such a small country as ours. As it is the most prestigious institution of its kind, membership is a worthy recognition and a sign of trust. This year, Estonia was nominated for the first time, and that’s a big achievement on its own. Estonia has been nominated in the Outstanding Film Commission category for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. Tenet won the LMGI award for Outstanding Locations in a Contemporary Film. Most certainly, Estonia has a big part to play in that as well. In this sector of the film industry, it’s the most prestigious award, comparable to the Oscars. More than 300 candidates were put forward this year.
Film Estonia Nominated for LMGI Award F The Estonian Film Institute, or rather Film Estonia film commissioner Nele Paves was nomina ted for the LMGI (Location Mana gers Guild International) award in the Outstanding Film Commission category, in regard to the Estonian shoot for Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film Tenet. By Maria Ulfsak Photo by Virge Viertek
irst, congratulations for the nomination. Please tell us what kind of organization is the LMGI? The Location Managers Guild International is the most important representative body of location managers and connected film industry professionals around the world. Initially it united only Americans and became international in 2016. There are two Estonian members of the LMGI, Kristofer Piir (Allfilm) and Hannes Paldrok (Location Unit) – that is exceptional for
What does this recognition mean for you and Estonia in general? This nomination is in some ways the conclusion of a very long process. Getting Tenet to film in Estonia, and servicing the shoot here, proved to be so successful that it gained attention internationally, and has helped to cement Estonia’s reputation as a location. Film Estonia was nominated alongside the Australian, Canadian, American and British regional film commissions; UK’s Bath has been nominated for the Netflix hit show Bridgerton. The nomination is remarkable when you consider that little Estonia is competing with the big states as an equal. Being selected as one of the top six countries means the biggest players recognised Estonia’s role in servicing Tenet. But we tried hard to achieve this, with the whole film sector. The arrival of Nolan’s film to Estonia was not a coincidence, it was preceded by meeting with international top players, and the outstanding works of our own filmmakers. Not to mention the local servicing of Tenet which resulted in the initial planned capacity of Estonian involvement multiplying in size, both time-wise and financially. Can the work with Tenet be seen as a long-time investment? Yes, the value increases in time. We see today that interest in working with Estonia has increased. As the head of Film Estonia, I get new enquiries on a daily basis and applications to come and film here. The projects proposed are longer and more substantial, compared to the ones presented to us a couple of years ago. This tells us that Estonia is being taken seriously as a film country. EF ESTONIAN FILM
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