On March 26th Meeting Point – Vilnius (MPV), an industry event of Vilnius International Film Festival Kino Pavasaris, announced its Work in Progress and Drama Series awards. The event, which was held 24–27 March, attracted more than 200 film professionals from Europe and Caucasian countries.

Work in Progress (WiP) session is dedicated to films from all over Europe. Priority is given to directors who are making their 1 st or 2 nd feature film. This year, 11 projects – 8 fiction and 3 documentaries – were selected for the pitching.

The jury of WiP consisted of a senior programmer at Sundance Film Festival Heidi Zwicker, Director of Festival REC (Tarragona) and Film Programmer at Tallinn Black Nights IFF Javier Garcia Puerto, and Marketing Director for MUBI releases Phil Guy.

Lithuanian Film Centre award – 5 000 euros in cash went to Lithuanian feature project Toxic (Akiplėša) by Saulė Bliuvaitė (prod. Giedrė Burokaitė, company Akis Bado). The jury stated, “We admired the authenticity and gravity with which this promising feature debut depicted the struggles of its compelling young protagonists as well as the visual craft of the director”.

The special mention award went to Emre Sert’s and Gözde Yetişkin’s comedy Grace for Sale (Sahibinden rahmet) produced by Ender Sevim and Kerem Çelebi (companies Riders Film, Sert Yetiskin Film). “We were impressed with the way this project depicted social realities about the perils of capitalism through the lens of a comedy with style and originality”, said the jury.

Both the AVAKA prize for Best Lithuanian Picture (1 000 eur in cash) and the JETSONIX full post-production award went to Emilija Škarnulytė’s documentary feature Sounds of Desert (prod. Emilija Škarnulytė, company Mirror Matter). The awards were given for the project’s bravery in unveiling the genius of and recovering a key figure of the contemporary music scene in a jazzistic structure.

Zoran Tairovic’s drama feature Paritas Mundi (prod. Nikola Spasic, Milanka Gvoic, companies Rezon (RS), Intercultural theatre III (RS)) and Lana Shapoval’s documentary Quiet War (prod. Hanna Burdina, Lana Shapoval, company Independent Cultural Initiatives) got Marche du Film industry and Producers Network badges. Respectively, the Ji.hlava New Vision and No Problemo Music Licensing awards went to Quiet War as well.

In Drama Series, the jury members – a Swedish prizewinning fiction and documentary producer Helene Granqvist, a scriptwriter Valeria Richter, and a screenwriter and head writer for feature films and TV series Joachim Friedmann gave out prizes to the best pitches.

Creative Europe Media Desk Lithuania prize – a script consultation with Joachim Friedmann went to Czech animated adult series Garbage created by Jaroslav Klimes (companies Cofilm, Broom Films). “We have already seen a lot of dystopian series. But those in which a yoghurt pot plays the leading role and wanders through apocalyptic lands with its companion, an old beer can? That’s new. This original series, which combines black humour with relevant themes, poses the question of what we will actually do when the world is finally destroyed. The answer is as bitter as it is simple and funny: We do nothing – only our waste is on an adventurous Quest”, said one of the jury members Friedmann.

Garbage also got the No Problemo Music Licensing award. The new initiative’s Words Across Europe – WAE Virtual Collaboration award was given to Gabija Siurbytė and her drama series Jellyfish in the Moon (company Dansu).

All projects will receive The ICDA (International Casting directors Association) and Filmmakers Europe prizes. The ICDA will share and advise on how the project can benefit more from good casting and the choice of actors, and Filmmakers Europe will assist the five debut projects and their Casting Directors by conducting their casting process through Filmmakers.eu with the full support of the Filmmakers team.