BLACK NIGHTS 2021 Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event
Baltic Event presents a diverse line-up of projects
by Marta Bałaga
- The co-production market will focus on the UK this year, and will showcase stories ranging from a dramedy about a gynaecologist to a folk-horror flick
The UK will be the focus country at this year’s Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, Cineuropa has learnt, with two projects chosen to represent it: Jonathan Birch’s Equinox, a folk-horror set in Ukraine, and MS Estonia, depicting the story of Europe’s worst peacetime ferry disaster. A side programme of UK films will also screen as part of the 25th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, while the summit itself will celebrate its 20th anniversary taking place in Tallinn as well as online, focusing on sustainability and, rather ambitiously, the future of filmmaking.
“We are excited to host such an array of award-winning filmmakers, among them seven female directors, and established producers – a number of whom have presented their projects at Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event before,” observed the head of the event, Marge Liiske.
Among the selected titles, the sports film Our Erika will spotlight an Estonian Olympic champion, while the drama-thriller Lioness, the second feature by Liina Triškina-Vanhatalo, will be produced by Ivo Felt. More female leads will be shown in Latvia’s Hysterias, a collection of short films by Ieva Norvele, Adriana Roze, Liene Linde, Alise Zariņa and Marta Elīna Martinsone, and Finland’s Lex Julia – a psychological drama by Laura Hyppönen.
Ann-Kristin Reyels will deliver quite an unusual story with The Odalisques, a dramedy about a gynaecologist who goes from treating sex workers to pimping them. Sweden’s You Can Dance by Katarina Launing will focus on a 75-year-old man coming out as gay, and Tereza Nvotova’s The Father will deal with a much darker subject – just like the Russian project Yurki by Vlada Senkova, showing the current critical situation in Belarus.
Lithuania’s Fake News by Karolis Kaupinis will feature a hunger strike during the restoration of the country’s independence in 1991, and the Chilean documentary hybrid Our Memory by Matias Rojas Valencia is based on the author’s research into a powerful enclave in Southern Chile and the influence it has on the country to this day. The Moon Is a Father of Mine by George Ovashvili, Role Model [+see also:
film review
film profile] (working title: Father Figure) by Nejc Gazvoda and Two Times One by Vladimir Petev will round off the selection, with Konstantin Bojanov’s Gambit providing some much-needed thrills, as it is an art heist film inspired by real life.
The 2021 Baltic Event Co-Production Market will take place from 24-25 November. You can find the full line-up below:
Fake News - Karolis Kaupinis (Lithuania)
Writer: Karolis Kaupinis
Producers: Marija Razgutė, M-Films
The Father – Tereza Nvotova (Slovakia)
Writers: Tereza Nvotova, Dusan Budzak
Producers: Veronika Pastekova, Danae Production
Role Model [+see also:
film review
film profile] (working title: Father Figure) - Nejc Gazvoda (Slovenia)
Writer: Nejc Gazvoda
Producers: Ales Pavlin, Perfo
Gambit - Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria)
Writers: Konstantin Bojanov, Petar Krumov
Producers: Katya Trichkova, Contrast Films
Hysterias - Ieva Norvele, Adriana Roze, Liene Linde, Alise Zariņa, Marta Elīna Martinsone (Latvia)
Writers: Ieva Norvele, Adriana Roze, Liene Linde, Alise Zariņa, Marta Elīna Martinsone
Producers: Aija Bērziņa, Tasse Film
Lex Julia - Laura Hyppönen (Finland)
Writer: Laura Hyppönen
Producers: Essi Haukkamaa, Merja Ritola, Greenlit Productions
Lioness - Liina Triškina-Vanhatalo (Estonia)
Writer: Liina Triškina-Vanhatalo
Producers: Ivo Felt, Allfilm
The Moon Is a Father of Mine - George Ovashvili (Georgia)
Writer: George Ovashvili
Producers: George Ovashvili, Wagonnet Films
The Odalisques - Ann-Kristin Reyels (Germany)
Writer: Nataly Savina
Producers: Titus Kreyenberg, unafilm
Our Erika - German Golub (Estonia)
Writers: German Golub, Mehis Pihla
Producers: Marju Lepp, Filmivabrik
Our Memory - Matias Rojas Valencia (Chile)
Writer: Matias Rojas Valencia
Producers: Tomas Gerlach Mora, A Simple Vista
Two Times One - Vladimir Petev (Bulgaria)
Writer: Vladimir Petev
Producers: Vanya Rainova, Portokal
You Can Dance - Katarina Launing (Sweden)
Writers: Ida Kjellin, Martina Cecilia Befring
Producers: Peter Krupenin, HOBAB
Yurki - Vlada Senkova (Russia)
Writers: Vlada Senkova, Larisa Oleinik
Producers: Larisa Oleinik, DOKA
Focus country selection:
Equinox - Jonathan Birch (UK)
Writer: Jonathan Birch
Producers: Sol Papadopoulos, Hurricane Films
MS Estonia (UK)
Producers: Sarah Laita, The Electric Shadow Company
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