the selection is All Girls by Boyana Avdjieva, in which two childhood best friends face the possible end of their bond following a devastating nightclub tragedy.

The awards for Works in Progress include two €7,000 prizes – comprising €6,000 worth of post-production services from Studio Beep and a €1,000 travel allowance – for the best projects in the Baltic and International sections. The Just Film Works in Progress winner will receive a €1,000 monetary prize to help cover promotion and publicity costs.

Here is the complete list of projects selected for the 2026 Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event Works in Progress:

International Works in Progress

The Elderly Store – Amanbek Azhymat (Kyrgyzstan)
Producer: National Film Studio Kyrgyzfilm

Luci Looped in Limbo – Théo Gottlieb (France)
Producers: Yoel Servadio, Caroline Hélaine (HIERSOIR FILMS)

Without You – Nils Holst-Jensen (Denmark)
Producer: Daniel Mühlendoprh (Hyæne Film)

And So It Will Go On – Marina Palacio (Spain)
Producers: Garazi Elorza, Lara Izagirre Garizurieta, Ana Angulo Umaran, Itxaso Frau Terradillos (Gariza Films)

Fires – Nina Tratnik (Montenegro/Albania/Serbia)
Producer: Bojana Radulovič (Code Blue Production)

Leopard Spots – Josh Trigg (Japan/UK)
Producers: Toby Cameron, Aiko Flores Yoshioka, Ruth Yoshie Linton (On Par Productions, Kingyo Films, Geronimo Boy Film)

Baltic Event Works in Progress

Concrete Music – Saulius Baradinskas (Lithuania/Italy)
Producer: Viktorija Seniut-Strolienė (Viktoria Films, Lumen Films)

Marry Then Die – Elza Gauja (Latvia)
Producers: Līva Vernere, Uldis Cekulis (VFS Films)

Paraiso, Outer Space – Carlos E Lesmes (Estonia)
Producers: Lili Pilt, Carlos E Lesmes (Tin Can)

A Midnight Pilgrimage – Katrin Ruus (Estonia)
Producers: Sander Lebreht, Peeter Urbla (Exitfilm)

Burlaks – Gatis Ungurs (Latvia/Georgia)
Producers: Kristele Pudane, Dace Siatkovska (Sunday Rebel Films, Half Alien Films)

Just Film Works in Progress

All Girls – Boyana Avdjieva (Bulgaria)
Producers: Boyana Avdjieva, Kosta Karakashyan, Vladinella Katzarska (On Pointe Productions)

The Reef – Phillip Donnellon (Germany/Estonia/Finland)
Producers: Daniel Ehrenberg, Christine Rau, Evelin Penttilä, Oskari Huttu, Annegret Weitkämper-Krug, Margaret Milner Schmueck (eyrie entertainment GmbH, Stellar Film, TACK Films, Gretchenfilm)

Uncle Egg – Torfinn Iversen (Norway/Germany)
Producer: Julia Andersen (Fjordic Film, Tellux Film, Mideu Films)

The Queen of England Stole My Parents – Ernestas Jankauskas (Lithuania)
Producers: Gabija Siurbytė, Viktorija Rimkutė (Dansu Film)

1970 – Darko Lungulov (Serbia/Luxembourg/Hungary/Croatia)
Producers: Snezana van Houwelingen, Darko Lungulov (This and That Productions)