Riding the high of a production-servicing boom, Estonia’s domestic industry has likewise shown no signs of slowing down. Here’s a roundup of top local productions in the pipeline, from producers who are searching for international partners in Cannes:
The Invisible Fight
Director: Rainer Sarnet
Producers: Katrin Kissa, Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Alise Gelze, White Picture (Latvia), Amanda Livanou, Neda Film (Greece), Helen Vinogradov, Helsinki-filmi (Finland)
Sarnet, whose fantasy-drama “November” played at Tribeca in 2017, returns with a ‘70s-set kung-fu comedy about a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he’s capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.
Lioness
Director: Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo
Producers: Ivo Felt (Estonia), Guntis Trekteris (Latvia)
The sophomore feature from Trishkina-Vanhatalo, whose debut “Take It or Leave It” was Estonia’s submission for the international feature Oscar,...
The Invisible Fight
Director: Rainer Sarnet
Producers: Katrin Kissa, Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Alise Gelze, White Picture (Latvia), Amanda Livanou, Neda Film (Greece), Helen Vinogradov, Helsinki-filmi (Finland)
Sarnet, whose fantasy-drama “November” played at Tribeca in 2017, returns with a ‘70s-set kung-fu comedy about a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he’s capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.
Lioness
Director: Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo
Producers: Ivo Felt (Estonia), Guntis Trekteris (Latvia)
The sophomore feature from Trishkina-Vanhatalo, whose debut “Take It or Leave It” was Estonia’s submission for the international feature Oscar,...
- 5/21/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Lithuania’s Eglė Vertelytė set to shoot comedy cookery feature in 2022.
Lithuanian filmmaker Eglė Vertelytė has revealed plans to begin shooting her second feature Tasty in 2022, after winning Screen’s Best Pitch Award at Tallinn’s Baltic Event Co-Production Market.
The €720,000 comedy focuses on two best friends who work in a local canteen and enter a national TV cooking competition, which challenges not only their skills in the kitchen but also their friendship.
The project was pitched at the virtual event in November by Vertelytė with producer Lukas Trimonis and junior producer Viktorija Cook. It will be produced by the...
Lithuanian filmmaker Eglė Vertelytė has revealed plans to begin shooting her second feature Tasty in 2022, after winning Screen’s Best Pitch Award at Tallinn’s Baltic Event Co-Production Market.
The €720,000 comedy focuses on two best friends who work in a local canteen and enter a national TV cooking competition, which challenges not only their skills in the kitchen but also their friendship.
The project was pitched at the virtual event in November by Vertelytė with producer Lukas Trimonis and junior producer Viktorija Cook. It will be produced by the...
- 3/17/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Margus Paju's sophomore feature, a war drama set in August 1939, will be presented at this year's European Film Market, with two dedicated screenings. It’s August 1939, and Europe fears an imminent war. Standing alone against Stalin’s Soviet Union and Hitler’s Third Reich, Estonia suffers a fatal blow when the head of counter-Soviet intelligence is murdered, raising suspicions of a mole within their ranks. As global, political and military events unfold at a dizzying speed, the task of finding the mysterious Soviet double agent falls to Estonian spy Feliks Kangur (played by Priit Võigemast). But whilst he is chasing down the traitor, Germany and the Soviet Union make their move to invade Poland, and Feliks makes a chilling discovery. The Red Army has set up a covert operation to annex Estonia next, an event that would have devastating consequences for both his country and his secret relationship with young Polish.
Spy thriller ‘Dawn Of War’ led the box office in its native Estonia.
UK sales outfit Kaleidoscope Film Distribution has boarded Estonian spy thriller Dawn Of War and added several new titles to its slate ahead of next month’s European Film Market (EFM).
Directed by Margus Paju, the Second World War thriller was released in Estonia under the title O2 and led the box office following its release on October 9, recording more than 40,000 admissions over its first three weekends.
Kaleidoscope will handle world sales, and also holds UK rights where it is planning a theatrical release this summer, pandemic restrictions permitting.
UK sales outfit Kaleidoscope Film Distribution has boarded Estonian spy thriller Dawn Of War and added several new titles to its slate ahead of next month’s European Film Market (EFM).
Directed by Margus Paju, the Second World War thriller was released in Estonia under the title O2 and led the box office following its release on October 9, recording more than 40,000 admissions over its first three weekends.
Kaleidoscope will handle world sales, and also holds UK rights where it is planning a theatrical release this summer, pandemic restrictions permitting.
- 2/9/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Film production incentives have been a success story for the Eastern European territories that have been late to embrace the rebates but are catching up fast. And, despite interruptions caused by the Covid-19 crisis, industry officials and filmmakers remain upbeat.
In Romania, where major player Castel Film Studio cancelled four international productions while under temporarily closure, the two-year-old production rebates system has also been suspended for now.
“Everything is on hold due to the state of emergency,” says producer and industry consultant Alex Traila.
Despite helping draw such high-profile projects as the BBC’s “Killing Eve,” administrators of the 35% cash-back incentives caused a stir with delays in payments after the government-mandated work shutdowns took effect March 26.
The Romanian Film Centre has since issued assurances that it has sufficient funds to write checks when work resumes, and Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has pegged the date for the end of the state of emergency as early May.
In Romania, where major player Castel Film Studio cancelled four international productions while under temporarily closure, the two-year-old production rebates system has also been suspended for now.
“Everything is on hold due to the state of emergency,” says producer and industry consultant Alex Traila.
Despite helping draw such high-profile projects as the BBC’s “Killing Eve,” administrators of the 35% cash-back incentives caused a stir with delays in payments after the government-mandated work shutdowns took effect March 26.
The Romanian Film Centre has since issued assurances that it has sufficient funds to write checks when work resumes, and Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has pegged the date for the end of the state of emergency as early May.
- 5/7/2020
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
The Estonian director’s sophomore feature revolves around an Estonian intelligence officer who has to track down a mysterious Soviet double agent. Margus Paju is now shooting his second feature, a spy thriller entitled O2. The project follows Paju’s debut film, The Secret Society of Souptown (2015), which became the highest-grossing Estonian family flick at the time and picked up important awards at Stockholm, Zurich, Schlingel, Yerevan and many other international festivals. Paju, an alumnus of Tallinn’s Baltic Film and Media School, directed several shorts, such as My Condolences (2014), Black Out (2009) and Audition (2006), before working on his first feature. The story of O2, penned by Tiit Aleksejev, Eriikka Etholén-Paju and Tom Abrams, kicks off on 23 August 1939, when Europe started fearing an imminent war, and the Soviet Union and Hitler’s Germany shook the world to its core by signing a non-aggression pact. At that very moment, an...
Industry@Tallinn and Baltic Event titles revealed.
The projects selected for Tallinn Black Nights’ industry showcase have been revealed, including a drama executive produced by Tim Roth and a new category for youth films.
Scroll down for full list of projects
This year’s Industry@Tallinn and Baltic Event will spotlight 18 films seeking sales agents or festivals for international premieres during works in progress sessions in the Estonian capital from November 26-27.
Both the Baltic Event, showcasing Baltic and Finnish projects, and International Works in Progress will compete for the same awards this year: the Post Production Award worth €10,000 and...
The projects selected for Tallinn Black Nights’ industry showcase have been revealed, including a drama executive produced by Tim Roth and a new category for youth films.
Scroll down for full list of projects
This year’s Industry@Tallinn and Baltic Event will spotlight 18 films seeking sales agents or festivals for international premieres during works in progress sessions in the Estonian capital from November 26-27.
Both the Baltic Event, showcasing Baltic and Finnish projects, and International Works in Progress will compete for the same awards this year: the Post Production Award worth €10,000 and...
- 11/6/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
A grant of over €1.2 million will support 36 projects, including the new efforts by Alanté Kavaïté, Sergei Loznitsa, Margus Paju and Laila Pakalniņa. The Lithuanian Film Centre (Lfc) has announced its second round of funding pre-approvals for 2019, through which it will support 36 projects at various stages of production and development with a total amount of almost €1.3 million. €940,000 have been earmarked for the production of five feature films – one fiction and four documentaries – seven shorts, two artistic TV documentaries and six international co-productions with a Lithuanian minority producer. The rest of the grant was split among 11 projects in development – three features, five documentaries and three animated films – and five projects at the scriptwriting stage. The sole Lithuanian fiction film picked was Emilis Vėlyvis’ upcoming feature Evil Generation (Piktųjų karta), which comes on the heels of his crime-thriller box-office hits Redirected and...
Mexico’s Kings of Nowhere wins doc prize; Thank You For Bombing wins Switzerland, Germany, Austria award.Scroll down for full list of winners
Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams (Hrútar) has won the Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film at the 11Sth Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 4).
The film, about two estranged brothers who have to reunite to save their sheep during an outbreak of disease, is Iceland’s submission for the Oscars for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Zff’s international jury, headed by Carol producer Elizabeth Carlson, awarded the title as well as a cash prize of more than $25,000 (CHF25,000).
It continues a strong festival run for Rams, which won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in May before going on to screen at Karlovy Vary, Telluride and Toronto among others.
International sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales, which has sold the film to around 40 countries. Cohen Media Group handle Us distribution.
It also marks...
Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams (Hrútar) has won the Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film at the 11Sth Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 4).
The film, about two estranged brothers who have to reunite to save their sheep during an outbreak of disease, is Iceland’s submission for the Oscars for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Zff’s international jury, headed by Carol producer Elizabeth Carlson, awarded the title as well as a cash prize of more than $25,000 (CHF25,000).
It continues a strong festival run for Rams, which won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in May before going on to screen at Karlovy Vary, Telluride and Toronto among others.
International sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales, which has sold the film to around 40 countries. Cohen Media Group handle Us distribution.
It also marks...
- 10/4/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Producers from Finland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland and Russia picked up awards at this year’s 13th Baltic Event co-production market (Nov 24-28) in Tallinn.
Finnish comedy Impaled Rektum by feature debutants Jukka Vidgren and Juuso Laatio was awarded the Screen International Best Pitch Award.
The €1.4m production about a young loser trying to overcome his stage fright and other fears by leading the worst heavy band of Finland, Impaled Rektum, to the hottest metal festival in Norway, will be produced by Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho of Helsinki-based Making Movies Oy.
This is the second time that Nordberg and Aho have received Screen’s Best Pitch Award after having previously been selected with Petri Kotwica’s Rat King which then went on to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Other past winners of the award include Alexei German’s Under Electric Clouds, which is understood to be premiering at a major international film festival soon, and...
Finnish comedy Impaled Rektum by feature debutants Jukka Vidgren and Juuso Laatio was awarded the Screen International Best Pitch Award.
The €1.4m production about a young loser trying to overcome his stage fright and other fears by leading the worst heavy band of Finland, Impaled Rektum, to the hottest metal festival in Norway, will be produced by Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho of Helsinki-based Making Movies Oy.
This is the second time that Nordberg and Aho have received Screen’s Best Pitch Award after having previously been selected with Petri Kotwica’s Rat King which then went on to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Other past winners of the award include Alexei German’s Under Electric Clouds, which is understood to be premiering at a major international film festival soon, and...
- 11/28/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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