Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF) has wrapped up its 12th edition – along with its industry section, the RIGA IFF FORUM. While the festival team is already gearing up for the 2026 edition (15–25 October 2026), take a look back at this year’s industry forum programme, which brought more than 350 film professionals to Riga to meet, connect, and explore the region’s feature-film and series projects, short films, the Baltic animation scene, and more. Look out for upcoming news about the RIGA IFF FORUM 2026 (22–25 October 2026) on festival’s website and social media channels.

The winners of the two main RIGA IFF FORUM sections – RIGA IFF SHOWCASE and SHORT RIGA Test Screenings – were announced during the grand RIGA IFF AWARDS ceremony, directed by actor and director Gerds Lapoška. 

The SHORT RIGA Test Screenings winning film Last Days (Paskutinės Dienos), directed by Kornelijus Stučkus, produced by Ieva Norvilienė (Tromora), and selected by the panel of international experts, received a personalised distribution consultation from Lights On, the Italy-based film sales company (expert statement HERE). 

The RIGA IFF SHOWCASE jury decided to split the prize pool and award two winning projects. Production services valued at 10,000 EUR from the full-service production company BBRental/BBPostHouse were awarded to director Novruz Hikmet’s upcoming work Hardsub, produced by Valeria Sochyvets (Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema) (jury statement HERE). Meanwhile the TV3 Prize – a monetary award of 5,000 EUR – went to The Wedding Day (Līgava), a musical project directed by Latvian filmmaker Marta Elīna Martinsone, produced by Guntis Trekteris at Ego Media (jury statement HERE). Explore the full list of RIGA IFF 2025 winners HERE.

Notably, RIGA IFF FORUM 2025 also marked the return of the Baltic Animation Meet-Up, a regionally unique event organised in close partnership with the National Film Centre of Latvia and the Latvian Animation Association. Over two days it spotlighted the Baltic animation industry through a programme of 12 animation studio presentations, along with keynote talks delivered not only by animation directors but also by representatives from all three national film centres. It also featured in-depth case studies of three European Film Academy–winning or nominated animations Flow (Straume, 2024), Dog of God (Dieva suns, 2025) and Tales from the Magic Garden (Pohádky po babičce, 2025).

Alongside the main sections of the forum, participants and guests were invited to join a conversation with producers Nadia Turincev (Easy Riders Films) and Gints Grūbe (Mistrus Media) on international co-productions, as well as attend the fourth edition of Meet the Festivals, a meeting space for festival representatives and filmmakers. In addition, during RIGA IFF FORUM, over the course of three days, 12 producers from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, South Korea, and Sweden toured locations in Riga, Bauska, Rundāle, Cēsis, and Sigulda to explore potential filming sites for upcoming international projects. Finally, the seventh season of the Baltic Women in Film mentorship programme was launched during the RIGA IFF industry forum, continuing the long-standing partnership between RIGA IFF and Lithuanian Shorts.

Relive the RIGA IFF FORUM events, and vibrant atmosphere of Latvia’s biggest celebration of cinema through photos captured by our photographers HERE. When using photos for any kind of publicity, please credit RIGA IFF and photographers, i.e. “Photography: [Name Surname], RIGA IFF”.

Follow the festival’s latest updates and look out for exciting announcements about the RIGA IFF FORUM 2026 on rigaiff.lv and across RIGA IFF’s social media channels. RIGA IFF is made possible with the support of the State Culture Capital Foundation, the EU programme “Creative Europe – MEDIA”, Riga City Council, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the National Film Centre of Latvia and the Investment and Tourism Agency of Riga. RIGA IFF FORUM supporters – BBRental/BBPosthouse, TV3, Lights On.