What is a music video? We raise this question every year, and every year we discover something we never thought of before. However, the essence of the answer does not change: a music video is an audiovisual event that must be experienced together. Sometimes it can be a space for bold experiments, at other times the format can reach new technical peaks and redefine the possibilities of the genre. And then there are those videos that, although they use a familiar audiovisual language, manage to say something completely unexpected. In this festival section, we want to explore and get to know this ever-changing field and the unique interaction of image and music.<\/p>\n
The BALTIC MUSIC VIDEO Competition screening invites viewers, festival guests, filmmakers, and musicians to come together and experience music videos in all their glory and uniqueness. A screening you are sure to remember!\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year, provocation has given way to a meditative and timeless transcendence that soothes and heals in these troubled times. Colours fade into poetic black and white, as music embraces new trajectories. Men have become fragile and emotional, while women have grown ever more steely.<\/p>\n","enabled":true,"competition_content":"
The BALTIC MUSIC VIDEO Competition (BMV) endeavours to uphold the belief that the music video is an independent and powerful short format in its own right. The RIGA IFF curators look for videos that challenge the audience and push the boundaries of format, contents, and artistic expression.<\/p>\n
The screening of this programme is designed as a special event in itself \u2013 it is a lively meeting between music video creators, musicians and composers, curators, the members of the international jury, and the audience.<\/p>\n
BMV seeks out videos that are daring, innovative, and experimental. To be eligible for submission, the music video must meet one of the following criteria: the director, the artist, or the production must originate from Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania. Only official music videos are accepted. There are no restrictions on length. Videos must have been completed after 1 June 2024. Both the creative team and the musicians featured in the selected videos will be invited to attend the festival. RIGA IFF especially welcomes submissions that have not yet had their world premiere.<\/p>\n
The main award \u2013 filming equipment from equipment rental house BBrental worth EUR 3,000 as well as a monetary prize of EUR 1,000 from manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, Erica Synths \u2013 will be presented to the winner of the competition during the RIGA IFF Award Ceremony, which takes place on the second Saturday of the festival. The international jury is made up of music video creators, music video curators from international film festivals, musicians, music journalists and professional music event managers. All participants are invited to attend the jury\u2019s official screening giving them an additional opportunity to receive feedback.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Erica Synths will present their two favourite musicians with special mention prizes \u2013 sound effects synthesizer Echolocator and drum synthesizer LXR. Meanwhile one music video will be chosen to participate in the final of Oulu Music Video Festival\u2019s European music video competition.<\/p>\n
The call for submissions opens on 25 March 2025 and closes on 30 June 2025. The results will be announced by 10 September 2025.<\/p>\n","custom_button_text":"","custom_button_url":"","submit_your_film":"filmfreeway.com\/rigaiff","submit_your_film_disabled":true,"terms_&_conditions_pdf":"http:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RIGA-IFF-2025-BMVC-regulations-ENG.pdf","terms_&_conditions_pdf_disabled":false,"supporter":[{"supporter_select":{"ID":29191,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2022-10-23 17:27:19","post_date_gmt":"2022-10-23 14:27:19","post_content":"","post_title":"BBPostHouse and BBRental","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"bbposthouse-and-bbrental","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-10-24 13:04:20","post_modified_gmt":"2022-10-24 10:04:20","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/?post_type=supporters&p=29191","menu_order":0,"post_type":"supporters","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","post_title_ml":"[:en]BBPostHouse and BBRental[:]","post_title_langs":{"en":true},"acf":{"logo":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/BB-Combined-Black.svg","url":""}},"width_(px)":"300"},{"supporter_select":{"ID":43188,"post_author":"21","post_date":"2025-09-16 01:04:39","post_date_gmt":"2025-09-15 22:04:39","post_content":"","post_title":"Erica Synths","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"erica-synths","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-09-16 01:04:39","post_modified_gmt":"2025-09-15 22:04:39","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/?post_type=supporters&p=43188","menu_order":0,"post_type":"supporters","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","post_title_ml":"[:lv]Erica Synths[:]","post_title_langs":{"lv":true},"acf":{"logo":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Erica-Synths-\u2013-Logo-Vertical.svg","url":"https:\/\/www.ericasynths.lv\/"}},"width_(px)":"160"}],"supporter_for_children":null,"supporter_for_children_title":null,"jury_title":"Jury","jury":[{"image":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Anna-Ansone.jpg","name,_surname":"Anna Ansone","position":"","description":"
Ansone is one of Latvia\u2019s most distinctive filmmakers, known for a refined visual language, velvety ambiguity and a healing irony. She studied film directing in Riga and Cologne, and her short films have been screened and recognised at prestigious festivals, including Rotterdam and Oberhausen. Ansone is a two-time RIGA IFF winner \u2013 her meditative coastal-climate piece Can\u2019t Help Myself (2022) received the Best National Short Film award, while her music video for the song Protection (2023) by the band SMILE won the Baltic Music Video Competition. Ansone is right on track to keep surprising us \u2013 she is currently working on her first feature-length film, Summer Blues.<\/p>\n","links":false},{"image":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Laurence-Boyce.jpg","name,_surname":"Laurence Boyce","position":"","description":"
Boyce is a cultural journalist, film critic and curator, born in the United Kingdom and since 2010 based in Estonia, where he is the head of the short film section P\u00d6FF Shorts at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. At the same time he regularly covers Baltic Sea region cinema for Screen International, Talking Shorts, Sight and Sound and Cineuropa. Boyce is a member of FIPRESCI \u2013 International Federation of Film Critics \u2013 as well as the London Film Critics\u2019 Circle, the European Film Academy and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). A regular at RIGA IFF, he is a key figure in strengthening the visibility of Baltic film and is always at the heart of the action.<\/p>\n","links":false},{"image":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Joel-Karppanen.jpg","name,_surname":"Joel Karppanen","position":"","description":"
Karppanen is a Finnish visual artist and the artistic director of Oulu Music Video Festival. Alongside this role \u2013 and without limiting himself to the video medium alone \u2013 he is an experienced filmmaker, photographer and writer. In his photo work, Karppanen documents blue-collar workers, Wolt couriers and Finnish pastoral scenes. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Finland, KunstHausWien in Vienna, PhotoEspa\u00f1a in Madrid, and others. He is currently working on his first feature-length documentary film, while in his curatorial practice he merges the music video format with avant-garde film, seeking new dimensions at the intersection of different media. It\u2019s an approach that captivates all \u2013 including RIGA IFF \u2013 who know Karppanen and his work.<\/p>\n","links":false},{"image":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Tianes-Montasser.jpg","name,_surname":"Tian\u00e8s Montasser","position":"","description":"
Montasser is an internationally acclaimed editor whose practice knows no bounds \u2013 be it music videos, ads or feature films. In the realm of music videos, she has worked with such acclaimed artists as Christine and The Queens, the Australian star The Kid Laroi, Sweden\u2019s disco-ballad grand dame Robyn, Norwegian singer Sigrid, the trio Major Lazer, Nicki Minaj, and many others. Montaser edited the documentary Jane by Charlotte (2021), directed by Charlotte Gainsbourg about her mother, the iconic singer and actress Jane Birkin, and in 2022 she made her feature editing debut with the audience favourite AKA. Born into an Egyptian\u2013Dutch family, Montasser currently calls Paris her home.<\/p>\n","links":false},{"image":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Tomas-Vengris.jpg","name,_surname":"Tomas Vengris","position":"","description":"
Vengris is a filmmaker of Lithuanian\u2013American descent. His life is divided between Riga and Vilnius \u2013 and to the latter he has dedicated his most recent feature film, Five and a Half Love Stories in a Vilnius Apartment (2023), a Shakespearean tale of heartache and romantic mischief screened at the RIGA IFF. He studied at Columbia University and the American Film Institute, and has worked alongside cinema greats Terrence Malick and Kelly Reichardt. His most acclaimed work is his feature debut, Motherland (2019) \u2013 a story rooted in personal memory, exploring the relationship between a mother and son. The film was shortlisted by the European Film Academy and celebrated at numerous festivals. He is now working on his third feature \u2013 we eagerly await Barracuda, a saga of Lithuanian organised crime in the 1980s and 90s.<\/p>\n","links":false}],"participants_title":"","participants":false,"selection_committee_title":"","selection_committee":false,"screening_as_programme_child":false,"films_category_title":"","films_category":495,"films_category_2":false,"screening_select":false,"additional_films_title":"","show_films_seperately":null,"logo_on_image_text":"","logo_on_image_image":false,"logo_on_image_color":"default","tba":"","link":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/en\/programme-2025\/baltic-music-video-competition\/","parent":0,"parent_title":null,"parent_link":null,"screenings_merged":[{"month":"october","date":"23","end_date":"","time":"21:00","time_end":"","venue_url_languages":[{"type":"buy","sold_out":false,"closed":false,"free":false,"soon":false,"custom_button_text":"","invitation_only":false,"accreditations_only":false,"guest_accreditations_only":false,"guest_notice_with_icon":"","venue":"splz","custom_venue_text":"","url":"","bilesu_servisa_id":"476413","custom_tickets_url":"","apply_url":"","subtitle_language":[],"closed_captions_language":[],"audio_description_language":[],"audio_language":[]}],"tags":[{"title":"With creators","url":"","new_window":false,"show_in_grid":true},{"title":"Afterparty in Benjamin House","url":"","new_window":false,"show_in_grid":true}],"event_post_title":"Baltic Music Video Competition","event_post_url":"https:\/\/rigaiff.lv\/en\/programme-2025\/baltic-music-video-competition\/","event_parent_details":[]}],"events_select":false,"enabled_after_content":true,"title_after_content":"","content_after_content":"","button_text_after_content":"","button_url_after_content":"","runtime":"100"}