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BERLINALE 2021 EFM

EXCLUSIVE: Trailer for EFM title Dawn of War

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- 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

EXCLUSIVE: Trailer for EFM title Dawn of War
Dawn of War by Margus Paju

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 art historian Maria (Agnese Cīrule).

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This is the plot of Margus Paju's sophomore feature, Dawn of War [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(previously known as O2). 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 Secret Society of Souptown [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
. Other cast members include Kaspars Znotinš, Doris Tislar, Rein Oja and Elmo Nüganen.

Dawn of War was produced by Esko Rips for Nafta Films and Kristian Taska for Taska Film (both Estonian outfits), and was co-produced by Finland's Solar Films, Lithuania's In Script and Latvia's Film Angels Productions with the support of the Estonian Film Institute, the Estonian Ministry of Defence, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Finnish Film Foundation, the National Film Centre of Latvia, the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, the Lithuanian Film Centre and the European Union’s Creative Europe – MEDIA programme. It was also co-financed by the Viru Film Fund and the Tartu Film Fund.

The war drama will be presented at this year's European Film Market (1-5 March), with two dedicated screenings taking place on Monday 1 March (at 1.10 pm) and Tuesday 2 March (at 6 pm). Kaleidoscope is in charge of its world sales.

Check out our exclusive trailer below:

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