Jaanika Arum graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in 2014 as an actress. She has varied experience acting in both film and theatre. For a wider audience she is mostly known for her work in the following films: Free Range by Veiko Õunpuu, The Days That Confused by Triin Ruumet, The Polar boy by Anu Aun, and Purge by Antti J.Jokinen. Jaanika Arum has created two solo performances: Falling.together.moment (Tartu New Theatre, 2015) and Betweenspace (Von Krahl Theatre, 2017). She has collaborated with different international and local artists for video and room installations. This year she graduated with a master’s degree in Contemporary Art from the Estonian Academy of Arts.
Project developed in BSR2020:
“Skin of Mandarin” (finished)
fiction, 15′, Estonia
Skin of a Mandarin is a sensitive story about ingrained traditions and beliefs through a world of a young woman Anna (25), whose mother has freshly passed away. She feels the necessity to say goodbye to her mother in her own organic and intimate way by dressing her mother’s body with her own hands. This act is not allowed by the rules of the Funeral Office, because it is medically inadvisable regarding the condition of the body after the accident. The story brings out empathy between two women with different world views in a very complex situation.
Raitis Ābele studied filmmaking at the New York Film Academy and also obtained a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Latvia. His most recent works are the historical docudrama Baltic Tribes | Last Pagans of Europe, and the psychedelic cinema-trip-dramedy Troubled Minds (to be released in late 2020). He made his first short film when he was 12 but international success only came much later when Raitis and Lauris Ābele co-directed the short film Castratus the Boar (alumni of Baltic Pitching Forum 2013) and won the Grand Prix at Tampere Short Film Festival in 2015. Apart from that the brothers play and compose music in two rock and post-metal bands – Soundarcade and Sonntags Legion.
Project developed in BSR 2020:
“Tool” (work-in-progress)
animation, 15′, Latvia
17th century. The Duke of Courland (60) returns from the colony in Gambia, Africa, with a mysterious black box. It turns out to be a plant with powers of medicine and even arousal. During the fancy celebration, servant Anti (17) observes an orgy of his noble masters induced by the fruits of the African plant. At night, together with his young girlfriend Mara (16), they steal and taste the forbidden fruits and dissolve in a mystical experience among themselves and wild nature. The theft is exposed but Mara is the only one to get punished. But this doesn’t stop Anti from saying – I NEED MORE!
Jorūnė Greičiūtė was born in 1991 in Vilnius, Lithuania. From 2009 to 2013 Jorūnė studied Philosophy at Vilnius University (BA). From 2009 to 2014 she worked as a volunteer in “Jaunimo linija” (“Youth Line”) – a charity organisation providing free emotional support per telephone and internet. Jorūnė has been working in the film industry on various international and Lithuanian projects as a costumer and costume continuity person since 2014. From 2016, she started working as a script supervisor. In 2018, Jorūnė began her MA studies in Film Directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre under the supervision of film director Audrius Stonys. She continues her work directing short films and assisting other directors on set. In 2020, her short film “Viskas gerai” (“It’s Alright”) won the Best Lithuanian Film Award at European Film Forum Scanorama, New Baltic Cinema programme.
Project developed in BSR 2020:
“The Trip” (finished)
fiction, 20′, Lithuania
Empty deserted places in a foreign land. A couple travels south to find their lost connection at a mysterious relationship resort. While on the trip there, their car disappears.
After studying psychology in Belgium, Wim Vanacker moved to Dublin to work as a psychologist in the field of drug addiction. Three years later, he picked up studying again at EICAR where he made two shorts. After graduating, he discovered NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema where he became the Head of the Script Department and the Project manager of the MEDIA funded project, European Short Pitch. Furthermore, he’s a member of the Selection Committee for the Official Short Film Competition of the Cannes Film Festival and he works as the Editorial Consultant for the First Cut Lab. On the side, he works as a script consultant, creative advisor, programmer, tutor and guest speaker for many workshops, film festivals and projects in development. As a writer/director, he’s currently developing the films [ˈsɪə.ri.əl ] and Psycho Revisited.
