The films “Baltic UXO” and “The Big Chief” won awards on Sunday at the Docu Talents From East during the CineLink Industry Days at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Eight documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe, due to be released in cinemas over the next twelve months, are being screened in Docu Talents From the East.
The Lithuanian-German-Latvian co-production “Baltic UXO”, directed by Agne Dovidaite and Aleksander Belinsky, and produced by Dagne Veldziunaite, received the grand prize of $5,000, in cooperation with Current Time TV.
The film examines how 1.6 million tons of munitions, including chemical weapons, were dumped into the Baltic and North Seas after World War II. It explores the environmental impacts on marine life and coastal landscapes.
The jury said the project “looks very professional, has beautiful cinematography, and seems to turn a hidden secret into a global story.” They added: “We can imagine the planned influence campaign succeeding, connecting the film to contemporary conversations about the environment, militarization, and political decisions that happen behind our backs.”
The DAFilms.com Distribution Award, worth €3,000, went to “The Big Chief” by Polish director Tomasz Wolski, produced by Anna Gauleta. The award covers an international video-on-demand release on DAFilms.com, including the Americas, Europe and Asia, for two years.
The film follows Leopold Treber, a World War II espionage genius who encounters a Kafkaesque conflict in Poland in the 1970s. Treber was a war hero, but his fame as a member of the Red Orchestra made him a target for the Communists. Stripped of his job and placed under constant surveillance, he desperately seeks a passport but is denied. The Soviet Union, his former ally, sees him as a liability.
News of his ordeal reached France. A committee for Treber's release began. Author Gilles Perrault urged him to emigrate, but attempts to document his story or put pressure on Poland were thwarted by the secret police. The French film crew faced confiscation of their footage, and unfounded accusations of espionage further complicated matters.
Finally, after a hunger strike and mounting international pressure, Poland relented. Treiber left the country, eventually settling in Israel.
The jury said: “This project may be a throwback to the past, but it has the potential of a great modern thriller. It introduces us to a character that many will never know, and explores his controversial life through a wealth of archive footage.”
Since 2005, Docu Talents – organized by the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival – has been a platform for the release of documentaries by established and emerging directors, such as Laila Pakalniņa, Vladimir Mansky, Bartek Konopka, Piotr Stasik, Peter Kerekes, Dmitrii Kalashnikov and Helena Třeštíková. The submitted films have had their world and international premieres at major film festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam and Sundance.
“Documentary filmmakers are pioneers in the filmmaking world, often the first to capture and present the latest ideas of our time. This year’s Documentary Talent Show, featuring a selection of the most interesting films from Central and Eastern Europe, highlights topics that are resonating strongly today – mental health, environmental concerns, and the impact of the war in Ukraine on neighboring countries,” said Marek Hovorka, Director of Jihlava.
During the award ceremony, Ji.hlava representatives revealed the names of the Emerging Producers of 2025. The programme aims to promote the work of European documentary filmmakers and provide them with a range of networking, educational and promotional support throughout the year.
A producer from Canada, the guest country of the 2025 Emerging Producers Programme, will be accompanied by seventeen European producers. The programme consists of two workshops – taking place in Jilava in October 2024 and during the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2025.
The 2025 Emerging Producers are Vahagn Khachatryan (Armenia), Michal Sikora (Czech Republic), Danae Anagnostou (Finland), Elise Haug (France), Michael Kalb (Germany), Lorand Balazs Imre (Hungary),
Zofia Kujawska (Poland), Daniel Pereira (Portugal), Elena Martin (Romania), Danilo Lazovic (Serbia), Monica Lušáková (Slovakia), Zoran Deverdanovic (Slovenia), Miguel Eck Quesada (Spain), Ashley Smith (Sweden), Irene Muñoz Martin (Switzerland), Luisa Paeva (United Kingdom), Maria Ponomarova (Ukraine/Netherlands), and Audrey-Anne Dupuis-Pierre (Canada).
