photo: Allfilm
TALLINN: The year 2020 was an extraordinary year for the Estonian film industry. The coronavirus pandemic had a devastating effect on the industry and cinema attendance all over Europe. However, on the positive side, the local market share of Estonian films rose to a record high, garnering 26.72% of the total number of cinema admissions. The per capita rate of cinema going in Estonia was still relatively healthy at 1.35.
The most watched film was Christopher Nolan’s
Tenet, which was partly filmed in Estonia. For most of the year, Estonia kept its cinemas open, with special security measures and conditions of keeping cinema halls half full.
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Goodbye Soviet Union
Elen Lotman, ESC (Photo by Heikki Leis)
One of the highlights of the annual EnergaCAMERIMAGE festival, the IMAGO Diversity and Inclusion panels give cinematographers across the globe the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with colleagues. Started in 2016, the panels are free-wheeling explorations into how gender and ethnic minorities can gain footholds in the field of cinematography.
IMAGO, the International Federation of Cinematographers, came together in the 1990s as a way to coordinate industry guilds and societies. Its membership now represents more than 4,000 cinematographers from 56 national societies. Through its committees, the federation campaigns for cinematographers’ rights, including working conditions, authorship legislation, and staffing initiatives.
London-based sales outfit One Eyed Films has secured international sales rights to Estonian comedy
Goodbye Soviet Union, which scooped the audience award at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival last month.
One Eyed Films negotiated the deal with Estonian production company Exitfilm, which excludes Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and CIS.
The Estonia-Finland co-production marks the feature directorial debut of Lauri Randla, who also wrote the coming-of-age story set during the final days of the Soviet Union.
The comedy centres on a boy named Johannes, who is raised by his eccentric grandparents in a Soviet Estonia town, while his political activist mother seeks work in the West. As Lenin falls, the family come together to navigate the collapse of the Soviet empire.