NEWS Erik Stoneheart in Production

KIDS IN

In-Between-World

Erik Stoneheart is a children’s adventure fi lm directed by Ilmar Raag. The fi lm has today reached the post-production phase, despite the setbacks of the pandemic.

By EFI Photos by Priit Grepp and Ann Vaida

Erik Stoneheart is a complex international coproduction project that is being completed in collaboration between Estonia, Luxembourg, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine. The main producer of the fi lm is Amrion Productions from Estonia, and the executive producer of the project is Riina Sildos. The script has been written by Estonian scriptwriters Livia Ulman and Andris Feldmanis.

According to Sildos, the postproduction process of the fi lm is divided between four countries – mainly in Luxembourg, but the sound design is created in Lithuania, and VFX production is made in Ukraine, Luxembourg, and Estonia.

“The editing track is completed by now; and currently we are in the process of creating sound design and special effects. Due to the COVID19related restrictions, the whole process has been certainly more than complicated since all information has to be forwarded via internet, and it is diffi cult to make artistic decisions via small computer screens. All this is considerably extending the postproduction process. Hopefully we can soon travel again in order to complete the fi lm,” commented Riina Sildos. Despite the fact that fi lming of Erik Stoneheart took place during the complicated conditions of the COVID19 pandemic, the fi lmmakers and the crew succeeded without anyone falling ill. “We could complete our fi rst fi lming period in Luxembourg in November 2019, when nobody could forecast what would happen next. However, the next shooting period, initially planned to take place in April 2020, was constantly postponed. Besides, we had to frequently rearrange both schedules and fi lming locations – the last version of the shooting schedule was number 41 in a row,” she says. At fi rst, the shooting was planned also in Ukraine and Lithuania, but fi nally this took place only in Estonia and Luxembourg. “The whole period trained us to be creative and tolerant, even if at some point all this madness culminated in director Ilmar Raag’s concern for the pro

The pirate ship was built into a yacht hangar in Tallinn.

The pandemic forced the producers of Erik Stoneheart to frequently rearrange both schedules and filming locations. Luckily they were able to make everything work and the film was shot both in Estonia and Luxembourg.

Director Ilmar Raag and young actor Herman Avandi working on the set.

ducer’s mental health. We stayed alive, with the cost of lots of new grey hair,” states Riina Sildos, halfjoking.

The protagonist of Erik Stoneheart is an 11yearold boy Erik who is convinced that he has a stone for a heart. That is why he doesn’t mind that his parents have no time for him or that he has no real friends. When his family moves to a villa they inherited from aunt Brunhilda, he discovers another family living there – Maria (11) and her dad whom Erik’s parents want to kick out. When the family gets an eviction notice, Maria activates her secret plan to bring back her missing mother to save them. Together they end up on a fantastic journey to InBetweenWorld and Erik learns how hard it is to have a heart of stone. The protagonists of the film are played by Herman Avandi, Florin Gussak, Juhan Ulfsak, Laura PetersonAardam, Renars Kaupers, and Jules Werner.

Executive producer Riina Sildos says Erik Stoneheart is the most complicated film of her career when it comes to production. The budget reached up to 4 million euros, and the financing process lasted for almost four years. Sildos adds: “Construction of the life size pirate ship, and the sea pool in the yacht hangar, instead of a professional studio, is certainly a story worth telling to our grandchildren. All of this was possible only thanks to our superb film crew. At some point we calculated that there were people of almost 20 different nations in the filming location, and everything worked out smoothly.”

The directors of photography of Eric Stoneheart are Tuomo Hutri (Finland) and Ivar Taim (Estonia), production designer is Kari Kankaanpää (Finland), costume designer is Anu Lens ment (Estonia), and the editor is Felix Sorger (Luxembourg). Codelegate producers of the film are Adrien Chef, Paul Thiltges (Paul Thiltges Distributions, Luxembourg) and coproducers Uljana Kim (Studio Uljana Kim, Lithuania), Al

Actor Kristjan Sarv and young actress Florian Gussak on the set.

eksi Bardy (Helsinkifilmi Oy, Finland), Roberts Vinovskis (Locomotive Productions, Latvia), Vitaliy Sheremetiev (Esse Production House, Ukraine).

The film is originally in Estonian, but it will be dubbed into Latvian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Luxembourgish, and English. The premiere of the film is planned to take place in spring 2022, after which the international distribution will start. EF