03/04/2006

2005 was a landmark year for the Estonian film industry, with a record number of domestic premieres (eight, including two documentaries), one of which ranked number five at the Top Ten: Mat The Cat, the first feature film by René Vilbre and the first Estonian children’s film made in seven years.

However, as stressed by Martin Aadamsoo, Managing Director of the Estonian Film Foundation (EFF), only three of the eight titles released in 2005 were shot on film, "partly indicating budget constraints, but perhaps also signalling a beginning of a major change in the way films are made and distributed in Estonia."

In a small nation (of under 2m) with limited film funding and venues (only 57 cinemas across the country), digital technology has allowed a new series of filmmakers – such as Rainer Sarnet, writer/director of The Curse of a Werewolf – to come to the forefront.

This comical murder mystery, produced by Anneli Ahven (see Cineuropa interview) from Exit Film and released last December in Estonia, was actually a pilot for a series of six low budget features (under €100,000) co-financed by the EFF, Estonian TV and the Estonian Cultural Endowment, which will be produced between 2005 and 2007.

According to Aadamsoo, digital distribution is also a crucial part of the EFF’s new film strategy for the next five years as it will provide a new platform "not only for Estonian, but also for European film and classics from all ages…bringing films to communities that have never had cinemas". As digital filmmaking will probably become a standard for the future Baltic film industry, training new talent with the latest digital equipment is essential and part of the mandate of the new Baltic Film and Media School that will open in Tallinn this year.