NEWS Festival Highlights

Festival Highlights 2020

The year 2020 was also strange in the field of film festivals – several were cancelled and many took place as online platforms only, with less films than usual.

By Eda Koppel

Karoliina Kreintaal Photo by

Despite that, Estonian films reached the competition programmes of several prestigious film festivals – including Sundance, Venice, HotDocs, Annecy, Moscow, Cairo, and our own domestic Black Nights Film Festival.

SHORTS The year began with the short film Bad Hair (directed by Oskar Lehemaa) participating in Sundance Festival. 2020 can undoubtedly be called a successful year for Estonian short films.

The team of Undergods: director Chino Moya, producer Sophie Vrenner, co-producer Katrin Kissa and make-up artist Kaire Hendrikson.

Short film Virago (directed by Kerly Kirsch-Schneider) took part in Busan ISFF and received the Grand Prix, that also gave the film the right to be submitted to the Academy Award for the Best Short Film. The similar right was received for the short documentary The Weight of All the Beauty (directed by Eeva Mägi) by the Abercrombie & Kent Award of the Melbourne International Film Festival. Also, the right to be submitted to the Academy Award was given to Struck by Lightning (directed by Raul and Romet Esko) that got the Best Estonian Short Film Award at the Black Nights Film Festival; short film My Dear Corpses (directed by Oskar Lehemaa German Golub) received (on the left) attending midnight screening of Hair in Sundance. the Student Academy Award. DOCS As for documentary films, two films should be especially emphasized: Immortal (directed by Ksenia Okhapkina) and A Loss of Something Ever Felt (directed by Carlos E. Lesmes) – both films were selected for the programme of HotDocs. A Loss of Something Ever Felt also won the audience award at Bogota International Film Festival. Documentary Meanwhile on Earth (produced as a minority co-production film with Estonia, directed by Carl Olsson, and Estonian co-producer Ivo Felt from Allfilm) took part in numerous festivals, for instance in Gothenburg, Camerimage, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and Moscow.

Estonian animation films also participated in festivals: for example, the full-length Old Man Cartoon Movie (directed by Mikk Mägi and Oskar Lehemaa) that surprised audiences in Annecy, Moscow, Shanghai, Fantastic Film Fest and Fantasia Film Festival. The film won the Silver Audience Award

2020 Best Animated Film and the Satoshi Kon Award for Best Feature Animation at the Fantasia Film Festival. Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where Estonian films have always been well represented, screened Cosmonaut (directed by Kaspar Jancis) and the student film The Piece of Tail in the Mouth of the Snake that Bites Its Own Tail (directed by Pablo Nicolas Martínez Ballaríni).

FEATURES For Estonian feature films the year started at Palm Springs International Film Festival where Truth and Justice represented Estonia – the film was also a national candidate for the Academy Award 2020 and reached the pre-selection of ten films for the Best Foreign Film.

Feature film Conference (directed by Ivan I. Tverdovskiy, produced as a minority co-production film with Estonia) was selected for the competition programme of Giornate degli Autori at welcomed the participation of five Estonian films – the feature film The Last Ones (by Veiko Õunpuu) and Rain (by Janno Jürgens); and the documentaries Soviet Friendsbook (directed by Aljona Surzhikova), To Save a Language (directed by Liivo Niglas) and Mephistopheles (directed by Manfred Vainokivi). The opening film at Just Film – a festival of children’s and youth films at the Black Nights Film Festival – was Kratt (directed by Rasmus Merivoo). EF

Pääru Oja accepted the award for The Last Ones, the winner of The Baltic Film Competition Programme at PÖFF.

Erlend Štaub Photo by

the Venice Film Festival. At Cairo International Film Festival, Conference won the Best Actress and Best Director Awards. The film also took part in the New Currents Competition programme at the Black Nights Film Festival. Feature Helene (directed by Antti J. Jokinen, Estonian co-production and mainly filmed in Estonia) participated in the Shanghai International Film Festival. Undergods (the third successful minority co-production film with Estonia, directed by Chino Moya) was selected by Fantasia Film Festival and it also took part in the Rebels With Cause competition programme at the Black Nights Film Festival.

The 1968 year feature Madness (directed by Kaljo Kiisk) was included in the special programme of The War: Witnesses’ Accounts at the Moscow International Film Festival – see page … for the longer back story of the legendary film by Johannes Lõhmus.

PÖFF The choice of films at the Black Nights Film Festival 2020 was especially elaborate when it comes to Estonian films. On the Water (directed by Peeter Simm) and Erna at War (directed by Henrik Ruben Genz, a minority co-production film with Estonia) were selected for the Official Selection - Competition programme. Goodbye, Soviet Union participated in the First Feature Competition programme. The Baltic Film Competition programme

Producer Peeter Urbla and actress Ülle Kaljuste at the screening of Goodbye, Soviet Union at PÖFF.

The director of the film Conference Ivan I. Tverdovskiy at Venice Film Festival.