NEWS Cultural Endowment Awards

The proud team of Compartment No 6; Livia Ulman, Riina Sildos and Andris Feldmanis.

Cultural Endowment

Awards

The Estonian Cultural Endowment Fund gave out its annual awards for creative activities in the audiovisual sector in 2021.

By EFI Photos by Erlend Štaub and Filmivabrik

The main prize went to the creators of Compartment No. 6, the director Juho Kuosmanen, and screenwriters Andris Feldmanis and Livia Ulman. Riina Sildos, the producer at Amrion Production, was given a mission award for her work on the same film, the Finnish-RussianEstonian-German co-production that won Grand Prix at Cannes, was nominated for a Golden Globe and shortlisted for an Academy Award in the Best International Film category.

Lifetime achievement award went to the veteran scriptwriter and director Valentin Kuik (Family Lies, Doctor Stockmann).

In documentaries, the audiovisual committee recognized the director Carlos Eduardo Lesmes Lopez, and the producer Liis Nimik, for a dramaturgically profoundly realized documentary film A Loss of Something Ever Felt. Ivar Murd won an award Above right: the winner of the lifetime achievement award, director Valentin Kuik.

Below: Carlos Lesmes, the director of A Loss of Something Ever Felt.

for directing u.Q., an elegant experimental portrait of musician Uku Kuut, and producing the interesting TV documentary Lil Estonia. Marianne Kõrver was awarded for her captivating documentaries about Estonian art history – At is the Only Way Out, Oleb Subbi. Life in Six Chapters, and Destudio. Hangover. Taavi Arus, author of many TV-documentaries, was acknowledged for his long engagement in documentary filmmaking, and directing Lil Estonia and Davai Igrayem.

One of the annual awards went to a short film, My Dear Corpses by German Golub that has previously won a Student Academy Award, gold medal in the International Narrative category.

Jonas Taul’s A Most Exquisite Man, a stop-motion animation with stylish visual aesthetics, was considered the best in the animation category. Additionally, feature film On the Water was recognized, with annual awards going out to both director Peeter Simm and scriptwriter Olavi Ruitlane. Documentary filmmaker Manfred Vaikokivi won best main role award for impersonating himself in The Best of Salieri, or I, Estonian Filmmaker.

Nukufilm won a mission award for running and developing the oldest Estonian film studio Nukufilm. The same award also went to the team of Tartu Elektriteater cinema, who have brought a carefully curated arthouse program to Tartu already for a decade now. EF