1. Your latest film Eeva, which you co-directed alongside Morten Tšinakov, had its world premiere at the prestigious PÖFF Shorts in Tallinn in November of last year. Last month it also screened in Berlinale Shorts – Berlin International Film Festival’s official short film competition – which was accompanied by a Q&A at the festival. Congratulations on this amazing success!
What are your impressions after the screening? What was the Q&A like?
What does this success mean for you personally and professionally?
Thank you! It has been a great honour to have our film screen at two prestigious festivals. Firstly in Estonia where most of the film was created and where I’ve been living and working for several years now.
And, of course, Berlinale is a major world festival. The Berlinale Shorts programme screens only 20 shorts from the entire world, most of which are live-action films, and only three animations, so getting selected and being able to participle is very lucky in and of itself.
Also, this was the first time that either a Croatian or Estonian animated short was selected for Berlinale Shorts, so it was a great honour to represent for the first time these two small countries, which happen to be big in animation.
The screening went really well and it was an opportunity for many people to see the film on the big screen. After the screening there was a Q&A with Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck, Head of Berlinale Shorts, and I had the opportunity to talk to the audience. The feedback was all really positive!
For me, this success is a recognition of the effort and work we invested in this film. Everyone knows that making an animated film requires an awful lot of patience, long-term work and uncertainty, so it is very fortunate to be able to show it on the big screen and get a positive response from the audience.
I hope that this success and recognition will be a helpful tailwind in the production of the next film we are preparing.
2. It is safe to say that you and Morten Tšinakov work really well together. Having previously collaborated on The Stork and A Demonstration of Brilliance in Four Acts,
Eeva is your third creative collaboration. All three titles have had rich festival lives and garnered success with audiences and juries of different festivals.
Tell us a bit more about this collaboration. How did you first meet Morten and how did you come to work together?
Do you have any new projects in the works?
Morten and I met at the Department of Animation at the Estonian Academy of Arts and soon realised we share a common language, we both like the Estonian sense of humour and surrealism. While I was still in college, I worked as an animator at the oldest Estonian animation studio, Eesti Joonisfilm in Tallinn. After graduating, we co-directed our first joint project A Demonstration of Brilliance in Four Acts there, setting up the first co-production between Eesti Joonisfilm and Adriatic Animation. That was our first serious project and a really important learning experience.
To our great surprise, this debut of ours became a great success, winning among others the Animafest Award for Best Croatian Film, the Grand Prix at the Etiuda&Anima in Krakow and a Special Mention at Sommets du cinéma d’animation in Montreal. The creative team that came together during this first film again joined forces on The Stork, which among other recognitions won the Audience Award at Animafest Zagreb and was awarded Best Estonian film at the EFTA – Estonian Film and Television Awards. And finally, Eeva was completed in 2022.
How does this collaboration work?
Ever since our first collaboration, we have developed a certain creative workflow. Morten would write the first version of the script and afterwards we would work together on every aspect of the film. Throughout production the story would change and get new solutions, we would plan in detail every detail of the scenes, character design, organisation of movement, rhythm, editing, etc. We would build the film as a sort of mosaic or collage that only obtains its final shape over time. Also, in addition to the visual aspect, music and sound design in the film are very important to us. In the early stages of animatics development, we think about what sort of sound could accompany the visuals. Morten has written the music for our two last films and I accompany him on the violin and vocals in several sequences. An animated film always involves teamwork and I like to work with other creative people since it allows us to produce something we could not individually.
Of course, each project is a different story and I also like to work alone. For example, in 2019 I directed and animated a music video for a song by Irish musician Glen Hansard, and that solo approach was also interesting to me because it is more intuitive.
3. Can you tell us a bit more about your animated short Eeva – how did its truly though-provoking theme come about? How long did you work on the film and what was the process like? Do you know when Croatian audience will get to see it?
It is primarily a story about the loss of a loved one, about the stages of grieving, but the story also deals with the complexity of human relationships and the mysteries of the human psyche. The film offers us an up-close look at one day in Eva’s life; actually, we follow her subjective view of the world and even peek into her dreams, which reveal some disturbing secrets. Nevertheless, the film is open to interpretation and does not provide answers, but raises questions instead. The theme is rather heavy, but it also contains a hefty dose of humour. The first idea for the story actually came from Morten’s dream. He dreamt a scene we see in the film – the one in which a woodpecker writes out a message in Morse code with its beak. The scene seemed so intriguing to us that we decided to create a story around it.
Three years passed from writing the first version of the script to the completion of the film. Of course, the pandemic slowed us down as well, since we had to work on the scenes remotely and communicate with the animators and the sound designer over the internet. On the other hand, I think this production was our saving grace during the pandemic, giving us meaning and providing new challenges daily, during strictest lockdowns and a time of uncertainty. In the final phase, when the lockdown relaxed, we worked on sound design in Zagreb. And also, we recently learned that the film has been selected for Animafest, so the Croatian audience will have a chance to see it in Zagreb at the start of June.
4. After studying at the Academy in Zagreb, you continued your training in animated film in Krakow, followed by Prague, and then Tallinn, where you currently live and work.
What led you to Krakow, and then to Prague, and what made you stay in Tallinn?
I started my studies in Zagreb at the Department of Animated Film and New Media, while an important part of my education was Animafest Zagreb, where I watched animated films every year. During my studies, I was generally interested in the aesthetics and complex history of Eastern Europe, so the Erasmus exchanges I did in these two cities, offered a chance to study their art and culture up close and develop a signature style and mode of expression along the way. In Zagreb, I learned the importance of experimentation in film and I was particularly impressed by the lectures of the late Ivan Ladislav Galeta. In Prague and Krakow, I focused on graphic techniques, illustration, and literary and film analysis. The Academy in Tallinn impressed me the most with its professional focus on animated film. It was truly a privilege to learn from Priit and Olga Pärn and be surrounded by all of these authors who live and work in that city. There I learned the importance of dedicated focus and work discipline. The twisted Estonian sense of humour has definitely been an influence as well.
Some advice for young animation students?
I would advise them not to be afraid of venturing into unknown waters and to go where their interests take them. I would also say that it’s important to continue learning throughout our lives, to expand our knowledge and work diligently. That success comes from inspiration is a big myth. I would say that constant exploration and work discipline are vital.
5. Apart from the world of animation, you are also active as an illustrator, having, among others, created the illustrations for the children’s book written by famous Croatian writer Olja Savičević Ivančević, Moj prijatelj Mačkodlak. I read in an interview that you create all of your illustrations steering clear of computer screens – creating drawings in the most traditional way, using pencil and paper.
What is the difference (for you personally) between creating illustrations and animations? Do you enjoy one more than the other? In the future, do you plan to pursue both of these art forms or perhaps opt for just one?
I have always been interested in literature and the way images combine with text, which is why I love illustrating books. I cannot decide on just one of these two interests because both represent a wonderful world and offer a different approach.
An animated film often entails teamwork within a film studio, and illustration offers a more intimate approach to work. I spend too much time in front of the screen anyway, so I prefer to do illustrations on paper using classic techniques. It is a soothing, almost meditative process for. It is also very intuitive and tactile, as I try to capture the atmosphere that is somewhere between fantasy and reality. My drawings are complex and full of details, because as a child I loved leafing through picture books, studying the details and letting my imagination run free. I think an illustration is not just a pretty picture in a book – it carries a great responsibility as the embodiment of the story and can affect the readers on a cognitive and emotional level.
My first works as illustrator were a collaboration with Estonian author Indrek Koff and the translation of that book (Flowers of Fever) was recently published by publisher Mala zvona in Zagreb. In Croatia, my first collaboration was with Olja Savičević Ivančević and her book Moj prijatelj Mačkodlak won the Grigor Vitez Award for illustration. The translation of that book will soon be published in Estonia.