NEWS On the Water Oscar Entry

Oscar ENTRY

A selection committee decided to represent Estonia in the race for Best International Feature Film Academy Awards in 2022 with the drama feature On the Water, directed by Peeter Simm and adapted for screen from the best-selling novel by Olavi Ruitlane.

By EFI Photos by Liisabet Valdoja

The selection process can be characterised by the division of the committee votes between several films, and the final decision was reached by a narrow margin,” said Edith Sepp, head of the Estonian Film Institute. The independent committee, led by Sepp, picked their champion out of seven contestants. “The choice of the committee shows that our homegrown Estonian stories are truly important today.”

Peeter Simm has managed to convey the emotional coming-of-age story well, and he also shows humanity and warmth for his characters, in spite of tough surroundings, the committee concluded. As a bonus, the committee emphasised as an achievement the depiction of the particular era truthfully. “The characters are real, and feel natural, not to mention the enjoyable and engaging portrayal by the actors,” Sepp said.

“What a blessing when a good story meets a creative team that clicks,” producer Marju Lepp said. “We hope that our tough, but hopeful, film made with love will move the members of the American Film Academy.”

The story takes place at the beginning of the 1980’s in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, in Võrumaa county by the beautiful lake Tamula. The main character Andres (Rasmus Ermel) is being raised by his occasionally strict grandparents, after his father has gone missing in the Soviet Russia, and his mother has fled to Sweden. As a young teenager, Andres loves to go fishing, and he does so together with his friend Kolla (Aarne Soro), a slightly eccentric fellow, whom Andres considers to be ’the smartest man who is officially diagnosed with lunacy’.

On his coming-of-age journey, Andres has to face the usual challenges many teenagers encounter, from first love to heartbreak, the hardships of school, and also the loss of loved ones, and the medical problems of a scolding grandpa.

“Simm has managed to create a life-like and fresh glimpse of the past from the original text by Ruitlane, without delving too deep into the nostalgia of the Soviet era, or taking a biased approach towards those for whom life did not treat kindly,” the committee said.

The film, produced by Filmivabrik, is the twelfth feature film for Simm, and is considered one of the highlights of his career.

On the Water premiered in the main competition program at BNFF in November of 2020. The production designer of the film Eugen Tamberg received a national film award EFTA for his work in On the Water. EF

NB!The interview with Eugen Tamberg is on page 24. The review of On the Water can be found on page 48.