Lithuanian Emilija Sluškonytė, film producer and the founder of Austrė Studio, is a key figure in elevating new voices from the Baltic film scene. Thanks to the collaboration between European Film Festival – organised by the Delegation of the European Union in Argentina with Cineuropa and the BAFICI, she served as a jury member of the Official Argentine Competition. She and others engaged in a packed agenda of meetings with local production companies, paving the way for future co-productions between Lithuania and the region.

As a well established film festival, it was not difficult for the EULAC Cinema initiative to find listening audiences in Buenos Aires for actions to strengthen audiovisual cooperation between Europe and Latin America.

The testimonial by Sluškonytė shared her experience of being rooted in the Baltic cinema industry and seeking to build bridges with other conttinents, including Latin America and the Caribbean.

One of the highlights of her visit was the talk “The Secrets of Co-Production: Learning from Experience”, held on Tuesday 8 April at the Teatro San Martín in Buenos Aires. Together with Fernanda del Nido (producer of famous movies like Neruda and Blondi, among others), they shared experiences and strategies for navigating co-productions between Latin America and Europe.

Before an audience composed mainly of emerging filmmakers, the producers discussed topics such as funding sources, the dynamics of the European market, and the current challenges of international co-production.

“It’s important to conceive projects from a global perspective without losing sight of their local roots”, Fernanda del Nido.  

Fernanda del Nido emphasised the importance of “conceiving projects from a global perspective without losing sight of their local roots”, while Emilija Sluškonytė highlighted “the value of building long-term relationships with partners from other countries” and presented concrete examples from her recent projects.

Sluškonytė’s participation in BAFICI is part of a broader strategic collaboration aimed at bringing together the audiovisual ecosystems of Europe and Latin America, fostering sustainable networks among producers, creators and financiers.

“The value of building long-term relationships with partners from other countries is evident in the exoerience I have from my recent projects”, Emilija Sluškonytė.

Background

This initiative is linked to the values and objectives of the initiative EU-LAC Cinema: promoting audio-visual cooperation on youth, gender and diversity. It is part of the EU-CELAC Bi-regional Roadmap 2023-2025, presented last year at the Summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Brussels. This roadmap lists some of the important milestones ahead of the forthcoming EU-CELAC 2025 Summit in Colombia in November 2025.