19/03/2025 - The pic has received the Award for Best Lithuanian Project in Development and the Content Licensing Award, whilst Kate Tiuri’s Night Mayor scooped Best Project in Development

The team behind Independent Child accepting the Award for Best Lithuanian Project in Development (© Tautvydas Stukas)

It’s a wrap for Meeting Point Vilnius (MPV, see the report), the industry sidebar of the Vilnius International Film Festival, running this year from 17-20 March. Yesterday, Forum Cinema Vingis hosted the awards ceremony.

Two juries handed out most of the MPV prizes – the first made up of Venice International Film Critics’ Week head Beatrice Fiorentino, Cottbus director Bernd Buder and mk2’s Jacques-Antoine Jagou, and the second composed of Canadian filmmaker Denis Côté, Berlinale programmer Barbara Wurm and Bendita Film Sales’ Jorge Blanch.

Notably, Greta Griniūtė’s Independent Child scooped two prizes – the Award for Best Lithuanian Project in Development (worth €3,000, granted by the Lithuanian Film Centre) and the Content Licensing Award, handed out by Agneta Tumė, of Telia Play. Staged by Baltic Productions, the story is set in independent Lithuania in the 1990s and follows ten-year-old Gertruda as she prepares for her First Communion at a strict Catholic school. But when her mother’s rebellion against tradition challenges everything she thought was sacred, Gertruda must navigate a world in which faith and independence collide, shaping the person she is destined to become.

The Armenian-French animated feature Zako, helmed by Tigran Arakelyan and recently awarded the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award at Bordeaux’s Cartoon Movie (see the interview), secured another prize at MPV – the Madstone Sound and Colour Grading Studio Award, worth €8,000.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian filmmaker Kate Tiuri’s Night Mayor scooped the gong for Best Project in Development, worth €5,000. The documentary focuses on the vicissitudes of an immigrant from Greece, who also happens to be the current night mayor of Lviv. Another non-fiction feature, Scarecrows by seasoned helmer Laila Pakalnina, got the gong for Best Project in Production (consisting of a €5,000 cash prize).

Next, the Award for Best Lithuanian Co-Production went to China Sea by Jurgis Matulevičius, a co-production between Lithuania, Taiwan, Poland and the Czech Republic. The drama follows a world-famous martial-arts champion who is banned from his sport for injuring a girl on the street. Trapped in his desolate hometown, he tries to find a way back into people’s hearts.

Finally, a free accreditation to Cannes’ Marché du Film was handed to Inesa Kurklietytė’s family-orientated flick I Am Going to Change the World, and a Special Mention was bestowed upon Tomas Vengris’ sophomore feature, Barracuda, now in the making.

MPV was supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Municipality of Vilnius, AVAKA, the Baltic Film & Creative Tech Cluster, the Vilnius Film Office, GO Vilnius and Telia Play, among other bodies.

Here is the full list of this year’s award winners:

Best Lithuanian Project in Development
Independent Child - Greta Griniūtė (Lithuania)
Producer: Baltic Productions

Best Lithuanian Co-Production
China Sea - Jurgis Matulevičius (Lithuania/Taiwan/Poland/Czech Republic)
Producers: Film Jam, Ma Studios, Lava Films, Bionaut

Best Project in Development
Night Mayor – Kate Tiuri (Ukraine)
Producer: Independent Cultural Initiatives

Best Project in Production
Scarecrows – Laila Pakalnina (Latvia/Lithuania)
Producer: VFS Films
Co-producer: Moonmakers

Marché du Film – Producers Network Accreditation offered by AVAKA
I Am Going to Change the World – Inesa Kurklietytė (Lithuania)
Producer: Fralita Films

Telia Play Content Licensing Award
Independent Child - Greta Griniūtė

Madstone Sound and Colour Grading Studio Award
Zako – Tigran Arakelyan (Armenia/France)
Producer: OnOff Studio
Co-producer: Sacrebleu Productions

Jury Special Mention
Barracuda – Tomas Vengris (Lithuania/Estonia/Germany/Italy)
Producer: Austrè Studio
Co-producers: Allfilm, Heimathafen, Samarcanda film