“35 LETTERS” WINS THE EAST DOC PLATFORM AWARD AT BALTIC SEA DOCS 2026
The Polish documentary project „35 Letters”, directed by Zuzanna Solakiewicz, has received the East Doc Platform Award at Baltic Sea Docs 2026 in Riga. Produced by Maria Krauss of Plesnar & Krauss Films, the project begins with a collection of letters written three decades ago by teenage girls dreaming of becoming models and confronts the aspirations captured in those letters with the lives of the women they have since become. The award grants the team accreditation to the next edition of East Doc Platform, including access to one-on-one industry meetings.
At the heart of 35 Letters is an extraordinary discovery. A folder marked “Do not reply” contains 35 letters sent to a modelling agency by teenage girls in the 1990s. The letters were never answered.
Three decades later, the filmmakers set out across Poland to find their authors, now middle-aged women. The protagonists are confronted once again with their teenage dreams at a particularly poignant moment, as their own daughters are entering adulthood. What was once written as an image of the future becomes a starting point for a conversation about the passage of time, women’s aspirations, life choices and what happens to dreams when they collide with reality.
As the jury stated, the East Doc Platform Award went to “a cinematic reply exploring women’s dreams and visions across two generations in 35 Letters.” The project’s title takes on an additional meaning in this context. Thirty-five girls once wrote letters into the future; three decades later, the film finally attempts to answer them.
35 Letters is directed by Zuzanna Solakiewicz, produced by Maria Krauss, with Plesnar & Krauss Films serving as the production company.
Photo courtesy of the organiser’s website.