03/12/2018 - Baltic Event Works in Progress showcased 11 new and exciting film projects to industry professionals

At the Baltic Event co-production market in Tallinn, it has become customary to show the industry professionals in attendance a preview of upcoming feature films from the Baltic Sea region. This year, the line-up consisted of 11 projects, many of which confirmed the strong ties between the different countries in the area.

All five Estonian feature-film projects were full-length debuts by young filmmakers. At the more realistic end of the spectrum, Rain [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Janno Jürgens dissects the title character’s complex relationships with the other powerful men in his life – his father and his brother. In another social drama with a character’s name in the title – Sandra Gets a Job – a scientist called Sandra is laid off work and forced to look for new employment. In the process, her social inadequacies become painfully evident. 

Two Estonian projects are setting their sights on historical events. Good Bye Soviet Union [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lauri Randla
film profile] by Lauri Randla mines the rich era of the Soviet regime in a coming-of-age story about a boy whose teenage turmoil coincides with the collapse of the USSR. Another project, Truth and Justice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Best Short Film Academy Award nominee Tanel Toom, takes on the arduous task of adapting Estonia’s most canonical literary work of the same name for the big screen. Truth and Justice will be the fifth and final full-length feature film to come out under the aegis of Estonia 100, and tells the epic story of a fierce rivalry between two neighbours, Andres and Pearu, who are polar opposites in terms of both their characters and their approaches to life.

On the heels of his successful one-hour sci-fi movie Crumbs [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Spaniard Miguel Llansó presented an Estonian-Spanish-Ethiopian project called Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miguel Llansó
film profile], a memorable paranoia-laced thriller set partly in a computer program called Psychobook. The film stood out thanks to its DIY approach and bizarre effects, as well as its stop-motion and live-action sequences.

A couple of established Finnish filmmakers had got Baltic states on board as co-producing partners for their films. J-P Valkeapää’s dreamy (or nightmarish) Dogs Don’t Wear Pants [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: J-P Valkeapää
film profile] follows a widower, Juha, into the world of S&M and strangulation sessions that conjure up recurring visions of his deceased wife, which get more and more real every time. Meanwhile, Zaida Bergroth’s Maria’s Paradise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zaida Bergroth
film profile] resurrects the tale of the charismatic 1920s Finnish sect leader and preacher Maria Åkerblom, and two girls – the obedient Salome and the tough Malin – who are caught in her web of seduction and domination. 

Finally, Latvia’s City on the River is a welcome return to historical themes by director Viesturs Kairišs, after The Chronicles of Melanie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and focuses on a sign painter called Ansis, who might be a man in demand under every regime, but whose occupation doesn’t save him from having to make vital decisions when he gets involved with a Jewish girl and a Latvian girl.

Here is the full list of projects presented at the event:

Goodbye Soviet Union - Lauri Randla
Production companies: Exitfilm (Estonia), Bufo (Finland)

Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miguel Llansó
film profile] - Miguel Llansó
Production companies: Alasti Kino (Estonia), Lanzadera Films (Spain)

Rain [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Janno Jürgens
Production companies: Alasti Kino (Estonia), Furia Film (Poland)

Sandra Gets a Job - Kaupo Kruusiauk
Production company: Kopli Kinokompanii (Estonia)

Truth and Justice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Tanel Toom
Production company: Allfilm (Estonia)

Aurora [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miia Tervo
film profile] - Miia Tervo
Production company: Dionysos Films (Finland)

Dogs Don’t Wear Pants [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: J-P Valkeapää
film profile] - J-P Valkeapää
Production companies: Helsinki-Filmi (Finland), Tasse Film (Latvia)

Maria’s Paradise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Zaida Bergroth
film profile] – Zaida Bergroth
Production companies: Komeetta (Finland), Kaiho Republic (Finland), Stellar Film (Estonia)

24 Hr Sunshine - Juri Poskus
Production company: FA Filma (Latvia)

City on the River - Viesturs Kairišs
Production companies: Ego Films (Latvia), 8Heads Productions (Czech Republic), Artbox (Lithuania)

The Flood Won’t Come - Marat Sargsyan
Production company: Tremora (Lithuania)