2ANNAS FORUM: Industry Programme Announced
As the Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS marks its 30th anniversary, it will once again host the industry programme 2ANNAS FORUM: Alt+Cinema that will take place from April 11 to 16.
It is dedicated to this year’s festival theme – Alternative – and will return to the festival’s roots – the desire to be different, independent, and to seek new approaches of creating, viewing, and distributing cinema. All Industry Days events are free for everyone interested.
The Industry Days will feature discussions, lectures, a masterclass, and a networking event, which together will not only expand filmmakers’ knowledge but also provide a platform for establishing new contacts and forms of collaboration among industry professionals. For the third year in a row, the Emerging Critics Workshop will be held, continuing to nurture a new generation of critics in the Baltics, and the Found Footage Workshop “Self-Archiving”, which will explore the creative potential of personal, found, and publicly available archival materials in the creation of self-reflective video works.
On Monday, April 13, at 15:30, emerging talents invited to the lecture “Short Film Toolkit: Strategy, Visibility, Career”, which will offer practical tools and ideas for breaking out of the growing uniformity in the film industry, where festival strategies, visual identity, and career paths are often measured by the same standards. The lecture will also explore alternative ways to build a career in the world of short films.
At 17:30, the lecture “Subjectivity and Identity in Experimental Cinema of the 1980s and 90s” will provide an in-depth examination of European experimental and alternative cinema from queer and feminist perspectives, with special focus to artist-led communities across Europe. The lecture will examine how independent filmmakers and collectives challenged traditional filmmaking principles and expanded its aesthetic and political possibilities.
On Tuesday, April 14, at 16:00 the lecture “The Right to Be Loud: Why Baltic Voices Are Exactly What the World Needs Now”. The creative industry is hungry for fresh voices and authentic perspectives, yet these often come from places it has learned to overlook. Baltic Talent Agency’s keynote argues that being loud is not about ego, but responsibility. When your voice is shaped by real history, experience, and artistic integrity, silencing it does a disservice to the work. This talk explores why Baltic creators have something the world needs – and why now is the moment to claim that visibility, unapologetically.
At 17:30, the discussion "Are Short Film Festivals Still a Counterculture?” will take place. The discussion will explore whether short film festivals, which have historically served as a platform for experimentation and free expression, are still able to maintain their countercultural spirit and act as catalysts for change in today’s globalized cultural landscape, or whether they have gradually become part of the institutional mainstream.
On Wednesday, April 15, at 14:00, industry professionals are invited to the discussion "Baltic Circuit: Inside the Region’s Film Festivals" organized in collaboration with the Latvian Short Film Agency. The session will present key short film festivals from Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, offering filmmakers, producers, and film students a closer look at the Baltic festival landscape.
At 17:30, the masterclass "Maksym Nakonechnyi: Film & Politics" will take place.
Maksym Nakonechnyi is a Ukrainian director who has created both short fiction films and documentaries that have received recognition at major international festivals. In the masterclass, the director will share his creative experience, focusing on the relationship between cinema and politics, as well as reflecting on working in wartime and socially complex conditions. He will also speak about the journey of his films through the international festival circuit, offering insight into how personal and political experiences shape cinematic language, the author’s approach, and creative practice.
On Thursday, April 16 at 17:30, the discussion “Latvian Alternative – Experimental Cinema in the 1980s–90s” will take place. It will look back at Latvia’s experimental and amateur film movement of the 1980s and 1990s – a time when the People's Amateur Film Studio of the Academy of Sciences. became a space of resistance and creative freedom, and the forum “Alternative” was born. Participants will reflect on the motivations, challenges, and legacy of this movement, which continues to live on in contemporary alternative cinema.
The Industry Days are organized with the support of the National Film Centre of Latvia, Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Latvia, and Lithuanian Shorts. The events will take place in English and Latvian at Kaņepes Culture Centre and the National Film School of the Latvian Academy of Culture. All public events are free of charge and open to everyone interested.