22-09-2008

Autumn Ball wins grand prix in Anapa

By Martin Aadamsoo

    Veiko Ounpuu's Estonian box office hit and Venice Orrizonti winner Autumn Ball picked up the Kinoshok grand prize, the critics' award, and the press prize at the Anapa film festival for former Soviet Union territories.

    The film has also done well in foreign sales, with distribution through Atalanta Filmes in Portugal, Skalvijos Kino Centras in Lithuania, Civite Films in Spain, and Mokum Film Distribution in the Netherlands. Autumn Ball collected 38,000 admissions Estonia in 2007, climbing to 9th place in the overall box office for the year, a surprise result for an edgy independent production.

    Ounpuu is currently shooting his second feature, The Temptations of Saint Tony, a co-production between Estonia's Homeless Bob Production, ATMO from Sweden, and Bronson Club from Finland. The film, which received 115,000 euros in support from Eurimage this summer, is also funded by the EU's MEDIA programme, the Estonian Film Foundation, the Swedish Film Institute, and the Finnish Film Foundation. The film is budgeted at 1 million euros and is scheduled for cinema release in September, 2009. The producers are Katrin Kissa, Kristina Aberg, Tero Kaukomaa, and Jesse Fryckman.