Estonian Films 2021–2022 by Eesti Filmi Instituut

Estonian Films 2021-2022 Eesti filmid 2021-2022

Estonian Films 2021-2022 Eesti filmid 2021-2022 Features Shorts Experimental Animation Documentaries

Editorial staff: Eda Koppel, Mirjam Mikk, Eveli Raja Design and layout: Aragon Disain All photos courtesy of production companies Estonian Film Institute Tallinn 2022 ISSN 1406-8505

2022 The Bog Melchior the Apothecary The Sleeping Beast

Stairway to Heaven Totally Boss Melchior the Apothecary. The Ghost Kalev Dark Paradise Melchior the Apothecary. The Executioner’s Daughter Erik Stoneheart Child Machine Lovable Minsk Reply to a Letter From Helga Sentinel

features 2021-2022

2021 Firebird Compartment No. 6 Kids of the Night Captain Volkonogov Escaped Sandra Gets a Job Quicksand Deserted Tree of Eternal Love Songs for a Fox

feature 2021

Firebird

irebird is a touching love story set in the Soviet Air Force during the Cold War. Sergey, a troubled young private, counting the days till his military service ends. His life is turned upside down when a daring fighter pilot, Roman arrives the base. Driven by curiosity, Sergey and Roman navigate the precarious line between love and friendship as a dangerous love triangle forms between them and Luisa, the secretary to the base Commander. Sergey is forced to face his past as Roman’s career is endangered and Luisa struggles to keep her family together. As the walls close in, they risk their freedom and their lives in the face of an escalating KGB investigation and the fear of the all-seeing Soviet regime. Based on a true story.

Director Peeter Rebane Peeter’s directing portfolio includes feature films Firebird (2021), Sailing to Freedom (in development), documentaries Tashi Delek! (2015) and Robbie Williams: Fans Journey to Tallinn (BBC Worldwide, 2014) and numerous music videos including Moby’s “Wait for Me” and Pet Shop Boys’ “Together.” He graduated from Harvard cum laude in economics, psychology and visual arts. After a career as a producer, he went on to study directing at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and at Judith Weston’s studio. He has a passion for telling local human stories with a universal resonance.

Original title: Firebird / Tulilind Genre: i s drama Language: English Director: Peeter Rebane a t Screenwriters: Peeter Rebane, Tom Prior Cinematographer: Mait Mäekivi E.S.C. Production Designers: Eva-Maria Gramakovski, Kalju Kivi, Frantseska Vakkum Editor: Tambet Tasuja Composer: Krzysztof A. Janczak Sound: Matis Rei Main cast: Tom Prior, Oleg Zagorodnii, Diana Pozharskaya, Margus Prangel, Nicholas Woodeson, Jake Henderson Producers: Brigita Rozenbrika, Peeter Rebane, Tom Prior Co-producers: Dankuro Shinma, William Randall-Coath, Orlan Boston, Christopher Racster Produced by: The Factory (EE), No Reservations Entertainment (UK), Firebird Productions (UK) World premiere: BFI Flare, March 2021 (Opening Night)

Festivals and awards: Moscow IFF, Frameline San Francisco IFF - Best First Feature, Film Out San Diego (Opening Night) - Best Narrative Feature / Best Director / Best Actor, LA Outfest, Newfest, Out On Film Festival (Opening Night), Reeling Film Fest (Opening Night), Side By Side (Opening Night) - Audience Award, OutShine FF (Opening Night), Image Out (Opening Night), Key West FF - Best LGBTQ Film, Image+Nation Montreal - Audience Award, Ranibow Visions -Audience Award / Best Feature Film, Cinema Diverse Palm Springs - Festival Favorite and Director’s Choice Award, WayTwisted Arts FF, Mix Mexico, Way Out West FF, Durban IFF, Iris Prize FF, et al. 107 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1 Contact The Factory Dankuro Shinma +44 (0) 7789874163 dankuro@firebird.film firebirdmovie.com/

feature 2021

Compartment No. 6

young Finnish woman escapes an enigmatic love affair in Moscow by boarding a train to the arctic port of Murmansk. Forced to share the long ride and a tiny sleeping car with a rough Russian miner, the unexpected encounter leads the occupants of Compartment no. 6 to face the truth about their own loneliness and yearning for human connection.

Director Juho Kuosmanen (b. 1979) is a Helsinki based filmmaker. He graduated from ELO Helsinki Film School of Aalto University in 2014. His first two films have won a prize in Cannes Film Festival. The Painting Sellers (2010) won the 1st prize in Cannes Cinéfondation and The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2016) won The Prix Un Certain Regard. His second full length feature film Compartment No. 6 premiered at 2021 Cannes Official Competition programme and was awarded the Grand Prix and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Besides making award-winning films, he has directed avant-garde opera and theater. He also makes silent short films with live music and foleys. He is the co-founder and artistic director of a small film festival in his birth town Kokkola.

Original title: Hytti nro 6 / Kupee nr. 6 Genre: drama Language: Russian Director: Juho Kuosmanen Screenwriters: Andris Feldmanis, Livia Ulman with Juho Kuosmanen (inspired by the novel Compartment No. 6 by Rosa Liksom) Cinematographer: J-P Passi F.S.C. Production Designer: Kari Kankaanpää Editor: Jussi Rautaniemi Sound: Pietu Korhonen Main cast: Seidi Haarla, Yuriy Borisov, Julia Aug, Dinara Drukarova Producer: Jussi Rantamäki Co-producers: Riina Sildos, Jamila Wenske, Natalya Drozd-Makan, Sergey Selyanov Produced by: Aamu Film Company (FI), Amrion (EE), Achtung Panda! (DE), CTB Film Company (RU) World premiere: Cannes Film Festival 2021 – Grand Prix Festivals and awards: more than 40 festivals incl. Karlovy Vary IFF, Toronto IFF, London FF BFI, Mar del Plata FF, Goa IFF etc. and 7 awards

Nominations: European Film Awards – Nominations for European Film, European Actor and European Actress; Golden Globes, USA – Nomination for Best Motion Picture Non-English Language; Academy Awards, USA – Shortlisted for Best International Feature Film 106 min / 35mm / DCP / 2.35:1 / Dolby Atmos Contact Amrion Riina Sildos +372 504 8985 riina.sildos@amrion.ee amrion.ee Sales Totem Films hello@totem-films.com totem-films.com

feature 2021

Kids of the Night

hree sisters – Liis, Karin and Jane – have all reached a different breaking point in their lives. Liis has just graduated from high school and finds out that her planned future with her boyfriend may not be as certain as she thought. Older sister Karin, the first victim of their parents’ expectations, is trying to survive in a modern sexist business environment. The youngest of the sisters, teenager Jane, is trying to stand up to her party-loving friend’s pressure to be someone she is not. One fateful night reveals all the secrets and feelings these three have never dared to admit.

Original title: Öölapsed Genre: youth comedy Language: Estonian Director: Priit Pääsuke Screenwriters: Ewert Kiwi, Mart Raun Cinematographer: Mart Raun Production Designer: Kadri Kuusler Editor: Priit Pääsuke Composer: Janek Murd Sound Designer: Harmo Kallaste Main cast: Grete Konksi, Piret Krumm, Alice Siil Producer: Marianne Ostrat Produced by: Alexandra Film, Luxfilm Domestic premiere: July 9, 2021 Festivals: Nordic Film Days Lübeck 2021 101 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Priit Pääsuke premiered his short fiction Black Peter at the 38th Tampere Film Festival in 2008 and won 11 prizes from 22 festivals across the world. In 2015, he premiered his feature length documentary debut Impromptu. Priit’s fiction feature debut The End of The Chain premiered at the Karlovy Vary IFF – East of the West competition programme in 2017. In October 2019, his second feature documentary Tõnis Mägi: Silence in Light premiered. Priit’s second fiction feature film - youth comedy Kids of the Night - premiered in July 2021.

Contact Alexandra Film Marianne Ostrat +372 523 3577 marianne@alexandrafilm.ee facebook.com/alexandrafilm

feature 2021

Captain Volkonogov Escaped

aptain Fedor Volkonogov is part of the law enforcement system. He is appreciated by the commander and respected by colleagues. But the moment comes for Captain’s life to take the abrupt turn – he is criminally charged. Captain manages to escape prior to the arrest turning in a split of the second into prey hunted down by ex-colleagues. At night Fedor receives the warning from the afterlife that he is destined for Hell and eternal torments. Though Captain still has a chance to change the destiny and be accepted to Heaven under condition that he repents and at least one person grants him sincere forgiveness. Fedor sets on a mission to find absolution having no idea of the trials he is to face on this route.

Directors Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov Natasha graduated from the Irkutsk University and from the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors of Moscow. Worked as a presenter on Irkutsk television. Aleksey graduated from the Moscow State University, studied Movie History at Wake Forest University in the U.S. Started out as a TV journalist. Together they wrote the screenplay and directed the film Intimate Parts – a critically acclaimed debut of 2013. Their second feature, The Man Who Surprised Everyone, premiered at Venice, where it won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actress. Their third film Captain Volkonogov Escaped premiered at Venice Main Competition in 2021.

Original title: Капитан Волконогов бежал / Kapten Volkonogov põgenes Genre: drama, thriller Language: Russian Directors: Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov Screenwriters: Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov, Mart Taniel Cinematographer: Mart Taniel E.S.C. Production Designer: Sergey Fevralev Editor: François Gédigier Composers: Elena Stroganova, Matis Rei Sound: Matis Rei Main cast: Yuriy Borisov, Timofey Tribuntsev, Aleksandr Yatsenko, Nikita Kukushkin, Vladimir Epifantsev, Anastasiya Ukolova, Natalya Kudryashova, Dmitriy Podnozov, Viktoriya Tolstoganova, Yuriy Kuznetsov, Igor Savochkin Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov, Alexander Plotnikov Co-producers: Katrin Kissa, Charles-Evrard Tchekhoff, Nadezhda Zaionchkovska

Produced by: Place of Power (RU), Lookfilm (RU), Homeless Bob Productions (EE), Kinovista (FR) World premiere: Venice International Film Festival 2021 – in Competition Festivals and awards: São Paulo IFF, Chicago IFF - Silver Hugo: Best Art Direction, Ghent FF, Busan IFF, Tallinn Black Nights FF, Gijón International Film Festival - Best Film Directed by a Woman, Thessaloniki FF, Philadelphia FF - Best Narrative Feature, Warsaw IFF, International Film Festival of India, Les Arcs IFF 126 min / DCP / 2.35:1 / 5.1 Contact Homeless Bob Production Katrin Kissa +372 5667 7855 kissa@too.ee homelessbob.ee Sales Memento International Mathieu Delaunay +33 6 8788 4526 mathieu@memento-films.com sales@memento-films.com

feature 2021

Sandra Gets a Job

octor of Physics Sandra Mets (Mari Abel) suddenly loses her job. Finding a new job seems easy at first, but turns out to be a tragi-comic experience. Endless job interviews introduce the main character to many different situations and personas from grotesque entrepreneur to fearless start-up managers. The otherwise thoughtful Sandra finds herself in a world of hypocrisy and strange power. She needs to adapt to new situations and people, but still has to find a way to remain herself.

Original title: Sandra saab tööd Genre: drama Language: Estonian Director: Kaupo Kruusiauk Screenwriter: Kaupo Kruusiauk Cinematographer: Sten-Johan Lill E.S.C. Production Designer: Tiiu-Ann Pello Editor: Kaie-Ene Rääk Composer: Kali Briis Sound: Horret Kuus Main cast: Mari Abel, Alo Kõrve, Raimo Pass, Kaie Mihkelson, Henrik Kalmet Producer: Anneli Ahven Produced by: Kopli Kinokompanii Domestic premiere: September 21, 2021 Festivals: Tallinn Black Nights FF, EnergaCAMERIMAGE 96 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / Dolby SR

Director Kaupo Kruusiauk graduated from Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School as a film director. He also studied at FAMU in Prague and has a stage director diploma from Estonian Theatre and Music Academy. Kaupo has previously directed numerous short and documentary films. His debut feature film Sandra Gets a Job premiered in 2021.

Contact Kopli Kinokompanii Anneli Ahven +372 5562 2041 anneli@kinokopanii.ee kinokompanii.ee

feature 2021

Quicksand

uze and her husband moved from Amsterdam to a small island in the Netherlands. They now live a warm-hearted, slow-paced life with their bubbly six-year-old daughter. Until the day Suze’s colourful, extravagant mother Helena pays them a visit after a long radio silence. When Helena informs Suze about the tumour in her head, Suze decides to start travel back and forth to the city to help her. Being a theatre actress all her life, Helena knows how to sweetly manipulate her daughter into her reliance. Suze seems powerless to this force and slowly relapses into compulsive behaviour. Torn between her mother and her daughter, Suze’s disorder swiftly gets worse and forces her to make a choice.

Original title: Drijfzand / Vesiliiv Genre: drama Languages: Dutch, Estonian, English Director: Margot Schaap Screenwriter: Margot Schaap Cinematographer: Emo Weemhoff Production Designer: Jorien Sont Editor: Fatih Tura Composer: Thalia Ioannidou Sound: Matis Rei Main cast: Hanna van Vliet, Elsie de Brauw, Elin Koleci, Simeoni Sundja Producer: Ellen Havenith, Katrin Kissa, Maria Drandaki Produced by: PRPL (NL), Homeless Bob Production (EE), Homemade Films (GR) World Premiere: The Netherlands FF, September 2021 Festivals: Tallinn Black Nights FF, Film Fest Gent, Thessaloniki IFF 106 min / DCP / 1:66 / 5.1

Director Margot Schaap Was born in 1986 in the Netherlands. She graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy in 2008 with the short film Gaandeweg, for which she won the Tuschinski Award. She wrote and directed various short and mid-length films and the youth documentary School vol vissen. Her feature debut 12 Months in 1 Day was made on a low budget with friends. The film premiered at IFFR in 2015.

Contact Homeless Bob Production Katrin Kissa info@too.ee homelessbob.ee

feature 2021

Deserted

n an assignment to the abandoned, lawless and apocalyptic Sinai coast a Swedish photojournalist Ingrid (Frida Westerdahl) is kidnapped by a gang of Palestinian men and hidden in the desert. Soon Ingrid finds herself falling in love with the most sympathetic of the abductors, Ali (Ali Suliman). Ali’s boss Moussa suspects that something is going on and becomes increasingly dangerous and violent. “This is a film about an all-conquering love between people from completely different cultural backgrounds who find each other in the desert. It is in the desert where the soul becomes naked and what really matters comes to the surface,” describes Kadri Kõusaar.

Director Kadri Kõusaar is a multi-award-winning Estonian writer and director born in 1980. Her debut feature Magnus (2007), about a father trying to help his suicidal son, was the first Estonian film ever included at the official selection of Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard). Kadri’s second film The Arbiter (2013) premiered internationally in competition (East of the West) at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and her third film Mother (2016), was included in the programmes of more than 80 international film festivals to date and was Estonia’s entry for the Oscars in the category of the Best Foreign Language Film in 2017. It premiered in the international narrative competition of Tribeca Film Festival. Deserted (2021) was released as part of the official selection of Busan International Film Festival.

Original title: Kõrb Genre: modern hostage drama Languages: English, Arabic, Swedish Director: Kadri Kõusaar Screenwriter: Kadri Kõusaar Cinematographer: Sten-Johan Lill E.S.C. Editor: Menni Renvall Composer: BJ Nilsen Sound: Joonas Jyrälä Main cast: Ali Suliman, Frida Westerdahl Producer: Aet Laigu Co-producers: Charlotte Most, Maria Larsson Guerpillon, Essi Haukkamaa, Merja Ritola Produced by: Meteoriit (EE), MostAlice Film (SE), Greenlit Productions (FI) World premiere: Busan IFF, October 2021 92 min / DCP / 2.39:1/ 5.1 Dolby Digital Contact Meteoriit / Aet Laigu +372 5825 8962 aet@meteoriit.ee www.meteoriit.ee Eyewell AB www.eyewell.se sales@eyewell.se +46 70 733 2855

feature 2021

Tree of Eternal Love

ree of Eternal Love is a humor-spiced debut feature film by new generation filmmakers Meel Paliale and Urmet Piiling. Kiik, a young car mechanic stuck between the gears of life, finds out that his girlfriend’s heart has been won over by a new handsome man. To get rid of the pain haunting his soul, Kiik asks his best friend to join him on the adventure to cut down the tree of eternal love. The journey to the mystical tree becomes thorny, intriguing and criminal.

Original title: Kiik, kirves ja Igavese Armastuse Puu Genre: comedy, drama Language: Estonian Director: Meel Paliale Screenwriters: Meel Paliale, Urmet Piiling Cinematographer: Markus Mikk Production designers: Meel Paliale, Urmet Piiling Editor: Meel Paliale Composers: Janek Murd, Meel Paliale Sound director: Joonas Taimla, Sound operator: Breth Bachmann Main cast: Urmet Piiling, Herman Pihlak, Marko Matvere, Andrus Vaarik, Jan Uuspõld, Egon Nuter, Mihkel Raud, Franz Malmsten, Hanna-Ly Aavik, Pirte Laura Lember, Producers: Urmet Piiling, Rain Rannu, Tõnu Hiielaid Produced by: Tallifornia World premiere: Youth and Children’s Film Festival Just Film, November 2021 82 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Meel Paliale has been making short films for fun with his friends since grade school. Tree of Eternal Love is Meel’s debut feature and was largely shot with the same friends. The film itself is a tribute to the classic road-movies tinged with original tones of surrealism and irony.

Contact Tallifornia Tõnu Hiielaid tinamount@tallifornia.com tallifornia.com

feature 2021

Songs for a Fox

fter his lover’s death, rock singer Dainius (28) locks himself up in solitude in a secluded country house surrounded by swamps. Hoping to meet his beloved in dreamland, he studies the art of lucid dreaming. Dainius is eager ly assisted by a local boy exploited by moonshiners, whom he takes into this realm. A surrealist tale based on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is weaved inside the mind’s eye, and intertwined with the lethargic realism of post-Soviet small town life.

Director Kristijonas Vildžiunas Born in Vilnius in 1970. Before starting his studies at the Lithuanian Music Academy Film Directing Department (19911997), he was fond of architecture and painting. In the early 90s he was also a songwriter and a lead vocalist of the popular Lithuanian alternative rock band “Šiaurės kryptis” (North Direction), which he re-banded in 2015 to produce songs for two of his films including Songs For a Fox. He started his filmmaking career with few shorts and since then has made five feature films. His main focus of attention has been the human inability to adjust oneself to outside reality, as well as the conflict between the inner and outer worlds, reflecting itself in a certain autism of all his film characters.

Original title: Dainos lapei / Laulud rebasele Genre: drama, fantasy Language: Lithuanian Director: Kristijonas Vildžiunas Screenwriter: Kristijonas Vildžiunas Cinematographer: Jurgis Kmins Production Designer: Jurgis Krasons Editor: Dounia Sichov Composer: Šiaures Kryptis (Kristijonas Vildžiunas, Zigmantas Butautis) Sound: Kristijonas Vildžiunas Main cast: Lukas Malinauskas, Agnese Cirule, Rokas Rinkevičius, Mantas Zemleckas, Saulius Bareikis Animation and WFX director: Jaagup Metsalu Animation and WFX art design: Albert Kerstna Producer: Uljana Kim Co-producers: Roberts Vinovskis, Kalev Tamm Produced by: Studio Uljana Kim (LT), Studio Locomotive (LV), Eesti Joonisfilm (EE) Premiere: November 2021, Tallinn Black Nights FF Festivals: Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 125 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1 Contact Eesti Joonisfilm / Kalev Tamm +372 677 4228 info@joonisfilm.ee joonisfilm.ee facebook.com/Joonisfilm

feature 2022

The Bog

he Bog, based on the eponymous novel by Oskar Luts, is a thrilling love story that takes us back to the year 1917, when Europe was engulfed in WW1 and a revolution erupted on the other side of Estonia`s Eastern border. Young artist Toomas Haava (Franz Malmsten) returns from Paris, back to his brother’s bog farm and wraps himself unintentionally in a conflict with violent and terrifying Madjak (Märten Matsu), who is harassing a local girl, Hilda (Hanna-Ly Aavik), also known as Wildcat. Enchanted by the mysterious beauty, Toomas discovers himself in the middle of a fight for love, with his own life at stake. While clashing with the local brute, young artist has to fight the “ogre” as well as his own insecurities. The Bog is a period piece taking place at a stormy time in world history, intertwining an atmospheric thriller with an enchanting love story. In addition to these main elements the film has plenty of humour and a number of colorful supporting characters.

Director Ergo Kuld was born on August 23, 1976 in Tallinn. In 1994 he graduated from Kullamaa Secondary School, in 1998–2000 he studied photography at Tallinn Communication School and in 2000–2004 at Tallinn University as a cinematographer of audiovisual works. In 2000 he worked as a photographer for the newspapers Äripäev and Postimees, in 2000–2002 as a photo editor for Postimees. In 2002 he started working as a freelance filmmaker, since 2007 he has been the chairman of the board of Kassikuld. Ergo Kuld has been involved over 20 different TV series in Estonia, in most cases as a producer, director, cinematographer, musical designer and editor at the same time. The Bog is his third full-length feature film.

Original title: Soo Genre: romantic thriller Language: Estonian Director: Ergo Kuld Screenwriter: Martin Algus Cinematographer: Ergo Kuld Production Designer: Ervin Roots Editor: Ergo Kuld Composer: Mick Pedaja Sound: Lauri Laagus Main cast: Franz Malmsten, Hanna-Ly Aavik, Liis Remmel, Helgur Rosenthal, Martin Kork, Grete Kuld, Märten Matsu, Indrek Taalmaa, Epp Eespäev, Toomas Suuman. Producers: Kristian Taska, Tanel Tatter, Veiko Esken Produced by: Taska Film, Kassikuld, Apollo Film Productions To be released: February 18, 2022 85 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / Dolby 5.1 Contact Apollo Film Productions +372 56 652 386 veiko.esken@apollo.ee heafilm.ee/event/4568/title/soo/

feature 2022

Melchior the Apothecary

n the first film of the trilogy, a famous knight is murdered in the castle having just arrived from Gotland; the troops he had commanded had defeated and executed the pirates that had terrorized Hansa merchant ships. The killer has stolen the victim’s gold chain, chopped off his head and filled his mouth with coins. Melchior discovers that the murdered knight was after the mysterious Prisoner of Tallinn – however, for some reason, he wasn’t looking for him in the jailhouse, but in the Dominican monastery. The next day, the old wall of the monastery collapses and a shocking series of murders erupts – the master mason’s head is chopped off and his mouth is filled with coins in a copycat manner, and two monks are poisoned with arsenic. Is the same murderer behind all these killings or is someone imitating a crime to cover his tracks? Melchior realizes that the key to the mystery lies in the question – who or what is the mysterious Prisoner of Tallinn?

Director Elmo Nüganen is an Estonian film and theatre director and actor. From 19922021, he was the artistic director of Tallinn City Theatre. His debut as a film director and screenwriter was Names in Marble in 2002 with Taska Film, which brought approximately 170,000 people to the cinemas and held the number 1 title of admissions among Estonian films until 2016. Nüganen’s filmography also includes Mindless (2006) and 1944 (2015), both also with Taska Film. The latter became the country’s submission for the Academy Awards in 2015. With the Melchior the Apothecary trilogy, Nüganen continues his theme of historic films, based on best-selling and internationally acclaimed novels written by Indrek Hargla.

Original title: Apteeker Melchior Genre: historical crime thriller Language: Estonian Director: Elmo Nüganen Screenwriters: Indrek Hargla, Olle Mirme, Elmo Nüganen Cinematographer: Mihkel Soe E.S.C. Production Designer: Matis Mäesalu Editor: Marion Koppel Composer: Liina Sumera Sound: Horret Kuus, Henri Kuus Main cast: Märten Metsaviir, Maarja Johanna Mägi, Alo Kõrve Producers: Kristian Taska, Esko Rips, Armin Karu, Tanel Tatter, Veiko Esken Co-producers: Jānis Kalējs, Lukas Trimonis, Philipp Kreuzer, Diana Mikita Produced by: Taska Film (EE), Nafta Films (EE), Apollo Film Productions (EE), HansaFilm (EE), Film Angels Productions (LV), INSCRIPT (LT), maze pictures (DE) To be released: Spring 2022 90 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Taska Film Kristian Taska +372 520 3000 film@taska.ee facebook.com/apteekermelchiorfilm/

feature 2022

The Sleeping Beast

en-year-old Kristjan’s gang defies all dangers and rules to keep their secret playground in the ruins of an old industrial complex. One day, the complex guard has an accident. When the kids decide that it’s in the group’s best interest to keep the man hostage, Kristjan finds himself in a rough confrontation against his best friends.

Original title: Tagurpidi torn Genre: children drama Language: Estonian Director: Jaak Kilmi Screenwriter: Aidi Vallik Cinematographer: Elen Lotman E.S.C. Production Designer: Getter Vahar Editor: Andris Grants Composer: Kārlis Auzāns Sound: Matīss Krišjānis Main cast: Nils Jaagup England, Rebeka Kask, Laura Vahtre, Kimi Reiko Pilipenko, Una-Marta Soms, Andres Lepik Producer: Evelin Penttilä Junior producer: Johanna Maria Paulson Co-producer: Roberts Vinovskis, Dominiks Jarmakovičs Produced by: Stellar Film (EE), Studio Locomotive (LV) To be released: Spring 2022 100 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Jaak Kilmi has graduated from the Department of Culture of Tallinn Pedagogical University, majoring in Directing. He has (co-)directed and produced a string of award-winning short films; a number of documentary films and feature films. His films have received international recognition and have often been broadcasted abroad.

Contact Stellar Film Evelin Penttilä +372 5552 3500 evelin@stellar.ee stellar.ee

feature 2022

Stairway to Heaven

lf has reached the point in his life where little is left of the future and whether he regrets his past or accepts it, there is no changing the course. Everyday life has become so mundane that it’s difficult to tell one day from the next. Time seems not to exist anymore. When an old friend and a lifelong mentor reveals the secret to time travel on his deathbed, Ulf decides to try it out – and spends ever longer periods in the complicated, but idyllic world of his teenage years.

Original title: Taevatrepp Genre: drama Language: Estonian Director: Mart Kivastik Screenwriter: Mart Kivastik Cinematographer: Rein Kotov E.S.C. Production Designer: Pille Jänes Editor: Rein Kotov Sound: Horret Kuus Main cast: Mait Malmsten Producers: Marju Lepp, Manfred Vainokivi Produced by: Filmivabrik To be released: November 2022 90 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Mart Kivastik is a writer, scriptwriter and director. After graduating from the University of Tartu in 1989, Mart Kivastik has been working as a freelancer. He has written plays, screenplays, short stories and novels, also articles on literature, theatre and film. His first book was published in 1993. The novel Vietnamese Recipe was published in 2012 and was awarded the prize Best Travel Book of the Year. Starting from 1997, his plays have been staged in various Estonian theatres and abroad. Film credits as a scriptwriter include full-length films Firewater, Taarka, Vasha, and a number of short films. He has written and directed two feature films - A Friend of Mine (2011, Exitfilm) and When You Least Expect It (2016, Kopli Kinokompanii).

Contact Filmivabrik Marju Lepp +372 516 3641 marju@filmivabrik.ee filmivabrik.ee

feature 2022

Totally Boss

-year-old Oliver and Sass make a nose-shaped glasses holder in shop class, which attracts the interest of a mysterious major investor. At the same time, Oliver’s recently laid off father is struggling to find a new job. The boys are too young to run their business themselves, so Oliver hatches a plan to kill two birds with one stone: they hire Oliver’s dad to run their business, also saving his parents’ rocky marriage! The trick is that Oliver’s father doesn’t know that he works for his son and son’s friend Sass. A fast-paced duplicitous game unfolds and starts to escalate when the boys find out what their mysterious investor is really up to.

Original title: Tähtsad ninad Genre: family comedy Language: Estonian Director: Ingomar Vihmar Screenwriters: Martin Algus, Tom Abrams, James Nathan, Dave Weber Cinematographer: Heiko Sikka E.S.C. Production Designer: Anneli Arusaar Editor: Moonika Põdersalu Composer: Leslie Laasner Sound: Matis Rei Main cast: Ruben Tolk, Mattias Naan, Saara Pius, Mait Malmsen Producer: Esko Rips Produced by: Nafta Films To be released: Autumn 2022 90 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Ingomar Vihmar graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory Department of Performing Arts in 1992. He worked at the Ugala Theatre from 1991–2002 as an actor and stage director. From 1992–2001 he was also a lecturer at the Viljandi Cultural College and from 2006–2015 he directed for the stage of the Estonian Drama Theatre. Since 2015, Ingomar has been the artistic director of the Endla Theatre. He has directed for most stages in Estonia, brought more than fifty productions to the stage, and received several commendations for his work. Totally Boss is his first feature film.

Contact Nafta Films Esko Rips +372 525 6323 esko@nafta.ee nafta.ee

feature 2022

Melchior the Apothecary. The Ghost

n the second film of the medieval crime trilogy, young detective-pharmacist Melchior has to solve a seemingly supernatural mystery. A town guard that saw a ghost of a young lady, falls to his death from a watch tower. A prostitute who was with him, drowns in a well, and an artist that was in love with this prostitute, also dies. A distorted corpse that is found in the river next to a monastery, gives Melchior the lead which guides him to the traces of a long-forgotten tragedy.

Director Elmo Nüganen is an Estonian film and theatre director and actor. From 1992-2021, he was the artistic director of Tallinn City Theatre. His debut as a film director and screenwriter was Names in Marble in 2002 with Taska Film, which brought approximately 170,000 people to the cinemas and held the number 1 title of admissions among Estonian films until 2016. Nüganen’s filmography also includes Mindless (2006) and 1944 (2015), both also with Taska Film. The latter became the country’s submission for the Academy Awards in 2015. With the Melchior the Apothecary trilogy, Nüganen continues his theme of historic films, based on best-selling and internationally acclaimed novels written by Indrek Hargla.

Original title: Apteeker Melchior. Viirastus Genre: historical crime thriller Language: Estonian Director: Elmo Nüganen Screenwriters: Indrek Hargla, Olle Mirme, Elmo Nüganen Cinematographer: Mihkel Soe E.S.C. Production Designer: Matis Mäesalu Editor: Marion Koppel Composer: Liina Sumera Sound: Horret Kuus, Henri Kuus Main cast: Märten Metsaviir, Maarja Johanna Mägi, Alo Kõrve Producers: Kristian Taska, Esko Rips, Armin Karu, Tanel Tatter, Veiko Esken Co-producers: Jānis Kalējs, Lukas Trimonis, Philipp Kreuzer, Diana Mikita Produced by: Taska Film (EE), Nafta Films (EE), Apollo Film Productions (EE), HansaFilm (EE), Film Angels Productions (LV), INSCRIPT (LT), maze pictures (DE) To be released: Autumn 2022 90 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Taska Film Kristian Taska +372 520 3000 film@taska.ee facebook.com/apteekermelchiorfilm/

feature 2022

Kalev

t’s the summer of 1990. The Soviet Union is teetering on the verge of collapse, while the little Baltic nations struggle to take back their lost independence. The Soviet Union`s basketball championship is set to begin on the backdrop of a deeply divided society. The Estonian team Kalev faces a momentous decision. With Estonian independence seemingly within reach, a rising tide of public opinion opposes the Estonian national team’s participation in the USSR’s championship. That would contradict the people’s aspirations for liberation. As professional athletes, the team makes the unpopular choice. Against all odds, Kalev makes it to the finals. The opening whistle blows.

Original title: Kalev Genre: drama Languages: Estonian, Russian, English Director: Ove Musting Screenwriters: Mehis Pihla, Ove Musting, Martin Algus Cinematographer: Rein Kotov E.S.C. Production Designer: Tiiu-Ann Pello Editors: Jaak Ollino, Rein Kotov Composer: Mihkel Zilmer Sound: Matis Rei Main cast: Mait Malmsten, Reimo Sagor, Priit Võigemast, Mihkel Kuusk Producers: Pille Rünk, Maria Avdjushko Produced by: Allfilm (EE), Ugri Film (EE) To be released: 2022 95 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Ove Musting graduated from the Tallinn Pedagogical University with a BA in Audiovisual Arts. He has created award-winning short features and ads, music videos, TV shows and multicam live broadcasts. He is also a founding member of the band called Winny Puhh. Kalev is Ove`s first feature film. Awards: EFTA Winner/Special Programme 2019, EFTA TV Director of the Year 2017, PR Gold Baltic Best, PR Gold Golden Egg, Cannes Lion PR finalist TVC 2017

Contact Allfilm Pille Rünk +372 508 2999 pille@allfilm.ee allfilm.ee

feature 2022

Dark Paradise

fter her daddy’s death, Karmen commits an atrocious act against her half-brother and must now face the dark void of the universe, which can only be filled with love. A “poignant tale about Millennials” that follows a 27-year-old woman called Karmen. She discovers that her recently buried father was actually wallowing in debt and her whole life has been a one big lie. When Karmen’s life free of responsibility starts to collapse, she takes out her feelings on her brother Viktor by disfiguring his face. At the center of the film is a hedonistic lifestyle and the nihilistic search for love and intimacy.

Director Triin Ruumet is one of the most interesting new generation directors in Estonia. A diverse, unconventional and brazen director, her strength lies in her personal and somewhat irreverent approach to her subject matter. She did a bachelor’s in Audiovisual Media from 2009-2011 and a Master’s in Film Directing from 2011–2012 at the Baltic Film and Media School. Her student films participated and were lauded at dozens of festivals. In 2016, Triin Ruumet finished her debut feature The Days that Confused, a look back at the thug culture of Estonia in the 90’s. The film had the premiere at Karlovy Vary IFF East of the West programme and won Jury’s Special Prize. Triin is striking in her stubborn anarchism and boldness. Her view of her characters’ emotional lives seems considerably more lenient and understanding than many male directors’.

Original title: Tume paradiis Genre: drama Language: Estonian Director: Triin Ruumet Screenwriters: Triin Ruumet, Andris Feldmanis, Livia Ulman Cinematographer: Erik Põllumaa, E.S.C. Production Designer: Matis Mäesalu Editor: Jaak Ollino Jr. Main cast: Rea Lest, Jörgen Liik, Reimo Sagor, Juhan Ulfsak, Liisa Saaremäel, Steffi Pähn Producer: Elina Litvinova Co-producer: Jeremy Forni Produced by: Three Brothers (EE), Chevaldeuxtrois (FR) To be released: 2022 110 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Three Brothers Elina Litvinova +372 5691 3377 elina@threebrothers.ee

feature 2022

Melchior the Apothecary. The Executioner’s Daughter

n the third film of the series, Melchior’s wife Keterlyn witnesses a brutal assault. The victim has lost his memory after the assault – he has no idea who he is and how he got to Tallinn. A few days after the mysterious assault, a young acrobat – mother of a young child – is murdered. The closer Melchior gets to the truth, the more his and Keterlyn’s lives are put to grave danger.

Original title: Apteeker Melchior. Timuka tütar Genre: historical crime thriller Language: Estonian Director: Elmo Nüganen Screenwriters: Indrek Hargla, Olle Mirme, Elmo Nüganen Cinematographer: Mihkel Soe E.S.C. Production Designer: Matis Mäesalu Editor: Marion Koppel Composer: Liina Sumera Sound: Horret Kuus, Henri Kuus Main cast: Märten Metsaviir, Maarja Johanna Mägi, Alo Kõrve Producers: Kristian Taska, Esko Rips, Armin Karu, Tanel Tatter, Veiko Esken Co-producer: Jānis Kalējs, Lukas Trimonis, Philipp Kreuzer, Diana Mikita Produced by: Taska Film (EE), Nafta Films (EE), Apollo Film Productions (EE), HansaFilm (EE), Film Angels Productions (LV), INSCRIPT (LT), maze pictures (DE) To be released: 2022 90 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Taska Film Kristian Taska +372 520 3000 film@taska.ee facebook.com/apteekermelchiorfilm

feature 2022

Erik Stoneheart

rik (11) is convinced he has a stone for a heart. That’s 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 fantastical journey to the In-Between-World and Erik learns how hard it really is to wear a heart of stone.

Director Ilmar Raag born in 1968, is the writer and director of the most successful film ever made in Estonia – Class (2007), which was sold to 91 countries, received a national Oscar nomination, won 25 awards from 70 festivals, and developed into a successful multi-awarded TV-series. Ilmar’s filmography include Une Estonienne à Paris (Locarno FF, Estonia-France-Belgium, 2012), Kertu. Love Is Blind (Warszaw FF, 2013) and I Won’t Come Back (Tribeca FF, Nora Ephron Jury Special Mention, Estonia-Russia-Finland-Kazakhstan, 2014). Ilmar has a MA in Screenwriting from Ohio University and worked as a professor of Liberal Arts in Tartu University. Ilmar is also an acclaimed columnist in the biggest dailies, lecturer and a requested media consultant.

Original title: Erik Kivisüda Genre: fantasy adventure Language: Estonian Director: Ilmar Raag Screenwriters: Andris Feldmanis, Livia Ulman Cinematographers: Tuomo Hutri F.S.C., Ivar Taim E.S.C. Production Designer: Kari Kankaanpää Editor: Felix Sorger Composers: Kipras Masanauskas, Renars Kaupers Sound: Vladimir Golovnitski Main cast: Herman Avandi, Florin Gussak, Juhan Ulfsak, Laura Peterson-Aardam, Renars Kaupers, Jules Werner, Norbert Rutili, Nickel Bösenberg Producers: Riina Sildos, Paul Thiltges, Adrien Chef Co-producers: Uljana Kim, Aleksi Bardy, Helen Vinogradov, Roberts Vinovskis, Vitaliy Sheremetiev Produced by: Amrion Production (EE), Paul Thiltges Distributions (LU), Studio Uljana Kim (LT), Helsinki-filmi Oy (FI), Studio Locomotive (LV), Esse Production House (UA) To be released: 2022 105 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Amrion Production Riina Sildos +372 504 8985 riina.sildos@amrion.ee amrion.ee

Sales Pink Parrot Media Tania Pinto da Cunha +34 62945 9075 tania@pinkparrotmedia.ca pinkparrotmedia.ca

feature 2022

Child Machine

9-year old girl, vacationing with her parents in a remote bog, gets trapped in a secret bunker where an AI-startup is nearing the completion of a superintelligent AI. Both the girl and the AI want to escape.

Original title: Child Machine Genre: science fiction Language: English Director: Rain Rannu Screenwriter: Rain Rannu Cinematographer: Ants Tammik Production Designer: Krete Tarkmees Editors: Rain Rannu, Moonika Põdersalu Composer: Bert on Beats Sound: Markus Andreas, Aleksandra Koel Main cast: Johann Urb, Anna Elisabeth Leetmäe, Yulin Ng, Priit Pius, Ivo Uukkivi Producers: Tõnu Hiielaid, Rain Rannu Produced by: Tallifornia To be released: 2022 97 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Rain Rannu is an Estonian film director, entrepreneur and investor. Rain has written and directed a road-movie Chasing Ponies (2016), a narrative virtual reality short Beqaa VR (2018) and the critically acclaimed start-up comedy Chasing Unicorns (Black Nights FF, 2019). Together with producer Tõnu Hiielaid, Rain is the founder of the indie movie production company Tallifornia, helping Estonian filmmakers reach further.

Contact Tallifornia Tõnu Hiielaid tinamount@tallifornia.com tallifornia.com

feature 2022

Lovable

atiss is way too young to be suddenly left to care for his partner’s nineyear-old daughter. A responsibility like this reveals Matiss’ true nature, inner demons and a lack of relationships based on pure love.

Original title: Mīlulis / Kullake Genre: drama Language: Latvian Director: Stanislavs Tokalovs Screenwriters: Waldemar Kalinowski, Stanislavs Tokalovs Cinematographer: Oleg Mutu Production Designer: Laura Dišlere Editor: Stefan Stabenov Composer: Erki Pärnoja Sound: Matis Rei Main cast: Kārlis Arnolds Avots, Paula Labāne, Kristīne Krūze Hermane, Vilis Daudziņš, Andris Keišs, Indra Roga, Gunārs Āboliņš, Elīna Vaska, Regnārs Vaivars Producer: Aija Berzina Co-producers: Evelin Penttilä, Vlad Radulescu Produced by: Tasse Film (LV), Stellar Film (EE), Avanpost Media (RO) To be released: 2022 100 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Stanislavs Tokalovs is a Latvian screenwriter, director and producer. He made his directorial debut in 2012 with the short The Shoe. His short drama A Little Longer received the Lielais Kristaps award for Best Short at the Latvian National Film Festival. In 2015, he made a documentary Mikhail Tal. From a Far. His feature debut film What Nobody Can See was released in 2017 and had its international premiere at Moscow International Film Festival.

Contact Stellar Film Evelin Penttilä +372 5552 3500 evelin@stellar.ee stellar.ee

feature 2022

Minsk

insk, August 2020. Pasha and Yulia, a young married couple, leave the house at night and find themselves in the midst of the protests of the civilian population, which came out against the unfair presidential elections. Their everyday walk turns into a real hell, in which innocent people become victims of police brutality. During the 1,5 hours, the young couple’s life changes completely. The film was shot in a single take, without any cuts.

Original title: Minsk Genre: drama Language: Russian Director: Boris Guts Screenwriter: Boris Guts Cinematographer: Daria Likhacheva Production Designer: Johannes Valdma Sound: Indrek Soe Main cast: Anastasia Shemyakina, Aleksey Maslodudov Producer: Boris Guts Co-producer: Katerina Monastyrskaya Produced by: Leo Films To be released: 2022 81 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Boris Guts graduated from the High Courses of Scriptwriters and Film Directors (VKSR) in 2012. Boris is known in Russia as an experimental filmmaker, a social activist who reveals the acute topics of society: poverty, racism, homophobia, AIDS. Filmography: Watermelon Rings (2016), Fagotto (2018), We Look Good in Death (2019), Minsk (2022)

Contact Leo Films Katerina Monastyrskaya +372 5829 7356 katja@leo-films.eu leo-films.eu Sales WIDE Management / Maxime Montagne +33 1 5395 0464 mm@widemanagement.com Matthias Angoulvant ma@widemanagement.com

feature 2022

Reply to a Letter From Helga

n a remote fjord in 1940’s Iceland, a young farmer Bjarni and an aspiring poet Helga begin a passionate, forbidden affair, their emotions running as wild as the ocean waves that surround them.

Director Ása Hjörleifsdóttir is an Icelandic writer and director, born in 1984. Ása completed a BA in English and French Literature in the University of Iceland and La Sorbonne - Paris IV Université, and worked for a while as a book critic for the Iceland National Radio before moving to New York City to pursue her true love, filmmaking. She graduated from the Columbia University Film MFA program in 2012 with her thesis film Ástarsaga (Love Story, starring Katherine Waterston), a 2013 finalist for the Student Academy Awards. Her award-winning first feature film The Swan premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and is still touring the festival circuit as well as having been sold to several territories. (including the US; the film opened theatrically in NY and LA in August 2018, and was released on Amazon Prime in February).

Original title: Svar við bréfi Helgu / Vastus Helga kirjale Genre: drama, romance Language: Icelandic Director: Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir Screenwriters: Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir, Otto Geir Borg, Bergsveinn Birgisson Cinematographer: Jasper Wolf Production Designer: Drífa Freyju-Ármannsdóttir Sound: Jan Schemer Costume Designer: Eugen Tamberg Main cast: Hera Hilmar, Thor Kristjánsson, Aníta Briem, Björn Thors Producers: Skúli Fr. Malmquist, Birgitta Björnsdóttir Co-producers: Ivo Felt, Dirk Rijneke, Mildred van Leeuwaarden Produced by: Zik Zak Filmworks (IS), Allfilm (EE), Rotterdam Film (NL) To be released: 2022 90 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Sales Totem Films Birgitta Björnsdóttir birgitta@zikzak.is totem-films.com

feature 2022

Sentinel

et in the future on a war-ravaged Earth, four soldiers man Sentinel – a remote military base in a vast ocean that separates two warring continents. They await the relief or the enemy, whichever comes first. But as the empty weeks turn to months, a paranoia descends testing relationships to breaking point. Whilst their tour of duty ended 3 months ago, the relief crew still hasn’t shown up. Alone and uncertain as to their fate, the simmering tension amongst the crew only escalates when a mysterious boat drifts into range – is it the help they have been waiting so long for, or something far more sinister?

Director Tanel Toom was born in 1982 in Tallinn, Estonia, Tanel first studied filmmaking at the Tallinn University, graduating with a BA in 2005. His fourth short film The Second Coming premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2008. The same year, he decided to continue his studies at the National Film and TV School in England. He graduated from the NFTS with a MA in 2010. His diploma film The Confession won the Student Academy Award® for Honorary Foreign Film and a year later was nominated for an Oscar® for Best Live Action Short Film. His first feature film Truth and Justice premiered in 2019, breaking all the box office records in Estonia and became the most watched film in the country. It was Estonia’s submission for the 2020 Academy Awards, making it to the shortlist in Best International Film category. The film was praised for its performances and visuals and won the Best International Motion Picture at the Satellite Awards 2020. Tanel was chosen by Variety as one of the “10 Europeans to Watch”, 2020.

Original title: Sentinel Genre: sci-fi thriller Language: English Director: Tanel Toom Screenwriter: Malachi Smyth Cinematographer: Mart Ratassepp E.S.C. Production Designer: Kaia Tungal Editor: Tambet Tasuja Composer: Gert Wilden Jr. Sound: Matis Rei Main cast: Kate Bosworth, Thomas Kretschmann, Lucien Laviscount, Martin McCann Producers: Ben Pullen, Ivo Felt, Jörg Bundschuh, Pippa Cross, Matt Wilkinson Produced by: Allfilm (EE), Kick Film (DE), Sentinel Entertainment (GB) To be released: 2022 110 min / DCP () / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Allfilm / Ivo Felt ivo@allfilm.ee allfilm.ee Sales Altitude Film Sales +44 20 7478 7612 info@altitudefilment.com / altitudefilment.com

shorts 2021-2022

2021 Cerberus A Wish Upon a Satellite County Court Mia and Liki The King 2022 3rd Octave F Heiki on the Other Side I Do Skin of a Mandarin Drifting Apart Jungle Law

short 2021

Cerberus

eelis, a modern countryman in search of his lost dog, comes upon a ragged-looking village where a mysterious crime has taken place. While trying to figure out the truth behind the strange events, a growing suspicion tempts to claim another victim.

Director Kaspar Ainelo was born in 1991. His roots are buried under the rocky soil of Hiiumaa, a small island that is constantly growing out of the Baltic Sea. For as long as Kaspar can remember, he has always been deeply fascinated and inspired by the absurdity of life. Some of it can be credited to the fact that he has been brought up in small town called Kärdla, which sits on top of a meteorite crater. This is where he found film as a means to communicate the twisted human nature with all of its pain and beauty. Last few years, he has closely worked with the production company Exitfilm to bring his ideas to the screen. Cerberus is Kaspar’s second short film as a director.

Original title: Cerberus Genre: mystery, drama, comedy Language: Estonian Director: Kaspar Ainelo Screenwriter: Kaspar Ainelo Cinematographer: Mattias Veermets Production Designer: Kalju Kivi Editors: Kaupo Muuli, Kaspar Ainelo Composer: Sten Šeripov Sound: Kauri Lemberg Main cast: Indrek Sammul, Indrek Taalmaa, Markus Habakukk, Ingrid Isotamm, Enrico Oja Producer: Peeter Urbla Produced by: Exitfilm Premiere: Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival Festivals: Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF), Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival, Sao Paulo ISFF, Copenhagen SFF, Bengaluru ISFF, Fantastic Fest, Beyond Fest, FilmQuest, CURTAS Festival of Imaginary, PÖFF Shorts, Festival SPASM, Bogotá SFF 19 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Exitfilm Peeter Urbla +372 515 9696 peeter@exitfilm.ee exitfilm.ee

short 2021

A Wish Upon a Satellite

Wish Upon a Satellite is a film about a little boy Otto whose parents had promised him a dog for his tenth birthday - before they suddenly passed away. When Otto sees a falling star the evening before his birthday he makes a wish upon it. To his surprise he realises that the bright object seems falling straight into the forest behind his grandma’s house. Having just read a comic book of aliens he fearfully wanders to investigate. On a clearing he finds a little spacecraft, the Sputnik, and prepares for the worst. However, when the hatch of the weird vehicle opens a little dog exits instead - with the name Laika engraved on his collar. Knowing that his grandma is wary of dogs Otto stays in the forest.

Director Leeni Linna is an independent Estonian film director. She has BA and MFA degrees in Filmmaking from the Baltic Film and Media School and she recently graduated from her filmmaking studies at the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles. She has directed several short movies, documentaries and TV commercials before and during her studies. Leeni has also worked as a director, editor, producer and screenwriter for various TV shows. Including working as an Associate Producer at Vice Media’s tv channel VICELAND in New York.

Original title: Kingitus orbiidilt Genre: drama, family Language: Estonian Director: Leeni Linna Screenwriters: Leeni Linna, Leana Jalukse Cinematographer: Daniel Lindholm F.S.C. Production Designer: Taivi Lippmaa Editor: Jussi Rautaniemi Composer: Janek Murd Sound design: Markus Andreas Main cast: Otto Samuel Kahar, Anne Reemann, Andres Raag, Ursula Ratasepp, Külli Teetamm Producer: Karin Reinberg Co-Producer: Merja Ritola Produced by: Revolver Film (EE), Greenlit Productions (FI) World premiere: FILMETS 2021 Festivals: Schlingel IFF, LA Shorts, CineKid, Cinefest, PÖFF Shorts 17 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Revolver Film Karin Reinberg +372 5343 6863 karin@revolver.ee revolver.ee

short 2021

County Court

ounty Court is a short film that is packed with absurdity and tells a rather conventional story in a rather unconventional way. The film reflects a court drama where a mother and a father, two ex-spouses, fight over the custody of their 5-year old son in court. The whole court process takes place in the middle of a grain field and on that field the courtroom has no boundaries much like the mother and father whose actual goal is to exact vengeance on each other with no regard to the means used.

Director Eeva Mägi was born in 1987 in Estonia. In 2015, she obtained a Master’s degree in Documentary Directing from the Baltic Film and Media School. Her graduation film Simply A Man has been screened at several festivals. Lembri Uudu, her first independent film after graduation, had its international premiere at DOK Leipzig and has later participated in many festivals, among others P.FF Shorts, Go Short Nijmegen, Sarajevo Film Festival etc. In March 2017, she participated in the workshop Filming in Cuba with Werner Herzog. In 2018, she was given a young filmmaker’s award by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. In 2019, she received a DocPoint Tallinn Young Filmmaker Award. In 2020, her film The Weight of All the Beauty won the best international short documentary film award at Oscar-qualifying Melbourne IFF. Her approach to film is rather experimental and surreal. At the moment she is developing her first feature film Werewolf and feature documentary From Mari with Love.

Original title: Maakohus Genre: drama Language: Estonian Director: Eeva Mägi Screenwriter: Eeva Mägi Cinematographer: Sten Johan Lill E.S.C. Production Designer: Anna-Liisa Liiver Editor: Jette-Krõõt Keedus Composer: Tanel Kadalipp Sound: Tanel Kadalipp Main cast: Mari Abel, Tambet Tuisk, Helen Lotman, Meelis Rämmeld Producer: Karolina Veetamm Produced by: Kafka Films World premiere: PÖFF Shorts 2021 15 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 Contact Kafka Films Karolina Veetamm +372 5196 8064 karolina.kafka@gmail.com

short 2021

Mia and Liki

t seems the summer will last forever. Sisters Mia and Liki are taking the best out of it but the signs that something’s wrong with their parents disturb their happy life. Girls perceive the changes around them but can’t comprehend the situation, which causes inexplicable fear and confusion.

Original title: Mia ja Liki Genre: drama Language: Estonian Director: Katrin Tegova Screenwriter: Katrin Tegova Cinematographer: Mart Raun Production Designer: Katrin Sipelgas Editor: Emeri Abel Composer: Janek Murd Sound: Gert Mäll Main cast: Miriam Mia Maimik, Liisa-Lotta Vahemets Producer: Maario Masing Produced by: Tandem Film World premiere: PÖFF Shorts 2021 15 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / Stereo

Director Katrin Tegova is a director and screenwriter. Katrin received a bachelor’s degree in dramatic theory from the University of Tartu in 2005 and an MA in scriptwriting from Tallinn University’s Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School in 2013. She has done four short films - The Photo (2013), Christmas Mystery (2018), Nissan Patrol (2017) and Silver Wedding (2013) and two feature films - Cherry Tobacco (2014), The Man Who Looks Like Me (2017) as a co-director and co-screenwriter together with director Andres Maimik.

Contact Tandem Film Maario Masing +372 5559 9899 maario@tandemfilm.ee

short 2021

The King

lev Virkus is a completely ordinary man of no considerable wealth or achievements. Sometimes, however, he has to drop everything he’s doing and go away for a while. Only then can he keep on living in peace.

Director Teresa Juksaar was born in Estonia on 13 March 1998. In 2017, she graduated from Vanalinna Hariduskollegium where she studied in a film class. In the same year, she started her film studies at Sarajevo Film Academy. In 2018 she returned to Estonia to continue her film journey in Baltic Film, Media and Arts School. She is currently in her fourth year of studying film directing. Aside from studies, Teresa has been working on several film sets as 2nd and 3rd Assistant Director. The King is her second short film made at school, it won the National Competition of PÖFF Shorts 2021.

Original title: Kuningas Genre: student film, magical realism Language: Estonian Director: Teresa Juksaar Screenwriter: Elisabeth Kužovnik Cinematographer: Tanel Topaasia Production Designer: Elisa Geraldine Vesterinen Editor: Villem Roosa Composer: Kaspar Tambur Sound: Hildegard Palits Main cast: Aarne Soro, Saskia Rebeka Vaarend, Marika Vaarik, Liis Karpov, Eduard Salmistu, Alina Karmazina, Luisa Lõhmus Producer: Sofia Mihhaljova Produced by: Baltic Film, Media and Arts School (BFM) Festivals and awards: November 2021, PÖFF Shorts Best Short Film (National Competition) 17 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Sofia Mihhaljova +372 5564 1240 sofia.mihalyova@gmail.com

short 2022

3rd Octave F

rd Octave F is a daring and stylized opera-western that tells the story of a broken family, revenge and standing up against injustice towards women. As Mario, a bit short-fused but righteous outlaw, gets out of prison, his only wish is to get back home to his mother and sister Ada. It’s not long until life drags him into trouble again. Witnessing a woman being attacked, Mario is forced to pull his gun on the perpetrator, leaving the man with just one hand. The Sheriff hears about Mario’s deed and sets off to catch him. The Sheriff couldn’t care less for the woman attacked or the man whose hand Mario just shot off. He wants Mario in order to revenge his father once and for all. At home, Ada gets the word that Mario is on the train on his way home with the Sheriff after him. Ada must act quickly to get Mario off that train before the Sheriff does. Luckily, she has a motorcycle and her voice to help her. Can Ada reach the right note to stop a train and disarm even the most brutal of men?

Director Eeva Mägi 3rd Octave F is Estonian director Eeva Mägi’s third short fiction after County Court and Wednesday which both were presented at PÖFF Shorts 2021. In 2015, she graduated from Baltic Film & Media School’s Directing Documentary Masters program. Since then she has also directed succesful short docs such as The Weight of All the Beauty (2019) which was longlisted to the Oscars after winning Best Short Documentary at Melbourne International Film Festival and Lembri Uudu (2017) that had it’s premiere at DOK Leipzig. In 2018, Eeva received the Young Filmmaker’s Award from Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Currently she is in post with her first feature doc From Mari with Love and in finishing up development with her first fiction feature Werewolf which was selected to Tallinn Black Night Film Festival’s Industry event Script Pool 2021 and won a pitching prize in Tblisi IFF Industry Days 2020.

Original title: 3. oktavi f Genre: opera-western Language: Estonian Director: Eeva Mägi Screenwriter: Eeva Mägi Cinematographer: Sten-Johan Lill E.S.C. Production Designer: Allan Appelberg Editors: Jette Keedus, Sten-Johan Lill Composer: Tanel Kadalipp Sound: Tanel Kadalipp Main cast: Triin-Eliis Süld, Ekke Hekles, Tambet Tuisk Producer: Kristofer Piir Co-producers: Alvar Kõue, Raido Toonekurg Produced by: Allfilm To be released: 2022 17 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Allfilm Kristofer Piir +372 502 0843 kristofer@allfilm.ee allfilm.ee

short 2022

Heiki on the Other Side

dark comedy that tells the story of Heiki — a young man who dies during a party he’s hosting at the house of his recently passed grandfather and ends up in the Underworld where he must face the consequences of his death. Only after talking to Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld, does Heiki realise that he is indeed dead. Meanwhile in reality, after finding his unresponsive body, Heiki’s friends Riho and Harri don’t arrive at the same conclusion. Instead, they start entertaining themselves by drawing obscenities on Heiki’s face and stacking random things on him, not knowing that every object touching Heiki’s body ends up reaching him on the other side as well. Heiki finds out that to cross the river of the Underworld he must either wait a 100 years or pay for the trip with a coin, which of course Heiki doesn’t have. When Heiki is struck by his grandfather’s teapot falling from the sky it catches the eye of none other than Heiki’s grandfather himself. Seeing a familiar face rejoices both men but this presents a new problem — he also needs to get his grandfather on Charon’s boat.

Original title: Heiki teisel pool Genre: dark comedy Language: Estonian Director: Katariina Aule Screenwriter: Sven-Sander Paas Cinematographer: Martin Venela Production Designer: Kamilla Kase Editor: Kaupo Muuli Composer: Robert Nikolajev Sound: Markus Andreas Main cast: Ken Rüütel, Martin Veinmann Producer: Andreas Kask Produced by: Nafta Films To be released: 2022 15 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Katariina Aule is a young aspiring stop-motion animation and film director from Tallinn, Estonia. In 2017, she graduated from Estonian Academy of Arts with a BA degree in Animation. She has worked in different animation studios for over 5 years as a prop maker, puppet maker, silicone painter & assistant animator. Currently she is expanding her skills as a film director in Baltic Film and Media school. As a filmmaker she is inspired by nature, her grandmother, and everything mystical, weird and yet unknown to mankind.

Contact Nafta Films Andreas Kask +372 5625 5156 andreas@nafta.ee

short 2022

I Do

hen the bride is kidnapped as part of a wedding tradition, she uses the game as an excuse to not participate in her own party. Through the chase, the newlyweds are challenged to find out who and why they married at all.

Original title: Pruudirööv Genre: drama Language: Estonian Director: Teresa Väli Screenwriter: Teresa Väli Cinematographer: Rasmus Kosseson Production Designer: Kaia Tungal Editor: Andres Hallik Sound: Siim Škepast Main cast: Ilo-Ann Saarepera, Reimo Sagor, Ingmar Jõela, Markus Habakukk Producer: Helen Räim Produced by: Homeless Bob Production To be released: Autumn 2022 15 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Teresa Väli Is an Estonian director and screenwriter. She graduated from Baltic Film and Media School in 2020, having received the Anri Rulkov prize for promising new talent. Her short films Knot and Get Tough received attention at international festivals including Cannes Short Film Corner, RGFF, Cilect, Best of BFM. She’s currently assisting developing and editing screenplays for films & series and working as continuity and script supervisor for features.

Contact Homeless Bob Production Helen Räim +372 5199 6765 helenraim@gmail.com homelessbob.ee

short 2022

Skin of a Mandarin

sensitive story about ingrained traditions and grief follows young woman Anna, who wants to say goodbye to her mother by dressing the body for the funeral. But this act is prohibited by the funeral home rules. The film delicately explores a world in which bureaucracy, differing worldviews and divergent social norms are overcome by the empathy between strangers struggling within a comple situation.

Original title: Puudutus Genre: drama Language: Estonian Director: Jaanika Arum Screenwriter: Jaanika Arum Cinematographer: Ugnius Tuleikis Production Designer: Allan Appelberg Editor: Kaie-Ene Rääk Composer: Hendrik Kaljujärv Sound: Mart Kessel-Otsa Main cast: Martina Georgina, Mari Abel Producer: Tiina Savi Produced by: Kartuliõis To be released: 2022 17min / HD / 16:9 / 5.1

Director Jaanika Arum graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in 2014 as an actress. She has a variety of experiences acting in both film and theatre. In 2017, she was nominated for the best Estonian film actress and in 2014 she received the Colleague award for the best leading role in theatre Vanemuine. Jaanika Arum has created two solo performances and in 2020 she obtained a master’s degree in Contemporary Art from Estonian Academy of Arts. She has collaborated with different international and local artists for video and room installations as well as performances. In 2020, her script for the short film Skin of a Mandarin received the Euro Connection Award at Baltic Pitching Forum. At the moment, Jaanika Arum is developing her feature film script Beyond the Visible Flowers.

Contact Kartuliõis Tiina Savi +372 5399 3411 tiina.savi@gmail.com

short 2022

Drifting Apart

hen Vera goes to the Soviet astronauts’ holiday resort to treat her astronaut husband Alexei, the summer idyll gets shattered by the suspicion about her husband, the suspicion which invades Vera’s soul secretly. Drifting Apart is a story of fragile trust, the breaking of which may be invisible.

Original title: Triivides kaugusse Genre: drama Language: Russian Director: Rebeka Rummel Screenwriters: Rebeka Rummel, Kaur Kokk Cinematographer: Peter Kollanyi Production Designer: Jaanika Jüris Editor: Moonika Põdersalu Sound: Aleksandra Koel Main cast: Yulia Aug, Igor Rogoatchov Producer: Elina Litvinova Produced by: Three Brothers To be released: 2022 20 min / 16mm / DCP / 1.66:1 / 5.1

Director Rebeka Rummel (1995) is a young and aspiring director from Estonia. She graduated Film Directing BA from the Baltic Film and Media School in 2017. Additional to her BA studies Rebeka has studied in several directing workshops, including Cristian Mungiu’s master class in 2018 in Bologna and been part of Venice Days 28 jury. Rebeka’s filmography includes Säde that screened at Camerimage Short Film Section (2017), Julius that premiered at PÖFF Shorts (2020), and Death of the Clerk at UNICA (2018) where it also won the Gold Medal. Rebeka’s other films have been recognized at the Best of BFM program for Best Short Film, Best Actress, Best Sound Design and Best Production Design. Rebeka’s films are an observation of human soul exploring themes like trust, guilt and letting go. Her work is distinguished by a strong philosophical concept, the precision of the camera work and powerful acting.

Contact Three Brothers Elina Litvinova +372 5691 3377 elina@threebrothers.ee

experimental 2022

2022 Epitaph Orchidelirium Dear Passengers After Betelgeuse In the Storm of Roses Kissing Your Tongue Cellula Filia

experimental 2022

Epitaph

lena decides to end her abusive relationship. One morning, she is murdered by her ex-partner outside her home. Her death triggers a journey which blends present and past memories, transforming her violent murder into a tranquil departure from life. Narrated via a visual stream of consciousness, Elena represents the destiny and voice of the many women like her who die from femicide every day.

Original title: Epitaaf Genre: experimental photo-film Language: Italian Director: Silvia Lorenzi Screenwriters: Silvia Lorenzi, Peter Kollanyi Cinematographer: Peter Kollanyi Production Designer: Freda Purik Editor: Jette-Krõõt Keedus Composer: Alessandro Malcangi Sound: Markus Andreas Main cast: Elena Stefanuto, Rene Reinumägi Producer: Olari Oja Produced by: Parrot & Stick To be released: Spring 2022 14 min / 35 mm / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1 Contact Parrot & Stick Olari Oja +372 5866 5583 olari@parrrotandstick.com parrotandstick.com

Director Silvia Lorenzi was born in Italy in 1991. In 2014 graduated in Media from Tallinn University Baltic Film, Media and Arts School. Her approach to film is rather social and experimental.

experimental 2022

Orchidelirium

rchidelirium unveils a complex and dark account of colonial ecological exploitation with present-day repercussions. The overlooked story of the 19th-century botanical artist and world traveller Emilie Saal served as an inspiration for studying the entangled histories of self-determination, colonial experiences, neocolonial structures, botany, science and art. Born in Estonia, then part of the Russian Empire, the artist’s story is one of a colonized subject becoming and passing as a white coloniser on Java island where she lived and worked between 1900 and 1920. The episodes, entitled “Rip-off,” “Shelter” and “Thirst” respectively, explore the manor as an elite place of cultural transfer between upper-class Baltic German women and their servants through the knowledge of and fascination with tropical flowers; the cage as a liminal place of transformation, divided between a perspective from the inside and the objectifying gaze from the outside; the orchid nursery as a site connecting peat excavation industries, the import of tropical orchids and the circulation of capital and natural resources.

Director Kristina Norman is a Tallinn-based artist whose creative practice is pervaded by audiovisual elements, at times combining with scultural objects and urban interventions, materialising as individual video installations and documentary films, or becoming an organic part of stage performances. Her work explores the converging trajectories of identity, memory and public space. In 2009, she represented Estonia at the Venice biennale with After-War, a vast audiovisual and sculptural installation based on the research into the memorial conflict revolving around the Soviet soldier statue removed two years earlier from the center of Tallinn. Her most recent work - documentary performance Lighter Than Woman is about women who overcome the Gravity of life in the metaphorical and the literal sense. It brings together immigrant elderly care workers in Italy, their female Italian employers, and astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, the most emancipated woman of Italy who was able to overcome physical Gravity and spent 199 days on the International Space Station.

Original title: Orchidelirium Genre: experimental Language: no dialogue Director: Kristina Norman Screenwriter: Kristina Norman Cinematographer: Erik Norkroos Production Designer: Kristina Norman Editor: Erik Norkroos, Meelis Muhu Composer: Märt Matis-Lill Sound: Tammo Sumera Main cast: Teresa Silva, Karolin Poska, Piia Haab, Mari Mägi Producer: Erik Norkroos Produced by: Missing Pictures – Rühm Pluss Null Co-produced by: Estonian Center for Contemporary Art To be released: Autumn 2022 Festivals: Biennale Arte 2022, the 59th International art exhibition, Venice. 40 min / DCP / 1.78:1 / 5.1 Contact Rühm Pluss Null Erik Norkroos +372 506 7585 erik.norkroos@gmail.com

experimental 2022 82

Dear Passengers

lonely traveler embarks on a journey to find relief for a hidden yearning. Her restless longing spreads around and forces fellow passengers to face their own desires and disappointments.

Original title: Kallid reisijad Genre: experimental Language: no diaogue Director: Madli Lääne Screenwriter: Madli Lääne Cinematographer: Heiko Sikka, E.S.C. Choreographer: Renate Keerd Production Designer: Freda Purik Editors: Emeri Abel, Kaupo Muuli Composer: Patrick McGinley Sound: Markus Andreas Main cast: Maie Jaanikivi, Karina Želenko, Helen Sootna, Dimitry Darling, Eduard Iganus, Emily Blasen, Jaan Kuusmets, Sandra Lange, Maarja Eliisabet Roosalu Producers: Johanna Maria Paulson, Evelin Penttilä Produced by: Stellar Film To be released: 2022

Director Madli Lääne

11 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

is an Estonian film director, screenwriter and editor. Her last short film Three August Days (2018) premiered at the SXSW festival and has participated in over 75 international film festivals in over 35 countries and won 19 awards. Her short documentary ABC premiered at the Berlinale film festival in 2012. Madli holds a MFA in Film and Media Production from the University of Texas at Austin, USA (2017), where she concentrated on fiction directing. She graduated as film editor from ifs internationale filmschule köln in 2007. Currently Madli is working as an editing lecturer at Tallinn University Baltic Film, Media and Arts School.

Contact Stellar Film Johanna Maria Paulson +372 5332 7860 johanna@stellar.ee stellar.ee

experimental 2022

After Betelgeuse

omething has changed. At an unknown point in time, the surface of the oceans have risen and the world has been partially submerged. A second source of light glows in the sky next to the sun. Here and there appear figures from old archived photos, petrified in time. An abstract sense of loss lingers in the air, for something or somebody immeasurably far away. After Betelgeuse is a film about a feeling of homesickness caused by the unwanted demise of one’s home environment whilst travelling simultaneously between past, present and future. Narrated in the dormant Livonian language, and inspired by a folk song as well as the folkloric storytelling formats of Finnic mythology, the story seeks hope in the perishing time and in memories forgotten. After Betelgeuse is part of the expanded cinema project Time Quartet.

Director Len Murusalu is an Estonian artist, filmmaker and curator. Her interdisciplinary work explores questions around the interpretation of history, memory, identity, and time perception – integral parts forming a sense of belonging – using moving image, video performance, photography, sound, installation and painting. She has a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in Contemporary Art Practice: Moving Image and is a 2020/2021 Oberhausen Seminar Fellow of the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen. In addition to exhibiting her work internationally since 2005, Len has contributed to several documentaries as a screenwriter. In 2018 she established a production company ChronoLens dedicated to artists’ film and moving image, both for gallery and cinema context. Murusalu is the founder of AmiLab, an NGO dedicated to promoting and developing artists’ moving image and expanded cinema.

Original title: Peale Betelgeuset Genre: artists’ film Language: Livonian Director: Len Murusalu Screenwriter: Len Murusalu Cinematographers: Ants Tammik, Tauno Novek, Jaan Kronberg, Egert Kamenik Animation and effects: Martinus Klemet Editor: Len Murusalu Composer: Len Murusalu Sound: Mike Wyeld Producers: Tauno Novek, Len Murusalu Produced by: ChronoLens To be released: 2022 19 min / DCP / 32:9 dual screen / 5.1, Stereo Contact ChronoLens Tauno Novek +372 503 3685 tauno@chronolens.com

experimental 2022

In the Storm of Roses

he nurse looks after the roses; the grandchild teaches Granny TikTok; ancient Romans walk around in the garden to the sounds of a saxophone. Countries, roads and people branch out in branching times. The short film In the Storm of Roses is an attempt to visually reflect our time through a specific person, a retired nurse Helgi Kuusik. We see her in her Haanjamaa farm and in her rose garden, which she established years ago while working in Helsinki hospitals and commuting between Estonia and Finland. The brief scenes in an idyllic rural location, staged in the manner of Victorian era paintings, are linked with more realistic shots about Helgi’s trip to East-Helsinki to visit her daughter’s family. In the Storm of Roses is part of the expanded cinema project Time Quartet.

Director Liina Siib is a visual artist, filmmaker, educator and curator who lives and works in Tallinn, Estonia. She studied printmaking and photography at the Estonian Academy of Arts, where she earned an MA in Photography. In 2002 she was in exchange at the Photographic studies MA at University of Westminster in London. The topic of her works ranges from femininity and social space to different manifestations of people’s everyday practices and daily routines. Siib deals with characters, spaces and situations that tend to go unnoticed due to their ordinariness or are silenced or ignored. She combines field observations with archival sources, historical accounts and various narratives circulating in the society as well as with psychoanalytic approaches and contemporary art and film theories. In her multidisciplinary approach she uses the means of film, video, performance, photography, ready-mades, artist’s books, installation and expanded cinema.

Original title: Rooside rajus Genre: artists’ film Language: Estonian, Võro Director: Liina Siib Screenwriter: Liina Siib Cinematographer: Alis Mäesalu Production Designers: Maiu Rõõmus, Liina Siib Editors: Henri Nõmm, Liina Siib Sound operator: Jevgeni Berezovski Sound Design: Hans-Gunter Lock Main cast: Helgi Kuusik Producers: Len Murusalu, Tauno Novek, Liina Siib Produced by: ChronoLens To be released: 2022 20 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1, Stereo Contact ChronoLens Len Murusalu +372 5197 9287 len@chronolens.com

experimental 2022

Kissing Your Tongue

isses that get lost in translation leave a trace on our skin. Two lovers, separated by their nationalities, confess to each other things that they have never dared to share before, in their own native tongues. Kissing Your Tongue is part of the expanded cinema project Time Quartet.

Original title: Suudle mind oma keelega Genre: artists’ film Languages: Estonian, Võro, Hindi Directors: Anna Hints, Tushar Prakash Screenwriters: Anna Hints, Tushar Prakash Editors: Anna Hints, Tushar Prakash Composer: Spike Snell Sound: Tanel Kadalipp Producers: Len Murusalu, Tauno Novek, Anna Hints, Tushar Prakash Produced by: ChronoLens To be released: 2022 14 min / DCP / 32:9, 16:9 / 5.1, Stereo Contact ChronoLens Len Murusalu +372 5197 9287 len@chronolens.com

Directors Anna Hints and Tushar Prakash have creatively collaborated since 2019. They have written together two short fiction scripts Weight of Light and Sauna Day that will be produced in 2022. Together with Qutaiba Barhamji they have edited Anna‘s feature-length debut documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood currently in post-production and recipient of prestigious Sundance Institute post-production grant. Anna is deeply rooted in the distinct culture of South Estonia, yet for 6 years her second home has been India. Tushar, a graduate of the National Polish Film School in Lodz, is originally from Delhi, but has been living in Estonia since 2020. Kissing Your Tongue is the couple’s first creative collaboration.

experimental 2022

Cellula Filia

conversation through time between a woman and her great grandmother. Piibe Kolka uses PXL2000 toy camera to record pixelated visuals and various messages on audio cassettes in an attempt to establish a time travelling communication. The film probes an epigenetic hypothesis that individual life experiences could influence biological inheritance and gene expressions. The result is a science fictional play between generations, addressing life histories, inherited doubt and the search for possible adventures. Cellula Filia is part of the expanded cinema project Time Quartet.

Original title: Tütarrakk Genre: artists’ film Languages: Estonian, Russian, English Director: Piibe Kolka Screenwriter: Piibe Kolka Cinematographers: Alis Mäesalu, Piibe Kolka, Thomas Kinsman Editors: Piibe Kolka, Hõbe Ilus Sound: Dmitry Natalevich, Piibe Kolka, Hõbe Ilus Producers: Len Murusalu, Tauno Novek, Piibe Kolka Produced by: ChronoLens To be released: 2022 20 min / DCP / 4:3, 640x480 / 5.1, Stereo

Director Piibe Kolka is a filmmaker, filmworker and artist working with video, sound and performance. She is drawn by artists’ moving image as a personal practice with ample room for experimentation and inquiry into the audiovisual, temporal and rhythmic peculiarities of the genre. By alternating between questions of what is happening? and how does it feel? she explores the intensities of presence in films. Currently she delights in the format of Pixelvision video recorded on audio cassettes – a pixelated, fluttering change of pace to the abundance of extremely high-definition playbacks. Kolka has previously worked in New York as a cinematographer and editor of documentaries, narrative features and artists’ films. She studied anthropology at Tallinn University and documentary and experimental film at The New School in New York City.

Contact Piibe Kolka +372 5609 3034 piibe.kolka@gmail.com ChronoLens Len Murusalu +372 5197 9287 len@chronolens.com

2022 Sierra The Old Man and the Snakepig Hooked Up Solstice Turnip Peter the Bug Operation LARP Luna Rossa Eva Dog-apartment ’Til We Meet Again

animations 2021-2022

2021 The Poop and Spring Cufufu Pan Sexual Hit the Nail on the Head A Most Exquisite Man Code Dinner with Turkey Epidemia Troublemaker Tommy To Pet a Hedgehog

animation 2021

The Poop and Spring

he Poop and Spring is a wee story of mighty love. The movie spins a melodramatic tale of longing, friendship, and the birth and death of love. Love dies often. People often die for love and die with their beloved. Yet love is essential for the circle of life to keep turning! A stray dog gives birth to the main character, Poop, on a marvellous spring day. The young Poop befriends a sparrow, who educates him in ways of life. Observing the loving sparrow family’s ventures from his shanty throughout autumn and winter, a desire for a beloved arises in Poop’s chest. Along with spring, Poop discovers a glorious Buttercup growing right next to his shanty. Poop proposes in the same breath and Miss Buttercup is only happy to accept. This seemingly simple story carries many themes, from environment preservation to acceptance of diverse looks and sentiments.

Director René Vilbre has directed different TV shows, commercials, documentaries, short and fiction films. In 2016-2019, he directed the box office hit comedy triology Class Reunion. He is currently working on the feature film Estonian Funeral, based on a popular play by an acclaimed Estonian author and due to premiere in 2021. Selected filmography: Short film Another (for ARTE, Grand Prix at the Cinessone Film Festival, France 2006), more than 10 international festivals; feature film Mat The Cat (Children & Youth Film Prize of the Nordic Film Institutes, 47. Nordische Filmtage Lübeck 2005), more than 15 international festivals; feature film I Was Here, international premiere at Karlovy Vary IFF 2008 (Moscow International Festival of Detective films, Winner in category Crime and Punishment, The Year’s Best Film by The Cultural Endowment of Estonia, more than 15 international festivals all over the world), Kid Detectives & The Secret of the White Lady (2013).

Original title: Kaka ja kevad Language: Estonian Director: René Vilbre Screenwriter: René Vilbre Production Designer: Meelis Arulepp Animator: BOP Animation Composer: Tõnu Raadik Sound: Horret Kuus, Henri Kuus Technique: 2D animation Producer: Kristel Tõldsepp Produced by: A Film Estonia Domestic premiere: June 6, 2021 Festivals: BLON Animation & Games Festival 10 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1 Contact A Film Estonia Kristel Tõldsepp +372 516 0399 kristel@afilm.ee afilm.ee

animation 2021

Cufufu

ernie Krause’s niche theory is that an animal’s voice evolved in a way to occupy its own little, unique acoustic slot within a whole soundscape, a puzzle piece in the whole puzzle, to be distinguishable in the mess. A fisher wonders what sounds fit best in niches created by surrounding sounds.

Original title: Cufufu Language: no dialogue Director: Bruno Quast Screenwriter: Bruno Quast Production Designer: Bruno Quast Animator: Bruno Quast Editor: Bruno Quast Sound: Bruno Quast Technique: 3D animation, 2D animation, photography, hand drawn animation Produced by: Estonian Academy of Arts Domestic premiere: June 12, 2021 7 min / DCP / 16:9 / Stereo Contact Estonian Academy of Arts Lyza Jarvis lyza.jarvis@artun.ee artun.ee/animation

Director Bruno Quast is an animation artist and sound designer leaning to literature, coming from classical piano, electroacoustic music and contemporary art. Own films and films with his sound design toured several international festivals, including Animateka, Ottawa and Zebra poetry film festival. Filmography: Pao Pae (2019), Ma hingan lihtsalt rohkem (2020), Hung Between Land and Water (2021), Cufufu (2021)

animation 2021

Pan Sexual

he movie’s protagonist Pan is an eccentric romantic, eager to share his love. However, his methods of expression are upsettingly crude. Despite dealing with constant rejection, he finally gets lucky in a way he could never have imagined.

Original title: Paanseksuaal Language: no dialogue Director: Cristo Madissoo Screenwriter: Cristo Madissoo Production Designer: Cristo Madissoo Animator: Cristo Madissoo Editor: Cristo Madissoo Composer: Taniel Kuntu Sound: Aleksandr Gurjev Technique: 2D digital Produced by: Estonian Academy of Arts Domestic premiere: June 12, 2021 9 min / DCP / 16:9 / Stereo Contact Estonian Academy of Arts Lyza Jarvis lyza.jarvis@artun.ee artun.ee/animation

Director Cristo Madissoo studied animation in the Estonian Academy of Arts. Before that he had no previous experience in the field. For his bachelors he made two films Pan Sexual and Hit the Nail on its Head.

animation 2021

Hit the Nail on the Head

t’s the end of a long day where domestic routine is interrupted by irritative inconveniences; a reflection of the problems that come with living.

Director Lyza Jarvis is an Estonian-American mixed media artist and animator currently based in Tallinn Estonia and studying at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has also worked as a photographer for STARworks creative enterprise. Filmography: Drunk in Berlin (2021), Hit the Nail on the Head (2021)

Director Kaimar Lomp is an Estonian self-taught artist, who grew up watching Estonia’s golden age drawn and puppet animation produced mainly in Estonia and former Soviet Union countries. Hit the Nail on the Head is his first film produced with Estonian Academy of Arts where he starts his master studies in Autumn 2021.

Director Cristo Madissoo studied animation in the Estonian Academy of Arts. Before that he had no previous experience in the field. For his bachelors he made two films - Pan Sexual and Hit the Nail on its Head.

Director Maria Rakitina has been studying in art school №1 (Moscow, Russia), The VGIK College of Cinema, Television and Multimedia (Moscow, Russia) and School studio Shar (Moscow, Russia). At the moment, she is studying animation at Estonian Academy of Arts (Tallinn, Estonia). Filmography: Not Coming Out to the Sea (2015), Breath (2016), Sueño (2020), Hit the Nail on the Head (2021)

100

Original title: Naelapea pihta Language: no dialogue Directors: Lyza Jarvis, Kaimar Lomp, Cristo Madissoo, Maria Rakitina Screenwriters: Lyza Jarvis, Kaimar Lomp, Cristo Madissoo, Maria Rakitina Cinematographers: Lyza Jarvis, Kaimar Lomp, Cristo Madissoo, Maria Rakitina Production Designers: Lyza Jarvis, Kaimar Lomp, Cristo Madissoo, Maria Rakitina Animators: Lyza Jarvis, Kaimar Lomp, Cristo Madissoo, Maria Rakitina Editors: Lyza Jarvis, Kaimar Lomp, Cristo Madissoo, Maria Rakitina Composers: Andreas Jarvis, Jonas McCanless Sound: Andreas Jarvis Technique: puppet animation Produced by: Estonian Academy of Arts Domestic premiere: June 12, 2021 7 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 / Stereo Contact Estonian Academy of Arts Lyza Jarvis lyza.jarvis@artun.ee artun.ee/animation

animation 2021

A Most Exquisite Man

here exists a most exquisite man, or at least the world that surrounds him, labels and sees him as such. He has fantastic abilities, incomprehensible talent, he could even be called a genius, yet something within him is restless. Big questions utterly absorb him, leading him to a place where all he can do is surrender his life, in order to find that which gives him and the natural world undeniable purpose and everlasting peace.

Original title: Üks imeline mees Languages: Estonian, English Director: Jonas Taul Screenwriter: Jonas Taul Cinematographer: Ragnar Neljandi Animator: Märt Kivi Production Designer: Jonas Taul Editors: Jonas Taul, Ragnar Neljandi Composer: Jakob Juhkam Sound: Ekke Västrik Technique: stop-motion Creative supervisor: Märt Kivi Producer: Kerdi Oengo Produced by: Nukufilm World premiere: July 3, 2021, Stop Motion Our Fest SMOF – Best International Film Festivals: Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival - Best Professional Film, Animist Tallinn, Fredrikstad Animation Festival – Grand Prix 13min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1

Director Jonas Taul was born in Tallinn in 1986, but has lived abroad a major part of his life. He has studied animation in the Estonian Academy of Arts and received a Bachelor’s degree in Audiovisual Art from Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. In 2016, he published his first book, of which he was the writer-illustrator. Today, Jonas is back in Estonia and continues to work in different fields of art. A Most Exquisite Man is his debut animated film.

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Contact Nukufilm Kerdi Oengo +372 615 5322 nukufilm@nukufilm.ee nukufilm.ee

animation 2021

Code

ankind has long debated the meaning of life without knowing that it has long been found in Estonia. This is a Grand Party of Folk Dance.

Director Rao Heidmets was born on September 15, 1956 in Pärnu Estonia. He graduated from the Tallinn University of Technology in 1981, majoring in electrical engineering. He was member of the underground filmmakers group Päratrust during his studies and due to that his career continued at the Tallinnfilm studio with animation films. During his career, he has been working with animation films in his own studio but also as a producer and director of many films, commercials and TV productions, some of them have been awarded with highest prizes in different festivals worldwide. He also teaches animation.

Director Pauline Heidmets has studied in Birmingham City University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Animation and master’s degree in Visual Communication. Troublemaker Tommy is her first animation film.

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Original title: Kood Language: no dialogue Directors: Rao Heidmets, Pauline Heidmets Screenwriters: Rao Heidmets, Valter Uusberg Cinematographer: Urmas Jõemees Production Designer: Rao Heidmets Animator: Marili Sokk Editor: Eva Toome Technique: mixed animation Producer: Rao Heidmets Produced by: Rao Heidmets Filmstudio World premiere: August 2, 2021 Tartuff Festivals: Sedicicorto Forli IFF, ALTER-NATIVE 28 ISFF, Baltiskefilmdager, Animateka 9 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 Contact Rao Heidmets Filmstudio Rao Heidmets +372 502 4906 raoheidmets@hotmail.com

animation 2021

Dinner with Turkey

TV cooking show spiced with love, envy and betrayal. This is a story of two colleagues but most importantly close friends (or lovers?), the chef and the turkey whose relations go through the biggest trial of their lives which changes them forever.

Director Hleb Kuftseryn graduated from Art College named by I. Achremchik (Belarus) with a fine art specialization in 2012. In 2016, finished his bachelor studies in Visual Design and Media in European Humanities University (Lithuania). Hleb has worked on various films for Belarusfilm (Belarus), PetPunk (Lithuania), Soyuzmultfilm (Russia) animation studios as well as with various independent animation film directors, combining it with work on commercial advertising animation and theatrical stage projections. In 2019, Hleb started his master’s in animation in Estonian Academy of Arts. Since 2021, he teaches animation courses at the European Humanities University (Lithuania) and at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Filmography: Running Lights (2017), Vasilisa the Lazy (2018), Shine (2018), The 7 Kids (2019), The Last Tale (Az utolsó mese) (2021)

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Original title: Õhtusöök kalkuniga Language: no dialogue Director: Hleb Kuftseryn Screenwriter: Hleb Kuftseryn Production Designer: Hleb Kuftseryn Animator: Hleb Kuftseryn Editor: Hleb Kuftseryn Composers: Pavel Kirpikau, Karneichuk Aliaksandr Sound: Pavel Kirpikau Technique: 2D digital cutout, 3D computer animation Producer: Mari Kivi Produced by: Estonian Academy of Arts Premiere: August 21, 2021, Animist Tallinn International Animation Festival 7 min / DCP / 2.37:1 / Stereo Contact Estonian Academy of Arts Lyza Jarvis lyza.jarvis@artun.ee artun.ee/animation

animation 2021

Epidemia

amera is following the events that happened after two kids find a box of matches and decide to boil an egg.

Original title: Epidemia Language: no dialogue Director: Kristjan Holm Screenwriter: Kristjan Holm Cinematographer: Kristjan Holm Production Designer: Kristjan Holm Animators: Heta Jäälinoja, Kristjan Holm Editor: Iva Kraljević Composer: Kaspar Jancis Sound: Horret Kuus Technique: drawn animation (digital) Producer: Kristjan Holm Produced by: Karabana Domestic premiere: September 30, 2021 Festivals: Banjaluka IAFF, Piccolo Festival dell’ Animazione, ANIMATEKA – Jury’s Special Mention 10 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1

Director Kristjan Holm was born in 1976 in Tallinn, Estonia. Graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1999 as an interior designer. In time, the understanding that room is limited to four walls, started to trouble him though. An unexpected discovery that a film frame has also four walls, gave him the final impulse to change the subject and dedicate his life to investigating the ties between frames and walls.

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Contact Karabana Kristjan Holm +372 553 5365 holm@karabana.com karabana.com

animation 2021

Troublemaker Tommy

otal urbanisation has entered into the minds of wild animals. It seems that it is unalterable. The zoo is overpopulated with humans and animals. Everyone seems to be pleased. Especially the animals. The forest is a taboo. No one dares to go to there. A couple of kids accidentally end up in the forest. When it turns out no one comes to save them, the kids start to build themselves a machine that will help them to get out.

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Original title: Vigurvänt Volli Language: Estonian Director: Rao Heidmets, Pauliine Heidmets Screenwriter: Rao Heidmets Cinematographer: Ragnar Neljandi Production Designer: Karin Ojaste Animators: Märt Kivi, Triin Sarapik-Kivi, Marili Sokk Editors: Rao Heidmets, Ragnar Neljandi Composer: Sven Grünberg Technique: mixed technique Producer: Kerdi Oengo Produced by: Nukufilm World premiere: November 2021, PÖFF Shorts 12 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Nukufilm Kerdi Oengo +372 516 3833 kerdi@nukufilm.ee nukufilm.ee/en/arhiiv/volli/

animation 2021

To Pet a Hedgehog

oman meets a hedgehog. Hedgehog is the one she has been waiting for. So begins an autumn delirium amidst the solitude of a Soviet microdistrict, where reality merges with dreams and humans discover their animal side.

Original title: Silitada siili Language: no dialogue Director: Ave Taavet Screenwriter: Ave Taavet Cinematographer: Ave Taavet Production Designer: Ave Taavet Animators: Ave Taavet, Liisi Grünberg, Katarina Skott Editors: Ave Taavet Composer: Kaisa Ling Blues Band (Rene Allkivi, Peep Kallas, Argo Toomel) Sound: Sven Sosnitski Technique: drawn animation (digital) Producer: Ave Taavet Produced by: What Everest Studio Domestic premiere: December 17, 2021 12 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1

Director Ave Taavet was born in 1988 and is an animator, cartoonist and filmmaker from Estonia. Her works are characterized by magical realism and warm humour. She is the director of two animated shorts Seniors’ Choice (2015) and Vello (2015), which have both successfully participated in many festivals. She has also directed one documentary film Monument to Grandmother (2019) about the March deportations of 1949.

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Contact What Everest Studio Ave Taavet +372 5627 8338 avetaavet@gmail.com vimeo.com/avetaavet

animation 2022

Sierra

ather and his son are losing the folkrace. In order to win, a boy turns himself into a car tire. Loosely inspired by the director’s childhood, Sierra pulls us into the surreal car racing world.

Director Sander Joon uses animation to create surreal worlds with a dash of humour. His films have previously travelled to festivals such as Annecy, DOK Leipzig, Ottawa, Go Short, Stuttgart, Fredrikstad, Kaboom, Supertoon, Animateka and GLAS. He has attended the Open Workshop artist residency in Viborg twice and is now teaching animation at the Estonian Academy of Arts, where he has received a master’s degree in Animation. Besides films he has animated a music video for Tommy Cash, participated in a popular commercial for Rick and Morty and has been a VJ to numerous events. Sander also worked as a 2D artist for the multi-awarded film The Old Man Movie (2019). His previous short Sounds Good (2018) won awards from Stuttgart, Fredrikstad, SUPERTOON and PÖFF Shorts. Filmography: Velodrool (2015), Moulinet (2017), Sounds Good (2018)

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Original title: Sierra Language: English Director: Sander Joon Screenwriter: Sander Joon Animators: Sander Joon, Henri Veermäe, Valya Paneva, Teresa Baroet Editor: Sander Joon Background artist: Hleb Kuftseryn Composer: Misha Panfilov Sound: Matis Rei Technique: 3D digital, 2D digital Producers: Erik Heinsalu, Aurelia Aasa Produced by: BOP Animation, AAA Creative World Premiere: Clermont-Ferrand International FF, January 2022 16 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 Contact AAA Creative Aurelia Aasa +372 5568 1287 aurelia@aaacreative.ee aaacreative.ee Sales Square Eyes Wouter Jansen wouter@squareeyesfilm.com squareeyesfilm.com

New Europe Film Sales +48 88 216 5221 acquisitions@neweuropefilmsales.com neweuropefilmsales.com

animation 2022

The Old Man and the Snakepig

he secretive SnakePig snatches the Old Man’s beloved piglet! The Old Man now has twenty-four hours to defuse the piglet, before the whole village is blown up by a piglet bomb. Or does he?

Original title: Vanamees ja Põrsauss Language: Estonian Director: Mikk Mägi Screenwriter: Mikk Mägi Cinematographer: Urmas Jõemees Production Designers: Joanna Juhkam, Elisa Geraldine Vesterinen, Ida Lepparu Animator: Henri Veermäe Editor: Mikk Mägi Composer: Sten-Olle Moldau Sound: Sten-Olle Moldau Technique: stop-motion Producers: Erik Heinsalu, Mikk Mägi Produced by: BOP! Animation To be released: Spring 2022 20 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1

Director Mikk Mägi was born on July 5, 1987 in Tallinn. In 2014, he graduated animation at Estonian Academy of Arts. In the year 2011, he founded the animation studio BOP!. He is director and writer of the animated short-film Solstice (2022) and co-writer/co-director of the feature animation The Old Man Movie which was released 2019.

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Contact BOP! Animation Erik Heinsalu +372 5378 3028 bop@bop.ee bop.ee

animation 2022

Hooked Up “The worst thing is not that the world is unfree, but that people have unlearned their liberty”. - Milan Kundera

Original title: Tuljak Language: no dialogue Director: Riho Unt Screenwriter: Riho Unt Cinematographer: Urmas Jõemees Production Designer: Riho Unt Animator: Olga Stalev Editor: Urmas Jõemees Composer: Tiit Kikas Sound: Tiina Andreas Technique: puppet stop-motion Producer: Kadriann Kibus Produced by: Saturn Film To be released: November 2022 8 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1

Director Riho Unt was born in 1956. He graduated from the Estonian State Institute of Arts in 1982 as a Set Designer. Over the years, he has made more than 30 films. He has worked as a director and production designer in Tallinnfilm, in Nukufilm, and as a freelancer. He has taught animation in the Estonian Academy of Arts, in Volda University College, Norway, in Finland and elsewhere. His films have won numerous awards and traveled to major animation festivals. His short animation The Master won the Jury Award at Annecy Film Festival in 2015.

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Contact Saturn Film Kadriann Kibus +372 5558 2582 kadriannk@gmail.com

animation 2022

Solstice

n a rural Estonian community, the local delinquent Türna abandons his pregnant girlfriend. Aapo, who resides in Paide, starts to suspect he might be an ant and not a man. A Beefeater is tormented by his itchy hat. A penguin is left heartbroken after his girlfriend cheats on him with a walrus. The penguin decides to leave his home. Others follow his lead. The paths of all these characters cross, during the Solstice, in Türna’s home village.

Director Sander Joon uses animation to create surreal worlds with a dash of humour. His films have previously travelled to festivals such as Annecy, DOK Leipzig, Ottawa, Go Short, Stuttgart, Fredrikstad, Kaboom, Supertoon, Animateka and GLAS. He has attended the Open Workshop artist residency in Viborg twice and is now teaching animation at the Estonian Academy of Arts, where he has received a master’s degree in Animation. Besides films, he has animated a music video for Tommy Cash, participated in a popular commercial for Rick and Morty and has been a VJ to numerous events. Sander also worked as a 2D artist for the multi-awarded film The Old Man Movie (2019). His previous short Sounds Good (2018) won awards from Stuttgart, Fredrikstad, SUPERTOON and PÖFF Shorts. Filmography: Velodrool (2015), Moulinet (2017), Sounds Good (2018).

Director Mikk Mägi is an Estonian director and animator. He studied at the Estonian Academy of Arts and graduated in 2015. He is a co-founder and co-owner of the animation studio BOP! and GIF Visuals. He is the co-creator and co-director of the animation series Old Man Cartoon (2011-present) and The Old Man Movie (2019).

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Original title: Pööriöö Language: Estonian Directors: Mikk Mägi, Sander Joon Screenwriter: Mikk Mägi Production Designers: Sander Joon, Liisi Grünberg Animators: Sander Joon, Liisi Grünberg, Jelizaveta Mušnikova, Leore Lisann Klõsheiko, Eva Liisa Sepp, Katarina Skott Editor: Sander Joon Composer: Rasmus Lill Sound: Horret Kuus Technique: drawn animation Producer: Mikk Mägi Produced by: BOP Animation To be released: Autumn 2022 19 min / 2K / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact BOP Animation Mikk Mägi +372 5807 0150 bop@bop.ee bop.ee

animation 2022

Peter the Bug

his is a bittersweet story about a small Bug called Peter, who has a dream to perform in front of the big crowd at the Zoo. He leaves home to make his dream come true. Unfortunately, he is not noticed by the people due to his small size… All is well that ends well - back at home he finds his audience of his own size.

Original title: Sitikas Peeter Language: Estonian Director: Meelis Arulepp Screenwriter: Meelis Arulepp Production Designer: Meelis Arulepp Animator: Meelis Arulepp Editor: Meelis Arulepp Composer: Tõnu Raadik Sound: Horret Kuus, Henri Kuus Technique: 2D animation Producer: Kristel Tõldsepp Produced by: A Film Estonia Ltd. To be released: December 2022 9 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1

Director Meelis Arulepp has worked as an animator in various animation studios since 1987, he started working in A.Film Denmark in 1990 and in 1994 he co-founded the studio in Tallinn – A Film Estonia. Meelis has worked as the creative head of the studio since then. Meelis’ filmography includes over 30 feature films, where he has been directing animator, designer, storyboarder or supervisor. Meelis has co-directed feature film Raggie (2020), co-directed 8 short films and over 300 commercials. He is also well-known book illustrator and caricaturist. Selected filmography: All Dogs go to Heaven 2, The Quest for Camelot, Help! I´m a Fish, Asterix and the Vikings, Titeuf – the Movie, Smurfs – the Legend of Smurfy Hollow, Raggie

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Contact A Film Estonia Kristel Tõldsepp +372 516 0399 kristel@afilm.ee afilm.ee

animation 2022

Operation LARP

dark comedy about a woodsman’s mistress hiding from a murderous huntress among LARPers who are none the wiser. The military loses a dangerous missile into a forest and go searching for it before anyone gets hurt. On the outskirts of the same forest, a domestic drama is unfolding as a local huntress catches Vicky having an affair with the woodsman. Now on the run, Vicky has to blend into a camp full of unknowing LARPers lest she fall victim to the revengeful huntress. To make things worse, the LARPers make an unfortunate mix-up with the military that could blow things way out of proportion.

Original title: Operatsioon LARP Language: no dialogue Director: Mattias Mälk Screenwriter: Mattias Mälk Production Designer: Mattias Mälk Animators: Tarmo Vaarmets, Mattias Mälk Editor: Mattias Mälk Composer: Liina Sumera Sound: Horret Kuus Technique: traditional animation Producer: Kalev Tamm Produced by: Eesti Joonisfilm To be released: 2022 8 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1

Director Mattias Mälk made his directing debut at Eesti Joonisfilm with the film noir and monster movie mashup Northern Starfish (2014), followed by the similarly tongue-in-cheek psychological horror film Strawberry Eaters (2018) which yet again, in its own way, pitted unwitting protagonists against a swarm of avenging creatures. With Operation LARP, he continues in this line of tragicomedy as a woodsman’s mistress has to hide from a vengeful huntress among clueless LARPers who make a dangerous mix-up with the military.

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Contact Eesti Joonisfilm Kalev Tamm +372 677 4228 info@joonisfilm.ee joonisfilm.ee facebook.com/Joonisfilm

animation 2022

Turnip

he film’s story is based on the Russian fairy tale, which tells the story by the peasants point of view. The film shows story, variously of fairy tale, from undergroung angle - giving overview what really happened while onground was engaged in the cultivation of vegetables. Also about property, collaboration and betrayal.

Director Piret Sigus is an Estonian independent animation artist and director. Graduated Academia Grata department of Estonian Academy of Arts in 2004. She has been working in Nukufilm studio. She is a founder and owner of animation studio Animailm. Author of animated music videos for punk band Kurjam. Selected filmography: Tiit ja Selma (2000) - Theodor Luts Film days Grand Prix, Naljakas härjamüümine (2004) - Theodor Luts Film Days Best Animation, PÖFF Spectators Prize, co-author of Animailm projects: One By One! (2011), The Pipe Piper (2014), Wedding Game (2015), Leelo and Wolf (2015), The Turnip (2022)

Director Silja Saarepuu is an artist and filmmaker. Graduated Estonian Academy of Arts in 2004. Has been teaching drawing and welding in Estonian Academy of Arts, has been curating and designing exhibitions. Freelance artist - working on field of interdisciplinary arts creating and using stories of little people living on Earth and rolling stones on fields of different realities. Filmography: co-artist Wedding Game (2015), artist Leelo and Wolf (2015) , co-author of animation The Turnip (2022)

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Original title: Naeris Language: no dialogue Directors: Piret Sigus, Silja Saarepuu Screenwriters: Piret Sigus, Silja Saarepuu Cinematographers: Piret Sigus, Silja Saarepuu Production Designers: Piret Sigus, Silja Saarepuu Animator: Marili Sokk Editors: Piret Sigus, Silja Saarepuu, Ragnar Neljandi Composer: Ramo Teder / Pastacas Sound: Tiina Andreas Technique: cut-out animation Producer: Piret Sigus Produced by: Animailm To be released: 2022 8 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1 Contact Animailm Piret Sigus +372 5563 2265 animailm.film@gmail.com animailm.ee

animation 2022

Luna Rossa

una Rossa is exciting, funny, absurd and tragic. On some level, it can be said to be a film about love. A love, which blinds, because the focus becomes narrow.There is a need to prove yourself, to do something not everyone can do. And to actually go through with it. A film about the world we live in. A world where a trace remains from every action. Someone is keeping an eye on us all the time, someone is tracing our footsteps. The watcher has taken this right, because it is for our own good. To prevent the worst. It’s probably right. But often, and as in our film, they are one step behind, examining events which have already taken place. The explosion has already taken place. In addition to security cameras, the film has a security zone and security guards - security women. The surveyors must avoid the worst. But what is the worst?

Director Priit Pärn has worked as an art director and director at the animated film m since. Has been active as a caricaturist and illustrator since the end of the 1960’s. As a freelancer graphic artist, he has had over 30 solo exhibitions in various European countries. Pärn has made 19 animated films (included animated feature) as director, scriptwriter and art director. He received more than 80 awards from world top festivals. Pärn has received eight lifetime achievement awards.

Director Olga Pärn graduated from the graphic arts department at the Belorussian Academy of Art in 2000. Worked as an art director and animator in the animation department at Belarusfilm Studio in 1996–2003. Completed a course in film directing at the La Poudriere animation school in France from 2003 to 2005. Lives and works in Estonia since 2006. She has made 6 animated films together with Priit Pärn as co-director and co-art director at Eesti Joonisfilm Studio.

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Original title: Luna Rossa Language: no dialogue Directors: Priit Pärn, Olga Pärn Screenwriter: Priit Pärn Production Designers: Priit Pärn, Olga Pärn Animators: Priit Pärn, Tarmo Vaarmets, Aili Allas Editors: Priit Pärn, Olga Pärn Composer: Vincenzo de Crescenzo Sound: Olivier Calvert Technique: MoCap, 3D and 2D drawing animation Producers: Kalev Tamm, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron Produced by: Eesti Joonisfilm (EE), Miyu Productions (FR) To be released: 2022 18 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1 Contact Eesti Joonisfilm Kalev Tamm +372 677 4228 info@joonisfilm.ee joonisfilm.ee facebook.com/Joonisfilm

animation 2022

Eva

t’s the funeral of Eva’s husband. Eva stays calm and composed… After - at the wake – a completely different story...

Director Morten Tšinakov Born in 1992 in Viljandi. He studied animation at the Estonian Academy of Arts and has made two films in Eesti Joonisfilm after the studies. Both of them have been shown at many festivals around the world and won several awards. Eva is his third professional film.

Director Lucija Mrzljak Born in 1990 in Zagreb, Lucija is an illustrator and director of animated films. She studied at art academies in Zagreb, Krakow, Prague and Tallinn. Her films have been screened and awarded at numerous film festivals around the world. She has also illustrated several books, directed and animated a music video and is working as a freelance artist and guest teacher at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

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Original title: Eeva Language: no dialogue Directors: Morten Tšinakov, Lucija Mrzljak Screenwriter: Morten Tšinakov Production Designers: Morten Tšinakov, Lucija Mrzljak Animators: Egert Kesa, Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov, Tarmo Vaarmets, Goran Stojnić, Noemi Ribić Editors: Morten Tšinakov, Lucija Mrzljak Composer: Morten Tšinakov Sound: Morski Trp studio Technique: traditional animation Producers: Kalev Tamm, Draško Ivezić Produced by: Eesti Joonisfilm, Adriatic Animation To be released: 2022 16 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1 Contact Eesti Joonisfilm Kalev Tamm +372 677 4228 info@joonisfilm.ee joonisfilm.ee facebook.com/Joonisfilm

animation 2022

Dog-apartment

oud barking wakes Cynosephaly – the whole flat is trembling. His flat is hungry and demands food. Another regular day of Cynosephaly’s life is just about to begin. He takes his case and drives to the local barn, meeting all kinds of surreal creatures on its way. Coming home he finds the flat quite hungry and mad, barking at him and on the Catmoon shining in the sky. Finally, he pours the frankfurters into the sink, the flat gulps them with pleasure. All is well – flat is full and quiet. Cynosephaly opens the window, has the last cigaret of the day, pours himself a glass of brandy and relaxes.

Original title: Koerkoerter Language: Estonian Director: Priit Tender Screenwriter: Priit Tender (based on Andres Ehin’s poem) Cinematographer: Ragnar Neljandi Production Designer: Priit Tender Animator: Märt Kivi Editors: Priit Tender, Ragnar Neljandi Technique: stop-motion Producer: Kerdi Oengo Produced by: Nukufilm To be released: 2022 14 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Priit Tender was born in 1971 in Tallinn, Estonia. He is an Estonian animator – the director, designer and writer of many animated short films. His first job was as one of the artists for Priit Pärn and Janno Põldma’s film 1895 (1995). His debut as director came in 1996 with the film Gravitation. He has made several films after that both in drawn and puppet animation techniques and his author films are driven by surreal imagery, black humor and dark existential journeys. Priit’s films have won prizes and nominations from the most important short and animation film festivals, including Annecy, Ottawa, Hiroshima, Dresden, Fredrikstad, Utrecht.

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Contact Nukufilm Kerdi Oengo +372 516 3833 kerdi@nukufilm.ee nukufilm.ee

animation 2022

’Til We Meet Again

his is a story about an elderly woman whose destiny has taken her far away from her home island. She is finally able to return, only to find out that strangers have been living in her house. Animation short ’Til We Meet Again talks about the tragic history of a small Ruhnu Island. Fearing for their lives, its entire population abandoned their homes while escaping the war in 1944. Decades later they had a chance to finally return, only to find out that the strangers had settled in. In addition to the twists and turns of the history, ’Til We Meet Again looks deeper into the meaning of home - is it merely a location or a place that gives one a peace of mind.

Original title: Taaskohtumine Language: Estonian Director: Ülo Pikkov Screenwriter: Ülo Pikkov Cinematographer: Raivo Möllits Production Designer: Anu-Laura Tuttelberg Animators: Triin Sarapik-Kivi, Marili Sokk Editors: Ülo Pikkov, Raivo Möllits Composer: Karoliina Kreintaal Technique: cut-out & sand animation Producer: Kerdi Oengo Produced by: Nukufilm To be released: 2022 12 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Ülo Pikkov was born in 1976 and is an internationally renowned filmmaker, producer and film scholar. Pikkov studied animation at the Turku Arts Academy in Finland and since 1996, has directed several award-winning animation films (Empty Space, Tik-Tak, Body Memory, Dialogos). He has published articles on film and written fiction books for children and adults. Pikkov is the author of Animasophy, Theoretical Writings on the Animated Film (2010). In 2018, Pikkov got doctoral degree at the Estonian Academy of Arts with his thesis on „Anti-Animation: Textures of Eastern European Animated Film“.

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Contact Nukufilm Kerdi Oengo +372 516 3833 kerdi@nukufilm.ee nukufilm.ee/en/arhiiv/til-we-meet-again

2022 Two Hours to Happiness Hippodrome Machina Faust One Man’s Pain Skype Story Smoke Sauna Sisterhood Tukdam Yoyogi Raise Me a Memory Nowtime Good Luck, Mr. President! The Cartoonist

documentaries 2021-2022

2021 Tales of a Toy Horse Life of Ivanna Women on the Frontline The Gardener of Tension Fields Tell Me The Diary of Vaino Vahing u.Q.

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documentary 2021

Tales of a Toy Horse

natoli is a man who lives in Tallinn’s medieval old town as if outside of our time. He makes books using ancient monastic technologies, loves carpentry and especially to craft wooden toys. He belongs to the Benedictine Order, and his daily life is governed by the rules which emphasizes living a simple life of work, love, prayer, and self-denial. In addition to his monastic vows, he adopted a vow of his own - to find something good in every day. When the war breaks out in Ukraine, Anatoli’s idyllic life is hit by a sudden unrest: as an ethnic Ukrainian, he feels he has to do something to help the people in need there. Anatoli organizes humanitarian aid to war-torn areas and while traveling repeatedly to the war zone, he is collecting stories heard as an immediate chronicler. Keeping his old vow, he looks for good stories in the conditions of the war. In this he is helped by a small wooden toy-horse, who becomes the protagonist in real-life fairy tales, derived from the war.

Director Ulyana Osovska debuted as a director in 2015 with the short documentary Election Agent, which became a part of annual almanach Ukrainian voices 2. Her full-length documentary debut Almost 10,000 Voters held a World Premiere at the 33rd Warsaw Film Festival (2017) and Ukrainian Premiere at DOCUDAYS UA (2018). It also received Best National Feature-length Film Award at Rivne IFF. Currently Ulyana works on topics connected to civic activism, human rights and cultural exchange without borders.

Director Denis Strashny graduated from Kyiv International University (speciality TV and cinema DOP) and since 2009 he has been working as an independent filmmaker. In 2014 Denis co-founded the company Docutoloka, which brings together documentary artists and social activists. Docutoloka’s documentary shorts program and photo exhibitions participated in numerous Ukrainian and international events. Currently Denis works as director and producer on his own projects and also continues to work as DOP.

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Original title: Казка про Коника / Sõda ja puuhobune Theme: human rights, nature, art Language: Ukrainian, Estonian, Russian, English Directors: Ulyana Osovska, Denis Strashnyi Screenwriters: Ulyana Osovska, Denis Strashnyi Cinematographer: Denis Strashnyi Editor: Mirjam Jegorov Composer: Anton Dehtiarov Sound: Vasyl Yavtushenko Producer: Ulyana Osovska Co-producer: Ülo Pikkov Produced by: Docutoloka (UA), Silmviburlane (EE) Released: February 2021 Festivals: DocPoint Tallinn, February 2021 70 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 Contact Silmviburlane Ülo Pikkov +372 5648 4693 ylo@silmviburlane.ee silmviburlane.ee

documentary 2021

Life of Ivanna

vanna, a 26-year-old mother of five children, is living in the Arctic region in northwest Siberia. She lives a traditional nomadic life, driving her herd of reindeer at the tundra as her family did for centuries. Due to the environmental side effects of climate change most of her reindeers are dying and she knows that she will soon be ruined and forced to make a dramatic decision. Her husband, Gena, has already left the family. Ivanna is willing to give her marriage a last chance. She will give up her traditional life, leave the tundra, move to the city. But time has changed, Gena became violent and alcoholic and Ivanna realizes that the civilized city life is not what she expected. But there is no way back, Ivanna will have to take life into her own hands and secure a future for her and her five children. The film follows Ivanna and her family closely for four years through her dramatic life-changes, from the harsh life at the tundra to the modern life in the Siberian city of Norilsk.

Director Renato Borrayo Serrano was born in Guatemala in 1992. He graduated from documentary directing at the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). He has directed several films that were shown at many international film festivals. His latest film Film for Carlos received Honorary Jury mention at DokLeipzig 2017 and the prize for Best Short Film at Docudays UA 2018.

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Original title: Жизнь Иванны / Ivanna elu Theme: social issues, environment, family Languages: Russian, Nenets Director: Renato Borrayo Serrano Screenwriters: Renato Borrayo Serrano, Darya Sidorova Cinematographers: Renato Borrayo Serrano, Darya Sidorova Editors: Renato Borrayo Serrano, Inge-Lise Langfeldt Composer: Timo Steiner Sound: Israel Bañuelos Producer: Vladislav Ketkovich Co-producers: Marianna Kaat, Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Pertti Veijalainen Produced by: Ethnofund Film Company (RU), Baltic Film Production (EE), Ten Thousand Images (NO), Illume (FI) World premiere: co-presented by CPH:DOX 2021 & Hot Docs, May 2021 Festivals: GoEast (DE), Krakow IFF (PL), DOK.fest München (DE), Human Vision (AT), Docaviv, (IL), Shanghai international film festival (CN), Luebeck 63rd Nordic Film

Days (DE), DOCNYC, (US), Tromsø International Film Festival (N) Awards: Mdoc (ES) – Don Quijote Award for the best international feature-length film; Zurich FF (CH) – Gran Prix Golden Eye for Best Documentary Film; El Gouna IFF (EG) – Gran Prix Golden Star Award for best film in the documentary competition; Message to Men (RU) – Prize from the Union of cinema clubs from the Russian Federation for best film; Nordic/Docs Dokumentarfilmfestivalen Fredrikstad (NO) – Best documentary over 60 minutes competition Jury´s Honorable mention; Festival international du film d’éducation à Évreux -– Grand Prix du Long métrage documentaire 80 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Baltic Film Production Marianna Kaat +372 502 7509 info@bfp.ee / bfp.ee Sales CAT&Docs / info@catndocs.com

documentary 2021

Women on the Frontline

ksana, Anna, Tatjana and Marina are at war, each with their own motive and destiny. They are women whose lives, among many others, were changed by the civil unrest that began in 2014 on Maidan Square in Kiev. The film follows their battles through several years and seasons and covers both everyday activities as well as perilous situations under gunfire. What motivates women to go to war? What do they believe in and hope for? What is the price they pay for withstanding life on the frontline? Women on the Frontline is a documentary about the war that broke out in Eastern Ukraine in the spring of 2014 through the eyes of women. The film contains both heartache and hatred, breakdown of love, wrong decisions, but also hope for a new life, even in the face of death.

Original title: Naised rindejoonel Theme: current affairs, women, war Languages: Russian, Ukrainian Director: Ivar Heinmaa Screenwriters: Kati Laukkanen, Ivar Heinmaa Cinematographer: Ivar Heinmaa Editor: Andres Lepasar Composer: Timo Steiner Sound: Ivar Heinmaa, Kati Laukkanen Producers: Margit Vremmert, Ivar Heinmaa Co-producers: Ari Lehikoinen, Marko Lönnqvist Produced by: Einmann Video (EE), YLE (FI) Domestic premiere: May 29, 2021 55 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / 5.1

Director Ivar Heinmaa is a well-known independent Estonian cameraman. He has directed an award-winning documentary Wounds of Afghanistan about the Estonian soldiers who fought in Afghanistan as part of the Soviet troops and The Samurai of Chernobyl, a film about the men, who cleaned up the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in 1986. Various European TV-companies have broadcasted documentaries that Ivar Heinmaa has filmed (e.g. Stalin’s Grandsons, Putinomania, Cuba – sonata Melancólica, I Do Not Dream in English). Heinmaa’s films as a cinematographer or director have screened in television and many film festival programmes. He has also worked as a war correspondent and front-line cameraman in 107 countries during different crises and war situations.

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Contact Einmann Video Margit Vrermmert +372 514 8738 margitfr@gmail.com YLE Maria Kivinen Sales Manager at YLE +358 40 544 2404 maria.kivinen@yle.fi

documentary 2021

The Gardener of Tension Fields

he main character of the film is the mysterious well known Estonian writer Mehis Heinsaar, a creator who likes to travel in his inner psychogeography. The writer is surrounded by unusual and meaningful nature, he can speak the language of animals and birds and see the invisible to the naked eye. The writer strives for wide meadows through a wild thicket, and those multi-day hikes he calls the pilgrimages of a poor man. The wanderer has seven encounters along the way, which will open to the viewer the magical inner world of Poet.

Director Joosep Matjus was born in 1984 in Estonia. He received a BA and MA in Film Arts from the Baltic Film and Media School in 2009 and is known as a director, cinematographerand screenwriter. He has dedicated himself to wildlife filmmaking. His filmography as a director: The Wind Sculpted Land (2018); The Gull Theorem (2014); Old Man and the Moose (2009). He has done cinematographer work for the several international wildlife film production companies and he has been filming wildlife in America (Yosemite, Yellowstone), Canada (Arctic), Russia (Siberia).

Director Katri Rannastu was born in 1981 in Estonia. She received a BA in Film Arts from the Baltic Film and Media School in 2007 and studied History of Art at University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She is a film director, editor and producer. She runs film production company Wildkino that focuses on creative nature documentaries. And she gives lectures at the Higher School of Art in Pallas. Recent filmography: Beauty of Being (2020), The Wind Sculpted Land (2018)

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Original title: Pingeväljade aednik Theme: portrait, nature Language: Estonian Directors: Joosep Matjus, Katri Rannastu Screenwriters: Joosep Matjus, Katri Rannastu Cinematographer: Joosep Matjus Editor: Katri Rannastu Composer: Mati Uprus Sound: Joosep Matjus Producer: Katri Rannastu Produced by: Wildkino Domestic premiere: September 30, 2021 60 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 Contact Wildkino Joosep Matjus +372 521 6949 wildkinoest@gmail.com wildkino.ee

documentary 2021

Tell Me

n the first days of worldwide lockdowns, filmmakers from 15 countries set up phone lines for people to leave anonymous messages from their confinement. Starting from the very beginning when the Chinese had not yet determined the origin of the virus, to the Brazilians demanding quarantine from their leaders months later; Tell Me combines hundreds of voices from around the world, into a poetic documentary. It is a whirlwind of emotions crossing all boundaries of culture and nationality by fresh directors from around the world. A true experiment of cinema, Tell Me serves the viewer a portrait of humanity in isolation by creating a space after the tone, a void where people could leave anything they wished to be free of, crystalizing a moment in time the whole world experienced together.

Director Marta Pulk was the leading director and author of the idea. She was born in 1988 in the midst of the Estonian Singing Revolution and the fall of the Soviet Union. Her films feature a strong visual handwriting and relentless interest towards the human spirit and what makes us fight. Her films often spotlight a sharp societal theme and combine together the robust and the poetic. Working in both documentary and fiction, Marta’s films have travelled the festival circuit, with her latest A Year Full of Drama selected for Sydney International Film Festival, Docs Against Gravity, BAFICI and many others. In Tell Me, she works as a lead director, connecting all co-directors’ work into one poetic narrative. The network of co-directors met during a Werner Herzog workshop in 2018, and hail from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Peru, Turkey, UK, and USA.

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Original title: Räägi ära Theme: social issues, mental health, pandemic Languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Albanian, Estonian, Mandarin, German Director: Marta Pulk Co-directors: Rodrigo Baptista, Agustín Barrutia, Sebastián López Borda, Rupert Clague, João Carlos Couto, Tom Hamburger, Quentin Lazzarotto, César Málaga, Tanya Marar, Ashley Mosher, Sonja Ortiz, Brett Pedersen, Fermín Pedros, Pablo Radice, Norika Sefa, Gerónimo Tanoira, Natalia Trzcina, Lucía Valdemoros, Shen Wei, Kevin Zayat Cinematographers: Aivo Rannik, Agustin Barrutia et al. Editor: Jaak Ollino Composer: Chihei Hatakeyama Sound: Gabriel Solis Producers: Karolina Veetamm, Tanya Marar Co-producer: Marta Pulk Produced by: Kafka Films (EE), Ettevaatlik Sten (EE), SomeNobody productions (JO) World premiere: Ji.hlava IDFF, October 2021 Festivals: Tallinn Black Nights FF, DocPoint Helsinki 2022 75 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 Contact Karolina Veetamm +372 5196 8064 karolina@kafkafilms.ee www.kafkafilms.ee

documentary 2021

The Diary of Vaino Vahing

n 1968–1984, Vaino Vahing kept a diary about real events and persons in his own subjective interpretation. It reflects the cultural life of Tartu, love affairs, bohemian parties and intellectual quests of the time. Vahing was interested in borderline situations, crossing the borders. He drew no clear line between art and life. Vahing provoked people, tried to make them to lose their masks, their self-control. He called this provoking the Spiel, or play. We are looking at a creator who has made disharmony his source of inspiration, who experiences “the greatest torment in love”. One who fears to lose himself in love. A human perceiving the great power of love and responding subconsciously with disharmony. The red line in the diary of Vahing is sacrificing life for art. The life where everyday burns to ashes and nothing but pure art remains. Is this possible at all or do we still have to try to love first? To err is human, as well as to suffer from the consequences. But does a person suffer just because erring, or is suffering an inevitable part of a human being? A part, deeper reasons of which remain a secret? The film does not try to judge Vahing but cast some light into these black holes on the verge of which he performed his balancing act that makes him human and his creations ever enchanting.

Director Rainer Sarnet (b. 1969) is a film and stage director, film critic, and creator of photo comics for newspapers. He has made several shorts and in 2007, he debuted in features with Where Souls Go, The Idiot, inspired by the Dostoyevsky novel, came four years later. The film had its world premiere at the Busan IFF and subsequently toured the festival circuit (Best Cinematography at PÖFF). His fourth full-length feature, November, based on the best-selling novel by Andrus Kivirähk, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the best cinematography award. The Diary of Vaino Vahing is Sarnet’s second full-length documentary.

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Original title: Vaino Vahingu päevaraamat Theme: spiel-documentary Language: Estonian Director: Rainer Sarnet Screenwriter: Rainer Sarnet Cinematographer: Erik Põllumaa E.S.C. Editors: Martin Männik, Marianne Kõrver Sound: Harmo Kallaste Producer: Marianne Kõrver Produced by: Klaasmeri World premiere: Tallinn Black Nights FF, November 2021 79 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Klaasmeri Marianne Kõrver +372 5691 1149 klaasmeri@gmail.com Sales Must Käsi Johannes Lõhmus johannes@kinosoprus.ee kinosoprus.ee/en/distribution

documentary 2021

u.Q.

o understand the international phenomenon of Uku Kuut means to understand the ability of different musical niches, sub-genres and hidden creative explosions to not only exist, but flourish, completely independently of the mainstream. Kuut’s life, mothered by Maryn E. Coote (who you may know as the Estonian Jazz diva Marju Kuut), took him from the Soviet Union to refuge in Sweden, music studios in Los Angeles, back to a re-independent Estonia and later, fighting ALS, to speakers all around the world. A Greek comedy captured on 8mm, VHS and BETA tape.

Original title: u.Q. Theme: music, experimental, portait Languages: Estonian, English Director: Ivar Murd Screenwriter: Ivar Murd Editor: Ivar Murd Composers: Uku Kuut & Maryn E. Coote Sound: Markku Tiidumaa Producer: Margus Õunapuu Produced by: Film Tower World premiere: Tallinn Black Nights FF, November 2021 83 min / DCP /16:9 /Dolby 5.1 Contact Film Tower Margus Õunapuu +372 565 1654 margus@filmtower.ee

Director Ivar Murd was born September 13, 1990 in Kohtla-Järve – a shale oil mining town in East Estonia. He has lived in Finland, Denmark and the United States. Graduated magna cum laude in 2013 from Fairleigh Dickinson University (Madison, NJ, USA), Department of Audiovisual Arts, majoring in Directing with a minor in Studio Arts. Directs and produces documentaries and music videos. He is one of the organizers of Mägede Hääl music festival. CEO of Kino Sõprus since 2020.

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documentary 2022

Two Hours to Happiness

ore than 70,000 Estonians live and work in Finland, at the same time as their families, parents, children and homes are in Estonia. Moonika Siimets’s new documentary film Two Hours to Happiness talks about adjusting to new conditions, sticking to and loosing ones roots, the yearning for and the search for happiness. The film is a humorously wistful documentation of families living in the snowy fields of Lapland, apartments in Vantaa, on the staircases of shopping malls, at construction sites, hotel lobbies, and of grandchildren in the living rooms of Estonian grandmothers who are waiting for their children to come home.

Original title: Kaks tundi õnneni Theme: social issues, immigration Language: Estonian Director: Moonika Siimets Screenwriter: Moonika Siimets Cinematographer: Rein Kotov E.S.C. Editor: Andreas Lenk Composer: Ann Reimann Sound: Horret Kuus Producer: Riina Sildos Produced by: Amrion Production Premiere: January 2022 Festivals: Docpoint Tallinn, Docpoint Helsinki 80 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Moonika Siimets is a talented Estonian female director and scriptwriter. She graduated from the Baltic Film and Media School of Tallinn University and attended Judith Weston’s scriptwriting and directing master classes in Los Angeles. She has directed award-winning documentaries, TV series, and short films, including Is It You?, which screened at Stockholm Film Festival (2013), The Last Romeo (2013), and Pink Cardigan (2014). Her documentary credits include Report: Green Estonia (2007), Another Dimension (2012), Trendy Dog (2010), and World Champion (2009). In 2018 she was one of six women to direct a short clip for the documentary film Roots. Her first feature film The Little Comrade (2018) premiered in Busan IFF and received the BNK Busan Bank Award (Audience Award).

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Contact Amrion Production Riina Sildos +372 504 8985 riina.sildos@amrion.ee www.amrion.ee

documentary 2022

Hippodrome

ocated in the heart of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, the Hippodrome used to be the centre of entertainment for all its neighbouring countries. For nearly 100 years, it has lured visitors with bets and races, and the chance to try their luck with the totalisator. All that remains today of this majestic racecourse is a lonely horse stable. Now it is more of a social club than a prestigious racetrack. Animal lovers and sports fans still meet here despite the poor conditions. Bizarre parties and engagement photo sessions are held at the Hippodrome, and this is where the best Swedish racehorses are still trained. This hypnotic black and white film is an ode to a disappearing era and a unique subculture in a place soon to be demolished to make way for yet another brand new office building complex in the city’s never-ending triumphal march of business-oriented real estate development.

Original title: Hipodroom Theme: history, animals, sports Languages: Estonian, Russian Director: Vladimir Loginov Screenwriter: Vladimir Loginov Cinematographer: Maxim Golomidov Sound: Dmitry Natalevich Editor: Mirjam Jegorov Producers: Pille Rünk, Elina Litvinova Produced by: Allfilm To be released: Spring 2022 89 min / DCP / 1:2.35 / 5.1

Director Vladimir Loginov graduated from International School of Social Sciences LEX in 1998 and advanced his studies on TV-production, news and advertising design on a stint at BBC in London and Moscow. His first documentary Silence premiered in 2006 and his latest Prazdnik in 2020. In 2015, Vladimir directed Anthill that was presented in Visions du Réel festival in Nyon, Switzerland and had a very successful international festival circuit: Jihlava IFF, Docpoint Helsinki, GoEast Germany, Zerkalo, Stalker and ArtDocFest in Russia, Green Film in Korea etc. Vladimir`s style can be described as observational, defined by author`s artistic freedom and influence.

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Contact Allfilm Pille Rünk +372 508 2999 pille@allfilm.ee www.allfilm.ee

documentary 2022

Machina Faust

achina Faust is a documentary about internationally renowned Estonian musician, saxophone player and improvisational jazz composer Maria Faust. Maria’s career started at the Kuressare Music School where she quickly realized that she wants to be an artist. She landed at the Royal Danish Academy of Music because she’s always wanted to have her music played but was forced to play only old, famous composers in Estonia. The musician’s journey in the film culminates with her piece Mary’s Mass with the film observing the rehearsals and preparations for the premiere. The creative source of Maria Faust’s work is strongly tied to the motives of her own life. All of this raises women’s issues and breaking through in a male-dominated world in her work. Maria’s husband, Ned Ferm, is an important person in her life. He is from a small island called Mount Desert in America. Ned’s childhood starkly contrasted Maria’s. Film is very much focused on relationship between Maria and Ned. Ned also plays in many of Maria’s bands. Maria is someone who has achieved the feminist ideal in a way – she’s able to pursue her creative goals and is financially independent. She’s also the dominating force in her relationship, but Maria is still instinctively looking for her more fragile and vulnerable side.

Director Kaupo Kruusiauk Film director and screenwriter Kaupo Kruusiauk has graduated Baltic Film and Media School as a film director and he has stage director diploma from Estonian Theatre and Music Academy. He has also studied film directing a semester in FAMU in Prague. Filmography: Champion (short, 2005), Player (doc, 2008), Souls Night (short, 2009), Last Pronce (doc, 2018), Hunter (short doc, 2020), Grass (short doc, 2021), Sandra Gets a Job (feature, 2021)

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Original title: Machina Faust Theme: portait, drama, music Language: Estonian Director: Kaupo Kruusiauk Screenwriter: Kaupo Kruusiauk Cinematographer: Erik Põllumaa Editor: Kaie-Ene Rääk Sound: Mart-Kessel Otsa Producer: Kaupo Kruusiauk Produced by: Flo Film To be released: October 2022 90 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Flo Film Kaupo Kruusiauk +372 503 1686 kaupo.kruusiauk@gmail.com

documentary 2022

One Man’s Pain

alju is wounded. He fell in love. He got married. He had a daughter. Then his heart was broken. Time has passed but the pain remains. Hard work cannot drive away the pain of a love lost. Now he talks honestly, from the heart.

Original title: Mehe valu Theme: portrait, social issues Language: Estonian Director: Kullar Viimne Screenwriter: Kullar Viimne Cinematographer: Kullar Viimne Editor: Mirjam Jegorov Composer: Maarja Nuut Producer: Erik Norkroos Produced by: Missing Pictures. Rühm Pluss Null To be released: Autumn 2022 90 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Kullar Viimne Kullar Viimne is an Estonian documentary filmmaker. He studied at the Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School in 2004–2011 and continued his studies at FAMU (Prague, Czech Republic) and at IAD in Belgium Has made 12 documentary films as a director and worked with over 40 documentary films and series as a cameraman. He is a member of the Estonian Filmmakers’ Union, the Estonian Audio-visual Arts Union and the Estonian Union of Journalists. Seleced filmography: How I Saved Africa (2014), Land of Soul (2016), Shards of Light (2018), Horsepower (2022)

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Contact Rühm Pluss Null Erik Norkroos +372 506 7585 erik.norkroos@gmail.com

documentary 2022

Skype Story

documentary about the unlikely story behind the birth of SKYPE, a true modern era phenomenon a few billion people have a personal relationship with. Selling Skype, buying it back and re-selling it again is a story which could be from a detective novel. A story full of contrasts – from Soviet era apartment blocks to Silicon Valley. From primitive homemade computer games to private jets. From wild parties to complicated lawsuits. 2003. Two Scandinavian investors and their Estonian tech team overcome big odds to create Skype that turns to become one of the greatest IT success stories of the 21st century. 2005. A party celebrating the $2.6 billion sale of Skype to eBay. The Estonians – just turned multimillionaires – shock the extremely formal eBay brass leaping, fully clothed, into the swimming pool. Our story isn’t so much about Skype as a technological and business triumph (probably at the end of its Road of Fame by now anyway) but the total underdogs who were able to make something like that happen.

Original title: Skype Theme: current history, technology, start-up Director: Kiur Aarma Screenwriter: Kiur Aarma Editor: Martin Männik Sound: Horret Kuus Animation art director: Urmas Viik Animation artist: Priit Tender Producer: Margus Õunapuu Produced by: Film Tower To be released: Autumn/Winter 2022 59 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 Contact Film Tower Gonsiori 27, 10147 Tallinn, Estonia +372 56 51 654 margus@filmtower.ee

Director Kiur Aarma has graduated from Music High School in Tallinn (1993) and from Tartu University (1997; BA in semiotics and cultural theory). He has also studied scriptwriting at Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School. Kiur has worked as host for several talk-shows from 1997-2007. He is one of the founders of production company RUUT (Eetriüksus), in which he has produced numerous TV-programs and several documentaries.

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documentary 2022

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

n the darkness of smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences. Through a sense of communion, women wash off the shame trapped in their bodies and regain their strength.

Director Anna Hints is an Estonian film director with a background in contemporary art and experimental music. Anna is deeply rooted in the distinct culture of South Estonia, yet for 6 years her second home has been India. She has studied literature, folklore and has a degree both in Photography and Film Directing. Her student film Free World brought her Kaljo Kiisk named Young Filmmaker Award and Best National Short Film Award at Black Nights Film Festival. Her debut short fiction Ice (2017), that received the Best Short Film award at the Estonian Film and TV Awards, has been screened at more than 95 film festivals and won 14 awards worldwide. Anna’s feature length debut – Estonian-French-Icelandic documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood - received a production grant from the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund and is currently in post-production. Anna is a singer in the female electronic-folk trio Eeter that scored the feature documentary Wind Sculpted Land (nomination in the Best Film Music category at the Estonian Film and TV Awards 2018). In January 2021 her short documentary For Tomorrow Paradise Arrives premiered in Estonian Public Broadcasting channel ETV. The film has initiated a public discussion on food waste and created a movement to consume food that other ways would end up in landfills.

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Original title: Savvusanna sõsarad Theme: women, psychology, nature, heritage Languages: Estonian, Võro Director: Anna Hints Screenwriter: Anna Hints Cinematographer: Ants Tammik Editors: Tushar Prakash, Anna Hints, Qutaiba Barhamji Producer: Marianne Ostrat Co-producers: Juliette Cazanave, Pierre Jestaz, Hlín Jóhannesdóttir, Eero Talvistu † Produced by: Alexandra Film (EE), Kepler 22 Productions (FR), Ursus Parvus (IS) To be released: 2022 95 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1 Contact Alexandra Film Marianne Ostrat +372 523 3577 marianne@alexandrafilm.ee facebook.com/alexandrafilm Sales Autlook Filmsales Martina Droandi martina@autlookfilms.com www.autlookfilms.com

documentary 2022

Tukdam

ost of us think of death as something clear-cut, and that medical science has it neatly figured out. This feature documentary explodes such assumptions through its exploration of a phenomenon that blurs life and death to an unprecedented degree. In what Tibetan Buddhists call tukdam, advanced meditators die in a consciously controlled manner. Though dead according to our biomedical standards, they often stay sitting upright in meditation; remarkably, their bodies remain fresh and lifelike, without signs of decay for days, sometimes weeks after clinical death. Following ground-breaking scientific research into tukdam and taking us into intimate death stories of Tibetan meditators, the film juxtaposes scientific and Tibetan perspectives as it tries to unravel the mystery of tukdam.

Director Donagh Coleman Born in Philadelphia, Donagh grew up Finland, Ireland and the U.S. He studied Philosophy and Psychology in Trinity College Dublin, continuing there with a Masters in Music and Media Technologies. Donagh has also spent long periods in India, China and Tibet, and much of his work has involved these regions and cultures. A documentary-maker working both in film and radio, Donagh’s previous films include Stone Pastures (a Finnish-Irish-English co-production, with wide international festival exposure, and winner of the Grand Prix prize at the 2009 Cervino Cinemountain Festival in Italy) and Une Année Sur Le Toit Du Monde commissioned for ARTE’s primetime Decouverte-slot. Apart from RTE, Donagh makes radio documentaries for the Finnish National Broadcaster YLE. He has also worked for current affairs television and radio in Beijing as well as writing for Finnish newspapers on Asian subjects.

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Original title: Tukdam Theme: religion, science Languages: English, Tibetan Director: Donagh Coleman Screenwriter: Donagh Coleman Cinematographers: Mika Mattila, Satya Rai Nagpaul, I.S.C., Donagh Coleman Editor: Mirjam Strugalla Composer: Märt-Matis Lill Sound: Aza Hand Producers: Kaarle Aho, Martha O`Neill Co-producer: Pille Rünk Produced by: Making Movies (FI), Wildfire Films (IE), Allfilm (EE) To be released: 2022 95 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Allfilm Pille Rünk +372 508 2999 pille@allfilm.ee www.allfilm.ee

documentary 2022

Yoyogi

oyogi is a place of freedom and going beyond everything human. Like the first flight to the sky. This film combines two strange and seemingly overlapping peculiarities. On the one hand, there is a distant, almost scientific in its dryness, observation of ordinary scenes of people’s life in the park, on the other hand, a feeling of some kind of magic and the impossibility of what is happening.

Original title: Yoyogi Theme: observational documentary Language: no dialogue Director: Max Golomidov Screenwriter: Max Golomidov Cinematographer: Max Golomidov Editor: Dmitrii Kalashnikov Composer: Yuma Koda Sound: Dmitrii Natalevich Producer: Volia Chajkouskaya, Ivo Felt Co-producer: Yu Nakajima Produced by: Allfilm (EE), Volia Films (EE/BY), Kofuba (JP) To be released: 2022 73 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Max Golomidov was born in 1984 in Estonia, Tallinn. Now based in Japan, Tokyo. He graduated from the Baltic Film and Media School in 2008 with a degree in Cinematography. Filmography: On Rubik’s Road (2010, cinematographer), Anthill (2015, cinematographer, co-director), Close Relations (2017, colour correction), Hippodrome (2022, cinematographer), Yoyogi (2022)

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Contact Allfilm +372 5781 1727 volia@allfilm.ee allfilm.ee

documentary 2022

Raise Me a Memory

n Indian filmmaker develops an unusual friendship with three people who belong to a disappearing ethnic community on the Estonian-Russian border. They all make peace with their personal and cultural losses through their dreams. While engaging with their unique journeys, the filmmaker experiences an inexplicable dream. Eventually, as he attempts to make sense of his dream, he discovers a deeply personal and tragic loss.

Original title: Läinud on jäänud Theme: poetical, culture, personal story Languages: Estonian, Seto Director: Varun Trikha Screenwriter: Varun Trikha Cinematographers: Varun Trikha, Heiko Sikka E.S.C. Editor: Varun Trikha Producer: Karin Reinberg Produced by: Revolver Film To be released: 2022 85 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1 Contact Revolver Film Karin Reinberg +372 5343 6863 karin@revolver.ee revolver.ee

Director Varun Trikha is a documentary filmmaker based out of New Delhi. He was trained as an ethicist at King’s College London and as a nonfiction filmmaker at SACAC, New Delhi. His first film, a short documentary The Seventh Wish was screened widely, including at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan and won a couple of awards including a best director award from the Indian Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Varun’s current film Raise Me a Memory is his first feature-length nonfiction film.

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documentary 2022

Nowtime

f we’re making it all up anyway, why don’t we make up something joyful, something good? A workaholic top lawyer from the Bay Area decides to change her life. She is not the only one who has reevaluated the norm and is swimming against the current.

Original title: Nowtime Theme: women, hobbies Language: English Director: Aet Laigu aka Al Wallcat Cinematographers: Aet Laigu, Aivo Rannik, Angy Chesle, Paul MacIsaac Editor: Villem Roosa Music and Sound Design: Harry J. N. Parsons Producer: Aet Laigu Produced by: Meteoriit (EE) To be released: 2022 13 min / DCP / 1.85:1 / stereo Contact Meteoriit Aet Laigu +372 5825 8962 aet@meteoriit.ee www.meteoriit.ee

Director Aet Laigu is the founder of an independent Estonian production company Meteoriit and a filmmaker (alter ego, Al Wallcat). She holds a business degree and M.A. in Film and TV Studies from the University of Warwick (UK). Aet has previously co-written three feature films, including Kadri Kõusaar’s Mother (2016), which was Estonia’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. Nowtime is her documentary debut.

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documentary 2022

Good Luck, Mr. President!

man who reads piles of books, meets with the most infulential people in the world and is an opinion leader in the world politics, still feels at his best as a DJ- spinning records in a nightclub. This is a president of a tiny country, who has never done politics for a carreer but has been a music lover and an intellectual instead. He was born as an Estonian refugee in Sweden, spent his youth in the United States, studied psychology at Columbia University and found his way back to his home country Estonia because of his interest in the language and literature of this small nation. How to match a special, in the best meaning, youthful and sometimes untamable head of state with the expectations of the society? How to cope with private life in front of the public eye?

Original title: Õnn kaasa, hr President! Theme: portrait, human relations, music, politics Languages: Estonian, English Director: Jaan Tootsen Screenwriter: Jaan Tootsen Cinematographers: Kullar Viimne, Erik Norkroos, Jaan Tootsen etc. Editor: Martin Männik Composer: Vaiko Eplik Sound: Mart Kessel-Otsa, Antti Mäss, Taisto Uuslail Producers: Jaan Tootsen, Kiur Aarma Produced by: Aadam ja pojad To be released: 2022–2023 88 min / DCP / 16:9 / 5.1

Director Jaan Tootsen is an Estonian filmmaker and a radio podcast director of Night University. He has studied in the Estonian Humanitarian Institute and graduated from Tallinn University. He has won numerous prizes for his film New World, among which was the first prize for audio-visual works from the Estonian Cultural Endowment Fund, and he has also received the Young Cultural Figure Award of the Cultural Foundation of the President of Estonia. He has produced more than 600 radio shows and has directed 7 documentaries, and 2 more documentaries are in production.

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Contact Aadam ja pojad Jaan Tootsen + 372 528 1140 jaan.tootsen@err.ee

documentary 2022

The Cartoonist

he Cartoonist is a captivating historical documentary augmented by animated segments about the fate of the popular Estonian caricaturist Gori (1894–1944) between the two World Wars, when the totalitarian authorities left the talented artist ever smaller choices. What kind of a weapon is a pencil? Is talent a temptation or a burden? What happens to the caricaturist who is punished by the monsters he himself has created? How to remain honest and free as an artist? How many changes of power can a country survive? How many a caricaturist? Alternating with the grotesque world created by Gori, which is brought to life through animation, the film features specialists and artists who help to find answers to these questions. It is a captivating and grotesque story of an artist with a strong cathartic potential hidden at its tragic end.

Original title: Gorikaturist Theme: portrait, animation Language: Estonian Director: Raimo Jõerand Screenwriter: Raimo Jõerand Cinematographer: Manfred Vainokivi Production Designer: Meelis Arulepp Animator: Meelis Arulepp Sound: Horret Kuus Producer: Marju Lepp Co-producer: Kristel Tõldsepp Produced by: Filmivabrik, A Film Estonia To be released: 2022–2023 75 min / DCP / 2.39:1 / 5.1

Director Raimo Jõerand is a screenwriter and documentary director, mainly focused on historical topics. He has published theoretical works on film in different journals and newspapers. Raimo is also a valued consultant for professionals and a tutor for graduates at film academy. From 2006– 2013 he worked as development and documentary consultant at Estonian Film Institute. Some of his filmography include Blue Hills (2006) and Rodeo. Taming A Wild Country (2018), which he wrote and co-directed with Kiur Aarma. Also A Story of Peep Puks (2019). In 2019 Raimo won Best Scriptwriter Award at the Estonian Film and Television awards (EFTA)

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Contact Filmivabrik Marju Lepp +372 516 3641 filmivabrik@filmivabrik.ee filmivabrik.ee

index 176

English Titles 3rd Octave F After Betelgeuse A Most Exquisite Man A Wish Upon a Satellite Bog, the Captain Volkonogov Escaped Cartoonist, the Cellula Filia Cerberus Child Machine Code Compartment No.6 County Court Cufufu Dark Paradise Dear Passengers Deserted Diary of Vaino Vahing, the Dinner with Turkey Dog-apartment Drifting Apart Eva Epidemia Epitaph Erik Stoneheart Firebird Gardener of Tension Fields, the Good Luck, Mr. President! Heiki on the Other Side

66 84 102 58 24 12 174 90 56 44 104 8 60 96 38 82 18 148 106 132 74 130 108 78 42 6 144 172 68

Hippodrome Hit the Nail on the Head Hooked Up I Do In the Storm of Roses Kalev Kids of the Night King, the Kissing Your Tongue Life of Ivanna Lovable Luna Rossa Machina Faust Melchior the Apothecary Melchior the Apothecary. The Executioner’s Daughter Melchior the Apothecary. The Ghost Mia and Liki Minsk Nowtime Old Man and the Snakepig, the One Man’s Pain Operation LARP Orchidelirium Pan Sexual Peter the Bug Poop and Spring, the Quicksand Raise Me a Memory

154 100 118 70 86 36 10 64 88 140 46 128 156 26 40 34 62 48 170 116 158 124 80 98 122 94 16 168

Reply to a Letter from Helga Sandra Gets a Job Sentinel Sierra Skin of a Mandarin Skype Story Sleeping Beast, the Smoke Sauna Sisterhood Solstice Songs for a Fox Stairway to Heaven Tales of a Toy Horse Tell Me ‘Til We Meet Again To Pet a Hedgehog Totally Boss Tree of Eternal Love Troublemaker Tommy Tukdam Turnip Two Hours to Happiness u.Q. Women on the Frontline Yoyogi

50 14 52 114 72 160 28 162 120 22 30 138 146 134 112 32 20 110 164 126 152 150 142 166

3. oktavi F Apteeker Melchior Apteeker Melchior. Timuka tütar Apteeker Melchior. Viirastus Cerberus Child Machine Cufufu Eeva Epidemia Epitaph Erik Kivisüda Gorikaturist Heiki teisel pool Hipodroom Ivanna elu Kaka ja kevad Kaks tundi õnneni Kalev Kallid reisijad Kapten Volkonogovi põgenemine Kiik, kirves & Igavese Armastuse Puu Kingitus orbiidilt Koerkoerter Kood Kullake Kuningas Kupee nr 6 Kõrb Laulud rebasele

66 26 40 34 56 44 96 130 108 78 42 174 68 154 140 94 152 36 82 12 20 58 132 104 46 64 8 18 22

Luna Rossa Läinud on jäänud Maakohus Machina Faust Mehe valu Mia ja Liki Minsk Naelapea pihta Naeris Naised rindejoonel Nowtime Operatsioon LARP Orchidelirium Paanseksuaal Peale Betelgeuset Pingeväljade aednik Pruudirööv Puudutus Pööriöö Rooside rajus Räägi ära Sandra saab tööd Savvusanna sõsarad Sentinel Sierra Silitada siili Sitikas Peeter Skype Soo

128 168 60 156 158 62 48 100 126 142 170 124 80 98 84 144 70 72 120 86 146 14 162 52 114 112 122 160 24

Suudle mind oma keelega Sõda ja puuhobune Taaskohtumine Tagurpidi torn Taevatrepp Triivides kaugusse Tukdam Tulilind Tuljak Tume paradiis Tähtsad ninad Tütarrakk u.Q. Vaino Vahingu päevaraamat Vanamees ja Põrsauss Vastus Helga kirjale Vesiliiv Vigurvänt Volli Õhtusöök kalkuniga Õnn kaasa, hr President! Öölapsed Üks imeline mees Yoyogi

88 138 134 28 30 74 164 6 118 38 32 90 150 148 116 50 16 110 106 172 10 102 166

index

Original Titles

177

index 178

Directors Aarma, Kiur 160 Ainelo, Kaspar 56 Arulepp, Meelis 122 Aule, Katariina 68 Baptista, Rodrigo 146 Barrutia, Agustín 146 Borrayo Serrano, Renato 140 Chupov, Aleksey 12 Clague, Rupert 146 Coleman, Donagh 164 Couto, João Carlos 146 Golomidov, Max 166 Guts, Boris 48 Hamburger, Tom 146 Heidmets, Pauline 104, 110 Heidmets, Rao 104, 110 Heinmaa, Ivar 142 Hints, Anna 88, 162 Hjörleifsdóttir, Ása 50 Holm, Kristjan 108 Jõerand, Raimo 174 Joon, Sander 114, 120 Jarvis, Lyza 100 Juksaar, Teresa 64 Kilmi, Jaak 28 Kivastik, Mart 30 Kolka, Piibe 90 Kõusaar, Kadri 18 Kruusiauk, Kaupo 14, 156

Kuftseryn, Hleb 106 Kuld, Ergo 24 Kuosmanen, Juho 8 Lazzarotto, Quentin 146 Laigu, Aet 170 Linna, Leeni 58 Loginov, Vladimir 154 Lomp, Kaimar 100 López Borda, Sebastián 146 Lorenzi, Silvia 78 Lääne, Madli 82 Madissoo, Cristo 98, 100 Málaga, César 146 Marar, Tanya 146 Matjus, Joosep 144 Merkulova, Natasha 12 Mosher, Ashley 146 Mrzljak, Lucija 130 Murd, Ivar 150 Murusalu, Len 84 Musting, Ove 36 Mägi, Eeva 60, 66 Mägi, Mikk 116, 120 Mälk, Mattias 124 Norman, Kristina 80 Nüganen, Elmo 26, 34, 40 Ortiz, Sonja 146 Osovska, Ulyana 138 Paliale, Meel 20

Pedersen, Brett Pedros, Fermín Pikkov, Ülo Prakash, Tushar Pulk, Marta Pärn, Olga Pärn, Priit Pääsuke, Priit Quast, Bruno Raag, Ilmar Radice, Pablo Rakitina, Maria Rannastu, Katri Rannu, Rain Rebane, Peeter Rummel, Rebeka Ruumet, Triin Saarepuu, Silja Sarnet, Rainer Schaap, Margot Sefa, Norika Sigus, Piret Siib, Liina Siimets, Moonika Strashny, Denis Taavet, Ave Tanoira, Gerónimo Taul, Jonas Tegova, Katrin

146 146 134 88 146 128 128 10 96 42 146 100 144 44 6 74 38 126 148 16 146 126 86 152 138 112 146 102 62

Tender, Priit Tokalovs, Stanislavs Toom, Tanel Tootsen, Jaan Trikha, Varun Trzcina, Natalia Tšinakov, Morten Unt, Riho Valdemoros, Lucía Viimne, Kullar Vihmar, Ingomar Vilbre, René Vildžiunas, Kristijonas Väli, Teresa Wei, Shen Zayat, Kevin

132 46 52 172 168 146 130 118 146 158 32 94 22 70 146 146

AAA Creative 114 Aadam ja pojad 172 Aamu Film Company (FI) 8 Achtung Panda! (DE) 8 Adriatic Animation 130 A Film Estonia 94, 122, 174 Alexandra Film 10, 162 Allfilm 36, 50, 52, 66, 154, 164, 166 Amrion 8, 42, 152 Animailm 126 Apollo Film Productions 24, 26, 34, 40 Avanpost Media (RO) 46 BFM 64 Baltic Film Production 140 BOP Animation 114, 116, 120 Chevaldeuxtrois (FR) 38 ChronoLens 84, 86, 88, 90 CTB Film Company (RU) 8 Docutoloka (UA) 138 Eesti Joonisfilm 22, 124, 128, 130 Einmann Video 142 Esse Production House (UA) 42 Estonian Academy of Arts 96, 98, 100, 106 Ethnofund Film Company (RU) 140 Ettevaatlik Sten 146 Exitfilm 56 Film Angels Productions (LV) 26, 34, 40 Film Tower 150, 160 Filmivabrik 30, 174

Firebird Productions (UK) 6 Flo Film 156 Greenlit Productions (FI) 18, 58 HansaFilm 26, 34, 40 Helsinki-filmi 42 Homeless Bob Production 12, 16, 70 Homemade Films (GR) 16 Illume (FI) 140 InScript (LT) 26, 34, 40 Kafka Films 60, 146 Karabana 108 Kartuliõis 72 Kassikuld 24 Kepler 22 Productions (FR) 162 Kick Film (DE) 52 Kopli Kinokompanii 14 Kinovista (FR) 12 Klaasmeri 148 Kofuba (JP) 166 Leo Films 48 Lookfilm (RU) 12 Luxfilm 10 Making Movies (FI) 164 Maze pictures (DE) 26, 34, 40 Meteoriit 18, 170 Missing Pictures/Rühm Pluss Null 80, 158 Miyu Productions (FR) 128 MostAlice Film (SE) 18 Nafta Films 26, 32, 34, 40, 68

No Reservations Entertainment (UK) 6 Nukufilm 102, 110, 132, 134 Parrot & Stick 78 Paul Thiltges Distributions (LU) 42 Place of Power (RU) 12 PRPL (NL) 16 Rao Heidmets Filmstudio 104 Revolver Film 58, 168 Rotterdam Film (NL) 50 Saturn Film 118 Sentinel Entertainment (GB) 52 Silmviburlane 138 SomeNobody productions (JO) 146 Stellar Film 28, 46, 82 Studio Locomotive (LV) 22, 28, 42 Studio Uljana Kim (LT) 22, 42 Tallifornia 20, 44 Tandem Film 62 Taska Film 24, 26, 34, 40 Ten Thousand Images (NO) 140 Tasse Film (LV) 46 The Factory 6 Three Brothers 38, 74 Ugri Film 36 Ursus Parvus (IS) 162 Volia Films (EE/BY) 166 What Everest Studio 112 Wildfire Films (IE) 164 Wildkino 144 YLE (FI) 142

index

Production Companies

179

useful addresses

Production Companies AAA Creative +372 5568 1287 aureliaaasa@gmail.com aaacreative.ee

Animailm +372 5563 2265 animailm.film@gmail.com animailm.ee

Exitfilm +372 515 9696 exitfilm@exitfilm.ee exitfilm.ee

Karabana +372 553 5365 holm@karabana.com karabana.com

Aadam ja pojad + 372 528 1140 jaan.tootsen@err.ee

Apollo Film Productions +372 5665 2386 veiko.esken@apollo.ee facebook.com/ ApolloFilm-Productions/

Film Tower +372 565 1654 margus@filmtower.ee filmtower.ee

Kartuliõis +372 5399 3411 tiina.savi@gmail.com

A Film Estonia +372 516 0399 afilm@afilm.ee afilm.ee Alexandra Film +372 523 3577 marianne@alexandrafilm.ee facebook.com/alexandrafilm Allfilm +372 672 9070 allfilm@allfilm.ee allfilm.ee Amrion Production +372 677 6363 info@amrion.ee amrion.ee

180

BOP Animation +372 5378 3028 bop@bop.ee bop.ee ChronoLens +372 503 3685 tauno@chronolens.com Eesti Joonisfilm +372 677 4228 info@joonisfilm.ee joonisfilm.ee Einmann Video +372 514 8738 margitfr@gmail.com

Filmivabrik +372 516 3641 filmivabrik@filmivabrik.ee filmivabrik.ee Flo Film +372 503 1686 kaupo.kruusiauk@gmail.com Homeless Bob Production +372 5667 7855 info@too.ee homelessbob.ee Kafka Films +372 5196 8064 karolina.kafka@gmail.com

Kassikuld +372 529 2552 ergo@kassikuld.ee kassikuld.ee Kopli Kinokompanii +372 5562 2041 anneli@kinokopanii.ee kinokompanii.ee Klaasmeri +372 5691 1149 klaasmeri@gmail.com Leo Films +372 5829 7356 katja@leo-films.eu leo-films.eu

Meteoriit +372 5825 8962 aet@meteoriit.ee meteoriit.ee Missing Pictures / Rühm Pluss Null +372 506 7585 erik.norkroos@gmail.com Nafta Films +372 683 6660 info@nafta.ee nafta.ee Nukufilm +372 615 5322 nukufilm@nukufilm.ee nukufilm.ee Parrot & Stick +372 5866 5583 olari@parrrotandstick.com parrotandstick.com

Rao Heidmets Filmstudio +372 502 4906 raoheidmets@hotmail.com Revolver Film +372 5343 6863 karin@revolver.ee revolver.ee Saturn Film +372 5558 2582 kadriannk@gmail.com Silmviburlane +372 5648 4693 info@silmviburlane.ee silmviburlane.ee

Tandem Film +372 561 56535 maie@tandemfilm.ee www.tandemfilm.ee Taska Film +372 520 3000 film@taska.ee taska.ee

What Everest Studio +372 5627 8338 avetaavet@gmail.com

useful addresses

Luxfilm +372 5559 5847 luxfilm@luxfilm.ee luxfilm.ee

The Factory +44 (0) 7789874163 dankuro@firebird.film Three Brothers +372 5691 3377 elina@threebrothers.ee

Stellar Film +372 600 1811 stellar@stellar.ee stellar.ee

Volia Films +372 5781 1727 volia@voliafilms.com voliafilms.com

Tallifornia +372 5336 6981 tinamount@tallifornia.com tallifornia.com

Wildkino +372 521 6949 wildkinoest@gmail.com

181

useful addresses

Distributors A-One Film Estonia

giedre@a-onefilms.ee

Financing and Archives Estinfilm

info@estinfilm.ee estinfilm.ee

Acme Film

katre.valgma@acmefilm.ee acmefilm.ee BestFilm

kino@bestfilm.eu BestFilm.eu Eeter Docs

+372 5648 5966 karlo.funk@einst.ee Estonian Theatrical

Distribution / Hea Film info@filmdistribution.ee heafilm.ee

Must Käsi 2

mustkasi.distribution @gmail.com kinosoprus.ee Tespi

director@tespi.ee gpicinema.com VLG Filmid

kliiv@vlg.film vlg.film

+372 619 9923 siiri.haidma@tlu.ee tlu.ee/bfm

182

Estonian Film Institute +372 627 6060 film@filmi.ee filmi.ee Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Estonia +372 627 6065 media@looveuroopa.ee looveuroopa.ee

Estonian Cultural Endowment +372 699 9150 kulka@kulka.ee kulka.ee Estonian National Archive’s Film Archive +372 693 8613 filmiarhiiv@ra.ee filmi.arhiiv.ee

Regional Film Funds

Film Schools Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School

Estonian Ministry of Culture +372 628 2222 min@kul.ee kul.ee

Estonian Academy of Arts

+372 566 46085 mari.kivi@artun.ee artun.ee/animation

Film Fund of Estonian Islands filmifond@sasak.ee +372 4520 5070 sasak.ee Tartu Film Fund info@tartufilmfund.ee tartufilmfund.ee

Viru Film Fund piia.tamm@ivek.ee +372 5561 0512 virufilmfund.ee

Animist Tallinn

+372 56646085 mari.kivi@artun.ee animistfestival.eu Baltic Event

+372 514 8134 balticevent@poff.ee be.poff.ee Docpoint Tallinn

info@docpoint.ee docpoint.ee

Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film festival

+372 631 4640 info@poff.ee / hoff.ee International Short Film and Animation Festival

PÖFF Shorts +372 631 4640 shorts@poff.ee shorts.poff.ee

Matsalu International Nature Film Festival

+372 551 0910 info@matsalufilm.ee matsalufilm.ee

Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival

+372 443 0772 festival@chaplin.ee chaplin.ee

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

+372 631 4640 poff@poff.ee / poff.ee

Tartu Love Film Festival TARTUFF

tartuff.ee Worldfilm. Tartu Festival of Visual Culture

+372 742 2266 festival@worldfilm.ee festival@erm.ee worldfilm.ee

useful addresses

International film festivals

Youth and Children’s Film Festival Just Film

+372 631 4640 justfilm@poff.ee justfilm.ee

+372 631 4640 info@poff.ee

Professional Organisations Estonian Animation Association

mari.kivi@artun.ee animaliit.ee

The Estonian Association of Film Journalists

andreiliimets@gmail.com

Estonian Documentary Guild

Estonian Film Industry Cluster

Estonian Screenwriters’ Guild

Estonian Film Directors Guild

Estonian Filmmakers Union

Estonian Society of Cinematographers ESC

est.documentary@gmail.com dokfilm.ee filmilavastajad@gmail.com

filmiklaster@gmail.com filmiklaster.ee +372 646 4164 kinoliit@kinoliit.ee kinoliit.ee

info@stsenaristid.ee stsenaristid.ee

elen.lotman@gmail.com

183

facts

Domestic feature films 2012-2021 2013: Living Images • The Arbiter • Free Range: Ballad on Approving of the World • Kertu. Love is Blind • Tangerines • Black Diamonds • Kid Detectives & The Secret of the White Lady

Basic facts on Estonia Population: 1.33 mln Capital: Tallinn Cinema admissions in 2021: 1.39 mln Box office in 2021: 8.22 mln € Admissions per capita in 2021: 1.05 Share of domestic films in 2021: 14.4% Average ticket price in 2021: 5,93 €

2014: In the Crosswind • Man in the Orange Jacket • I Won’t Come Back • Landscape with Many Moons • Cherry Tobacco • Zero Point 2015: 1944 • The Fencer • The Secret Society of Souptown • Roukli • Ghost Mountaineer • Angry Painter • Dawn

Cinema Top 2021

184

Original title

No of admissions

Country of Origin

No Time to Die

98 095

GB / US

F9: The Fast Saga

56 555

Dune

53 545

US / CA

Spider-Man: No Way Home

49 333

US / IN

Luca

46 110

Venom: Let There Be Carnage 45 325

Estonian Funeral

43 083

Boss Baby 2

38 582

Paw Patrol

36 477

CA /US

On the Water

31 577

2016: Mother • Class Reunion • Family Lies • The Days That Confused • The Polar Boy • Seneca’s Day • Chasing Ponies • The Spy and the Poet • Pretenders • When You Least Expect It • Bodom • Dearest Sister 2017: November • The Dissidents • The End of the Chain • The Man Who Looks Like Me • The Eternal Road • The Swan • Scary Mother • The Confession • The Manslayer. The Virgin. The Shadow • Green Cats • Dreamfish • Swingers 2018: The Fourth Sister. Under the

Clouds • Class Reunion 2 • The Little Comrade • Portugal • Fire Lily • Captain Morten and the Spider Queen • The Man Who Surprised Everyone • Take It or Leave It • The Riddle of Jaan Niemand • Mihkel • Deserved Happiness • Living the Dream • Phantom Owl Forest • Funny Family 2019: Lotte and the Lost Dragons • Self-Made Cameraman • Class Reunion 3 • Men • Truth and Justice • Scandinavian Silence • Your Honor • Maria’s Paradise • Chasing Unicorns • Old Man Cartoon • The Chuck Band Show • Highway to Hell • Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway 2020: Where the Heart Is• Helene • Raggie• Things We Don’t Talk About• The Salmons. 25 Years Later • Rain• The Last Ones• Dawn of War • Goodbye Soviet Union• Erna at War • Conference• Kratt• On the Water • Undergods• Christmas in the Jungle 2021: Firebird • Estonian Funeral • Compartment No 6 • Kids of the Night Sandra Gets a Job • Quicksand • Captain Volkonogov Escaped • Deserted • Tree of Eternal Love • Songs for a Fox • Hunting Season