The film, a Chechnian refugee themed thriller, had been in the works from the beginning of the century. It finally materialised as a multinationally cast contemporary story with German-Turkish actors taking the roles of refugee Chechens stuck in Estonia, and pieced together a co-production scheme including an unusual mix of countries.
The film's overall budget was €1.28 million, financed by the Estonian Film Foundation, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Ministry of Culture of Estonia, FilmFörderung Hamburg, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, ARD Degeto, Finnish Film Foundation, YLE, Irish Film Board, and the EU MEDIA programme.
Initially titled Kid and Killer, the film was directed by 37-year-old Hannu Salonen who was born in Finland but has been residing in Germany for over a decade. The film will be released next in Finland at the end of March.
Vasha was written by Mart Kivastik and Katrin Laur of Estonia and the director, who settled on the final script version. Shot in Estonia and Germany and featuring a non-native speaking cast, the film leaves the audience with a slightly odd feeling as most of the dialogue is in English, and pretty broken at that.
Credits:
Director: Hannu Salonen
Writers: Mart Kivastik, Katrin Laur, Hannu Salonen
Director of Photography: Rein Kotov
Art design: Jaagup Roomet
Music: Ray Harman
Producers: Piret Tibbo-Hudgins (Allfilm, Estonia), Philipp Homberg (Homberg Filmproduction, Germany)
Co-producers: Juonifilmi, Finland; Wide Eyes Films, Ireland
Principal cast:
Mehemet Kurtulus - Artur
Tim Seyfi - Globe
Adnan Maral - Kerim
Mart Müürisepp - Tom
Malla Malmivaara - Angelina
Jan Uuspõld - Jüri
Rein Oja - Rain
