Baltic Doc Producers Trio to Track

Celebrated for its documentary filmmaking, especially for the “Poetic New Wave” of the 1960s, the Baltics are pushing for larger visibility for today’s talented directors and producers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

By spotlighting the Baltic countries for the first time, head of Cannes Docs Pierre-Alexis Chevit says his goal is to highlight “the vibrant role of Baltic production companies in ambitious international co-productions of creative documentary films” and the long tradition of homegrown doc filmmakers exploring nonfiction aesthetics and forms “in very bold and creative ways.”

“Last but not least, we’re excited that Marianna Kaat, one of the three delegates, also acts as the main curator of the recently created documentary strand at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival!, ”Chevit adds.

Marianna Kaat 

Kaat founded Baltic Film Production and is an authority in the Russian Central-European doc community. She directed acclaimed “Pit No. 8” (2011), while her most recent work as a director-producer, “The Last Relic,” premiered at Hot Docs in 2023. Sher co-produced “Slave Island,” which won best Belgian doc at Docville, Leuven.

In Cannes, Kaat will highlight “We Will Not Fade Away,” currently in production, in which Cypriot-born war photographer Anton Zharov films entirely from within a Ukrainian military unit. Three co-productions are also in development: “El Dorado,” co-produced with France and Greece, is a doc set in the mining town of Chiatura, Georgia, helmed by New-York-based Rati Oneli. “God Is Tango,” helmed by Finland’s Annika Grof, shows tango as a manifest for human connections in times of war; and “The Prize of Glory,” by Kyrgystan’s Ilgiz-Sherniiaz Tursunbek Uulu, follows a young rider and his aging father as they chase victory.

Uldis Cekulis 

Uldis Cekulis launched VFS Film more than two decades ago. Cekulis has more than 50 films under his belt as producer or cinematographer, including four that entered the Oscar race: “Ramin” and “Bridges of Time” were Lithuanian entries in 2012 and 2019, respectively, and “Ukrainian Sheriffs” was Ukraine’s 2016 selection. His Italian-Latvian co-production “The Rossellinis” premiered at the Venice Critics Week in 2020.

The passionate filmmaker for whom documentaries are “the best way to learn about the world and to get better as human beings”, brings eight titles to Cannes. “It’s the first time in our history that we have so many projects, and it’s pure coincidence,” he says. Headlining the slate are two co-productions just selected for competition at June’s Sheffield DocFest: the Norwegian/Latvian/South Korean “North South Man Woman” reunites Cekulis with “Liberation Day”’s Morten Traavik who co-directs with Sun Kim. Dogwoof handles sales. Meanwhile the Indian/Latvian/Finnish “Redlight to Limelight” is the poetic debut of Bipulijit Basu.

Ruta Adelė Jekentaitė of Baltic Prods. has over a decade of experience in the film industry. Her latest Lithuanian doc, “Murmuring Hearts,” won Fipadoc’s Young Europeans Award. Jekentaitė
takes three titles to Cannes that received Media Program slate support. “Dolce Far Niente,” by Elena Kairyté and co-produced with Italy’s Kiné Società Cooperativa, celebrates Italian poet and writer Tonino Guerra’s legacy; “Theories of Care,” by Rūta Kiaupaité, is an essay about a group of winemakers; and “I Keep My Eyes on You” is an archive-based biopic about Canada-born filmmaker Zoe Dirse of Lithuanian-Latvian origin.