The 26^th edition of the Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (BSD), the leading documentary training and pitching event in the Baltic countries, is scheduled to run from 5-11 September in Riga, Latvia, and is looking for new projects that wish to participate, with the call closing on 10 June.

Regarding the eligibility criteria, the projects should be submitted by independent production companies from the countries of the Baltic Sea region (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden), Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region. However, other countries may be considered if the subject of the documentary relates to the region in some way. Furthermore, in response to the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine, some amendments have been made to the eligible countries this year. Projects from production companies based in Russia and Belarus, as well as those that focus their themes on either country, will not be eligible for the 2022 edition.

An international committee will select 18 feature-length creative documentary projects, with cross-media projects also being eligible, and they will be pitched to film professionals (international broadcasters, sales agents, film funds and other industry representatives) from the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus who will be attending BSD. The full guidelines and the application form can be found on the BSD website; participation is free of charge, and the selected projects will be announced by 11 July. Also, for further information, interested participants can contact Zane Balčus, project manager at BSD, at this address: balticforum@nkc.gov.lv.

In its 25 years of existence, the forum has provided a significant platform for new and experienced voices in documentary filmmaking. Some of the completed films presented as projectsat previous editions of the forum include How to Save a Dead Friend [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Marusya Syroechkovskaya (Sweden/Norway/France/Germany), Outside [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Olha Zhurba (Ukraine/Denmark/Netherlands), Courage [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Aliaksei Paluyan e Jörn Mö…
scheda film] by Aliaksei Paluyan (Germany), The Jump [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Giedrė Žickytė (Lithuania/Latvia/France) and My Favorite War [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen
scheda film] by Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen (Norway/Latvia), among others.

BSD is organised by the National Film Centre of Latvia, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Riga City Council and the State Culture Capital Foundation. In parallel with the industry activities, BSD is presenting a film programme with a special focus on Ukrainian cinema.