CICAE President Dr. Christian Bräuer welcomes the IRIS Initiative and the Summit's Declarations as a Strong Global Signal

Arthouse cinemas stood at the centre of the first Lumière Summit, the international gathering of heads of state and government, industry leaders and decision makers convened by French President Emmanuel Macron and co-chaired by Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The summit’s most concrete result for the sector is IRIS, a new international initiative dedicated to independent screens, which Dr. Christian Bräuer, President of the International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas CICAE, warmly welcomed.

Inviting audiences to indulge in a carefully curated feast of short-form cinema, the Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF, 15–25 October) announces its Short Film Competition programme. Over three days, audiences will have the chance to discover an unconventional corner of the short-film landscape as 31 stories by filmmakers from Latvia and around the world meet on the big screen. Tickets to RIGA IFF Short Film Competition screenings are available at rigaiff.lv and and through Biļešu Serviss. More information: rigaiff.lv/shorts.

For its 30th edition, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) will place Baltic cinema in the spotlight. Focus: Baltics will showcase outstanding films, emerging talent and experienced professionals from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, highlighting the region’s creative strength and growing international impact.

Dear EPI community,

This September marks the start of a new stretch of Essential Legal Framework workshops and seminars. ELF is our professional training series for film and media professionals across Europe, built around a mix of residential workshops, online seminars, and self-paced eTrainings that combine practical learning with expert insight and networking opportunities.

The following grants were announced by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) on 31 August 2026.

Leading short film industry event, to be held in Vilnius on 6-9 October, reveals slate of 12 projects from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and – guest country – Italy.

In connection to its 2026 theme, “Vanishing Futures,” Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival – BIEFF is organizing a series of events that extend the festival experience beyond the cinema halls and invite audiences to reflect, together with invited artists and filmmakers, as well as journalists, researchers, activists, and members of various local communities, on possible futures for Bucharest.

We kindly invite you to submit your film to the 20th edition of One World Romania International Documentary & Human Rights Film Festival, which will take place between April 16–25, 2027, in Bucharest, Romania.

The Film Centre of Montenegro is organizing the third edition of the Montenegro Film Rendezvous, which will bring together prominent film authors and professionals, representatives of national film centres, European funds, festivals and leading organizations from the film and audiovisual industry in Herceg Novi starting August 22. The international industry programme takes place within the 39th Herceg Novi Film Festival.

HERCEG NOVI: The authenticity of Montenegrin film stories, international networking and tangible opportunities for film project development marked the third edition of Montenegro Film Rendezvous, which brought together local filmmakers and representatives of the European, global and African film industries in Herceg Novi from 22 to 28 August 2026.