TALENT Eugen Tamberg

Eugen Scissors

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Eugen Tamberg is a highly professional and well-renowned costume designer, active in both film and theatre, in Estonia and internationally. Accolades confirm that: he won the Finnish national film award Jussi and the Estonian national film award EFTA in one week.

By Maria Ulfsak Photos by Viktor Koshkin

nd as Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn is giving out the best production design award for the first time this year, Tamberg has the honour of being in the jury on the festival’s Anniversary this November.

First, congratulations again on your two big awards. Let’s first talk about the films which led to them. Two period pieces, the very specific biographical Tove, directed by one of Finland’s top directors, Zaida Bergroth; and Peeter Simm’s On the Water – a period film about a little Estonian village in the 1980s with a lot of ruckus and boozing. Please describe the creative process behind both films, and the co-operation with the directors and the team. The making of On the Water started much earlier than Tove, as we had to chronicle the passing of time, both in nature and in the development of the young characters. The youngsters grew up in front of our team’s eyes! Estonian nature, with its four seasons, offers a visual narrative in addition to a dramaturgical one. So, the right location for the exteriors (and there were many) was crucial. We found an ideal spot in Võõpsu – a former trade village on the coast of Lake Peipus, in North-East Estonia. I still had my own memories of the Eighties. This location sparked the creative energy of Peeter Simm, infecting the actors too, and

soon the quiet yards and streets were filled with passion and turmoil. We just had to catch it.

Zaida Bergroth’s Tove required a different sort of fine tuning. We had a Nordic international, predominantly female creative team that valued frequent and steady collaboration between different departments. We discussed the essence of every scene, its fragrance and colour scheme. This gave a lot of inspiration for creating costumes. The period in Tove Jansson’s life that is depicted in the film was exceptionally rich for her as an artist, but also as a woman. It was an interesting and challenging task to capture her different moods in the costumes. The work process was based on trust, and that can be seen on screen.

Your internationally acclaimed works tend to be period pieces. AJ Annila’s The Eternal Road takes us back to the 1930s, Bergroth’s Maria’s Paradise to a similar time, Antti Jokinen’s Helene takes place even earlier. Do you have a special interest in historical films, or it’s a lucky coincidence that you chanced upon several in a row?

Eugen Tamberg has studied graphics in the Estonian National Art Institute and worked in TV as an art director. Now he is focused on film and theatre, working both as production designer and costume designer. Kind of both. Once you embark upon an historical path as a costume designer, and you manage to find your way, more and more opportunities arise. This heightens personal interest in return – to explore and discover the visual icons of different time periods, try to unravel them, and find the necessary details to use in my work. Every period has its canon. The

TAMBERG’S SIGNIFICANT WORKS FROM THE LAST FEW YEARS: 2020 On the Water (directed by Peeter Simm) – production designer 2020 Tove (directed by Zaida Bergroth) – costume designer 2020 Helene (directed by Antti Jokinen) - costume designer 2019 Maria’s Paradise (directed by Zaida Bergroth) – costume designer 2018 Mihkel (directed by Ari Alexander Magnusson) – production designer 2017 The Eternal Road(directed by Antti-Jussi Annila) costume designer 2017 End of the Chain (directed by Priit Pääsuke) – production designer, costume designer

main challenge of The Eternal Road was the simple folk of the 1930s – a mix of Karelian, Finnish, Russian people, and American immigrants. In Maria’s Paradise, the key to the costume design approach was the use of new colours that hadn’t been used in the history of costumes before. In Helene, I concentrated especially on the silhouettes of the time that would help to bring tension to the content of the scenes. Clothes have always been worn. A costume designer has to translate or interpret them as costumes. And it’s exceptionally great to participate in the creation of the character with the actor.

I know you are also very busy today, as you are in the middle of another project. What is it?

FROM THE TOP: Tove, End of the Chain, Maria’s Paradise and On the Water.

We are currently making a TV crime series called A Good Family, in collaboration with the Finns, directed by Pete Riski. Unlike my last jobs, this film is contemporary, but the creation of the costume dramaturgy is just as demanding and complicated. Perhaps even more demanding, because we all have a sense of now differently, as we are living it. The general image hasn’t crystallized yet, that will only emerge when there is some temporal distance to work with.

On some films, you have also contributed as a production designer. Which one do you prefer: only costumes or the broader process of art direction – creating the whole film universe? It is definitely more intriguing to create the whole illusory world, but it is hard to pull off alone, because there’s an abundance of work in every department as it is. Time is limited. While you can manage to create both scenography and costumes in the theatre, working on a film is much more intense. In the end, I am an artist anyway, in the broader sense of the word. The art-

“In the end, I am an artist anyway, in the broader sense of the word,” says Eugen Tamberg about his work.

ist’s mental work process is always similar and needs full dedication, regardless of the format.

How did you find your way to the cinema? You studied graphics at first, and then moved to television, you have also dabbled in fashion… For me, it doesn’t look so winding. My journey is connected to everything I have been doing for

the past 20 years. My experience is what has brought me to this point where I am today.

Which one of your works do you like the most? Medeia for Vanemuine theatre in Tartu. And the movie Helene.

What are our plans for the future, and next projects? I have been offered several historical films from different periods from history. My next theatre premiere is in April 2022. It is a psychologically charged twoperson drama called Blackbird, by David Harrower. And I also have been invited to be part of the jury at the Black Nights Film Festival, because they plan to give out the Best Production Design award for the first time ever this year. EF

COSTUME DESIGNER AND ARTIST EUGEN TAMBERG

was born in 1954 in Tallinn. He studied graphics in the Estonian National Art Institute ERKI in 1978–1984, and studied art direction in Ostankino, Moscow, in 1986. He worked as a production designer in Estonian Television from 1984–1987, and as head designer in 1988–1990. Since 2000, he has worked as a freelance artist. In 2021, he received the Finnish national film award Jussi for best costume design for Tove, and the Estonian national film award EFTA for best production design for On the Water.