ESTONIA by Juuso Syrjä and Måns Månsson is in pre-production
In Development February 2022
Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film Centre
The Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film Centre has granted support to five so-called lightweight productions, i.e. works with limited budgets, mainly produced in Belgium and completed in a relatively short space of time. Among them:
- SAVONS LES MEUBLES by Catherine Cosme, producer: EAVE graduate Julie Esparbes
CNC
- TEMPS MORT by Jonas d’Adesky, co-producer: EAVE graduate Aurélien Bodinaux has been selected during the first 2022 session of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC) second advance on receipts committee.
Estonian Film Institute
Estonian Film Institute distributes first round of project funding for 2022:
- NEVER ALONE by Klaus Härö, producer: EAVE+ graduate Kristian Taska
- BARBARIANS by Juris Kursietis, producer: EAVE graduate Evelin Soosaar-Penttilä
- APATHY by Alexandros Avranas, producer: EAVE group leader and Estonian National Coordinator Riina Sildos
FFA
The German Film Funding Agency FFA supports the production of 8 films and 5 scripts, among them:
- IRGENDWANN WERDEN WIR UNS ALLES ERZÄHLEN by Emily Atef, producer: EAVE graduate Karsten Stöter
Georgian National Film Centre
- DARK STAR by Alexander Tzabadze, producer: EAVE graduate Vladimer Katchavara received a Georgian NFC Grant for Feature Film Projects in January.
- ESTONIA by Juuso Syrjä and Måns Månsson, co-producer: EAVE group leader and Estonian National Coordinator Riina Sildos is in pre-production. In detail, the story is based on the true story of Europe’s deadliest maritime disaster of the 20th century and captures the true event of the sinking of the MS Estonia, the country’s largest ship. In September 1994, the cruise ferry was hit by a major storm, which led to uncontrolled tilting. Within one hour, the MS Estonia sank in Finnish waters in the Baltic Sea, claiming more than 850 lives. The series will chronicle the subsequent investigation launched jointly by Estonia, Finland and Sweden. Since the confidentiality agreement signed by all investigators and authorities ended in 2019, Estonia will deliver insights into conflicts, lies and conspiracy theories, which have recently emerged. The character-driven story will be told through the eyes of survivors, rescuers, family members, politicians, investigators and journalists. The 8 episode series is being produced by Matti Halonen and Johannes Lassila for Finnish Fisher King, and co-produced by Martina Stöhr and Petra Jönsson for Sweden’s Kärnfilm AB, André Logie for Belgium’s Panache Production, Riina Sildos for Estonia’s Amrion Oü, Swedish-Finnish streaming service C More and broadcaster TV4 and MTV Finland, in collaboration with Beta Film. Piodor Gustafsson (C More) and Jani Hartikainen (MTV Finland) will serve as the project’s executive producers. The project will be filmed on location in Finland, Sweden and Estonia, and the water scenes will be shot in the water tank sets in Brussels.
- THE OUTRUN by Nora Fingscheidt, co-producer: TTB and EAVE graduate, TTB group leader and German National Coordinator Jonas Weydemann is in pre-production. Academy Award-nominee Saoirse Ronan is set to star in director Nora Fingscheidt’s adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s best-selling memoir THE OUTRUN. Ronan stars as Rona who, fresh out of rehab, returns to the wild Orkney Islands after more than a decade away. As she reconnects with the dramatic landscape where she grew up, memories of her childhood merge with the more recent challenging events that have set her on the path to recovery. Fingscheidt’s debut feature SYSTEM CRASHER premiered at the 2019 Berlinale where it won the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize. The film later won eight German Film Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay among many other international awards. THE OUTRUN has been developed by Sarah Brocklehurst’s Brock Media, which will produce the feature alongside Ronan, Jack Lowden and Dominic Norris under their recently founded banner, Arcade Pictures, and with Mogambo’s Ignacio Salazar-Simpson and Ricardo Marco. They are joined by co-producers Jonas and Jakob D. Weydemann of Weydemann Bros. BBC Film and Screen Scotland supported the development of the project. Protagonist Pictures is executive producing and arranging the financing.
- BERLIN NOBODY by Ridley Scott and Jordan Scott, producer: EAVE+ graduate Jonas Katzenstein is in pre-production. Inspired by Nicholas Hogg’s 2015 novel “Tokyo” the film is set in the German capital and follows American social psychologist Ben Monroe as he investigates a local cult connected to a disturbing event. Meanwhile, his rebellious teenage daughter, Mazzy, gets involved with a mysterious local boy, who introduces her to the city’s underground party scene. Mazzy finds herself in great danger and Ben will need to race against the clock to save her. Set to start shooting in September, the film is produced by Scott Free’s Ridley Scott and Michael Pruss alongside augenschein’s Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo. Georgina Pope will also produce. The film is executive produced by augenschein’s Jonathan Saubach.
www.augenschein-filmproduktion.de
Page published 28 February 2022.
