The 30th edition of the Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (Baltic Sea Docs, 6-11 September) has announced its winners in Riga, with eight awards presented to projects from across the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The forum combines pitching sessions, one-to-one meetings and professional workshops, continuing its role as an important co-production platform for creative documentaries from the area.

Following this year's industry meetings, the awards recognised projects dealing with subjects ranging from the experience of war and the disappearance of traditional ways of life to women's health, sexuality, family expectations and the changing nature of Europe's borders.

Two awards were claimed by Two of Us, directed by Jūratė Samulionytė, and produced by Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė and Danielė Kunčinaitė. The documentary follows Vitalius, a journalist, and Albinas, a choir tenor, who have lived as lovers for more than half a century while presenting themselves publicly as father and son. The project received the ARTE European Talent Development Award, including a €10,000 development grant in exchange for a first-look deal, as well as the Movies That Matter Award, providing an invitation to the next edition of the festival.

The Baltic Sea Docs Award went to The Shepherd’s Son by Azerbaijani director Nurlan Hasanli, which follows 14-year-old Ali, who leaves school to join his father, Taleh, in a centuries-old nomadic shepherd lifestyle. The award features a consultancy session with an industry expert in the field of the project's choice (distribution, editing, festival strategy or other).

The BBposthouse Award, valued at €3,000, was given to Going Underground by Latvian director Armands Začs; the film follows 26-year-old civil-defence architect Veronika as she inspects bomb shelters in Latvia amid growing fears of a potential Russian invasion. The Sheffield DocFest Award went to Lunatics by Finnish director Saila Kivelä. Drawing on Kivelä's experience of severe premenstrual mood disorder, the film connects humanity's conquest of outer space with its limited understanding of the female body.

The IDFA & Baltic Sea Docs Collaboration Award was granted to Borderline, directed by Ville Seppänen and Johan Huimerind, with Huimerind also serving as producer. The road movie follows communities along Europe's eastern frontier in Finland and Estonia, where increasingly hardened borders with Russia coincide with economic decline, depopulation and geopolitical uncertainty. The East Doc Platform Award went to 35 Letters by Polish director Zuzanna Solakiewicz. The documentary begins with the discovery of 35 unanswered letters written in the mid-1990s by teenage girls from small Polish towns to a modelling agency. Three decades later, Solakiewicz sets out to find their authors, now middle-aged women.

Finally, from the Coming Soon section, which features projects in post-production, the TV3 Group Award was presented to I See No Death by Ukrainian director Yevhen Titarenko, produced by Natalia Khazan and Guntis Trekteris. The film follows a new group of Ukrainian military drone pilots as they begin their first missions, working from basements and dugouts where killing is experienced through a screen and war becomes a routine of shifts.

The 30th anniversary was also marked by a special programme looking back at the history of Baltic Sea Docs while considering the future of documentary filmmaking. On 9 September, the discussion “Documentary Film Forum Baltic Sea Docs 30 & CE MEDIA 35”, moderated by Cecilia Lidin, brought together filmmakers and industry professionals including Tue Steen Müller, Uldis Cekulis, Marianna Kaat, Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė and Darya Bassel to reflect on three decades of the forum, while Sudeep Sharma, Flore Cosquer and Zane Krūmiņa looked ahead to the next 30 years. The anniversary programme continued with an artists’ talk by Ukrainian director Roman Bondarchuk and screenwriter and producer Darya Averchenko, focusing on the relationship between film and reality, and the documentation of the Kherson region, alongside an exhibition at Art Station “Dubulti” in Jūrmala revisiting the people and community featured in Bondarchuk’s Ukrainian Sheriffs. The celebrations culminated on 12 September with a screening of the movie followed by a conversation with its filmmakers.

Baltic Sea Docs is organised by the National Film Centre of Latvia, and is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.

Here is the full list of award winners at the 30th Baltic Sea Docs:

Baltic Sea Docs Award
The Shepherd’s Son – Nurlan Hasanli (Azerbaijan)
Producer: Turkan Huseyn (Ultra Production)

ARTE European Talent Development Award
Two of Us – Jūratė Samulionytė (Lithuania)
Producers: Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, Danielė Kunčinaitė (Just a moment)

BBposthouse Award
Going Underground – Armands Začs (Latvia/Estonia/Finland)
Producers: Dārta Vijgrieze, Gints Grūbe (Mistrus Media), Allfilm, Making Movies

Sheffield DocFest Award
Lunatics – Saila Kivelä (Finland)
Producer: Ida Karoskoski (Wacky Tie Films)

Movies That Matter Award
Two of Us – Jūratė Samulionytė

IDFA & Baltic Sea Docs Collaboration Award
Borderline – Ville Seppänen, Johan Huimerind (Estonia/Finland)
Producer: Johan Huimerind (DOKFILM)

East Doc Platform Award
35 Letters – Zuzanna Solakiewicz (Poland)
Producer: Maria Krauss (Plesnar & Krauss Films)

TV3 Group Award
I See No Death – Yevhen Titarenko (Ukraine/Latvia)
Producers: Natalia Khazan, Guntis Trekteris (Braha Production Company/Ego Media)