A total of six international works in progress were selected for this year’s Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, and they were presented during a morning session on 23 November at the Coca Cola Plaza. The three-member jury – comprising Ariane Buhl, an independent consultant in festival strategy and implementation (France); Thorsten Ritter, who works in world sales and co-financing at Beta Cinema (Germany); and Andrei Tanasescu, a programmer for the Giornate degli Autori (Romania) – will pick the winner of the €7,500 Best Project Award, presented by High Voltage. Below we take a closer look at these projects.

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20,000 Species of Bees - Estibaliz Urresola (Spain)
Producers: Lara Izagirre (Gariza Films), Valérie Delpierre (Inicia Films)
Six-year-old Lucia knows that something inside her doesn’t meet others’ expectations, but she doesn’t know what it is. In the midst of her family’s breakdown, Ane uses a cousin’s baptism as an excuse to take her three children to her hometown. This journey seems to be a breath of fresh air in the face but quickly becomes a stifling reality for Ane, who is confronted with the weight of the environment and family values. Estibaliz Urresola produced, wrote and directed the feature-length documentary Paper Voices and is now making the leap to feature-length fiction. Aiming for a February release, the film is seeking distributors and sales agents.

(© Arapua Films)

The Ballad of a Hustler - Heitor Dhalia (USA/Brazil)
Producer: Bernardo Barreto (Berny Films)
After seven years in prison, Jonathan wants to get his life back. But instead of his family, friends and fiancée, he encounters betrayal, mistrust and a six-year-old kid left alone after his illegal-immigrant mother vanishes. Brazilian film director Heitor Dhalia has won awards for his previous work at various festivals such as Sundance, Moscow and Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. This is his latest work, set to be released in March, and the film is looking for gap financing, distributors, sales agents, festivals and streamers.

(© Annabelle Mullen Pacheco)

The Fisherman's Daughter - Edgar De Luque Jácome (Puerto Rico/Colombia/Brazil)
Producer: Annabelle Mullen Pacheco (Belle Films)
Co-producers: Jorge Botero (Septima Films), Tatiana Leite (Bubbles Project), Elsa Turull de Alma (Larimar Films), Rodrigo Letier (Kromaki Films)
Samuel, the last free-diving grouper fisherman, lives isolated on an island. One day, he receives an unexpected visit from his son, now a transgender prostitute called Priscilla. Samuel initially rejects Priscilla but allows her to stay. After suffering an accident, Samuel has to accept the care of his daughter, and this brings them closer together. This is the debut feature by Edgar De Luque Jácome, a writer-director from Colombia whose shorts and documentaries have been awarded at various university festivals. Aiming for a spring release, the film is looking for gap financing, distributors, sales agents, festivals, streamers and markets.

In The Belly of a Tiger - Siddartha Jatla (India/China/USA/France/Taiwan)
Producers: Bhavana Goparaju (Jeevi Films), Patrick Mau Huang (Flash Forward Entertainment), Jatla Pictures LLP
Co-producers: Esther Lee (Wonder Pictures), Sarada Uma
This project was inspired by the real-life incident of a 55-year-old woman who was suspected of killing herself at the hands of a tiger to save her family from debt. It was thought that the village was sending its elderly people to be killed by a tiger in the local reserve in order for the family to collect compensation from the government to help them survive. As Bhagole and Prabhata are farmers without any land, they cannot survive in their village but cannot survive in the city either. This is the second feature by Siddartha Jatla. His debut, Love and Shukla, premiered at Busan, Shanghai, Tallinn Black Nights and Palm Springs – in total, showing at more than 40 festivals around the world. The film will be completed in February and is looking for gap financing, distributors, sales agents, festivals, streamers, co-producers and markets.

Ruth - Esty Shushan (Israel)
Producers: David Silber, Sivan Cohen (Metro Communications)
Ruth, a 22-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jewish mother, sees her life shattered to pieces one morning. Her husband, Shmuel, a prodigious student marked out for greatness, makes a fatal mistake that causes the death of their only child, Srulik. The shattered dreams and unimaginable pain lead Ruth to question and actively undermine her place in society for the first time in her life. The director is an ultra-Orthodox mother of four, an entrepreneur and a social activist, dedicated to the promotion of justice, representation and equality for women within ultra-Orthodox society. Ruth is another step in Shushan’s quest to break the walls of silence and concealment, and deal with important, current social issues head-on. The film, which is due to be ready in May, is looking for gap financing, distributors, sales agents, streamers and co-producers.

(© VIRUSfilm)

Waltzing Matilda - Petr Slavík (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producers: Nataša Slavíková (Phoenix Production), Vít Janeček (VIRUSfilm)
The film tells the story of bailiff Karel Jaroš, his mother, former choir singer Matilda, and Karel’s teenage son, Pavel. The withdrawn, emotionally torn Karel does not get along with his extroverted and bohemian mother, and only thanks to a strong sense of duty does he visit her regularly. Pavel, on the other hand, who comes across as an irresponsible flunky, despises his father’s profession and cannot forget that he abandoned his family as a child. The relationship between all three is unsettled, but an unexpected life situation brings them together. For the first time, veteran Czech documentary filmmaker Petr Slavík is targeting the fiction world with a film that will be completed in summer 2023, and which is looking for gap financing, distributors, sales agents, festivals, co-producers and markets.