With the first few days, the film crew has raised almost 2,500 dollars through crowdfunding, which makes up almost 25% of their goal.
According to director Oskar Lehemaa, “Bad Hair” has received support from friends, acquaintances, families and colleagues. “But it’s also really interesting to see new, unknown people supporting the project. That shows that our hairy campaign is slowly working to draw in international horror film fans,” the director explains.
The short film “Bad Hair” tells the story of Leo, who struggles with balding and his body image issues. He uses a mystical hair growth serum that starts causing grotesque distortions to his body. Now he has to stop the horrific changes before he loses the last of his hair... or something much worse. The leading role in “Bad Hair” is played by well-known, Estonian actor Sten Karpov.
Oskar started working on the film six years ago: “I’ve been growing together with “Bad Hair”. During the long pre-production period, I made many new friends and learned a lot about filmmaking,” Oskar says.
According to the film’s producer, Evelin Penttilä, the crowdfunding campaign is happening at the same time as the last preparations for the shooting period in June. “”Bad Hair” is a technically very complicated film for the whole crew – even though the film has only one actor and it takes place in just one room, the special effects make it very tricky. Despite our small budget, we have set ourselves the goal of achieving very realistic make-up and special effects, which will work even better once our post-production wizards have enhanced them even more.” Penttilä adds that they decided to use an international crowdfunding platform to reach horror film fans who might want to support the film.
Of course, director Oskar is also a very big horror film fan himself: “Horror films can give you a raw experience in the cinema – something that you feel with your body more than with your mind. At the same time, a good horror film can take you through intense emotions and touch on important topics. Fear is something genuine, something so characteristic and even necessary that we voluntarily throw ourselves on the path of terror. And, of course, good horror films are just really fun to watch.”
Oskar Lehemaa is a director and screenwriter who grew up in Pärnu and studied in the Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication Institute. For the last ten years, Oskar has mainly been working on commercials and television but has always found the time and energy to devote to strange and unique film projects. Oskar is currently also working on a full length puppet animation film “The Old Man”, which was developed out of a short animated film series by the same title.
The main role is played by Sten Karpov who is an Estonian actor born and raised in Viljandi. Sten currently is working at the Endla theatre in Pärnu and has played in several domestic TV series and feature films, including “Bad Hair Friday”, “The Swingers”, “The Pink Sweater” and “The Little Comrade”. In 2008, he received the Crystal Slipper Award given to young actors for success with their first stage work and in 2015 he received the Ants Lauter Award.
The film is produced by Stellar Film, founded in 2015. Producer Evelin Penttilä’s filmography includes the popular youth film “Zero Point”, the local box office hits “Class Reunion” and “Class Reunion 2: A Wedding and a Funeral”, Martti Helde’s visual theatre play “The Old Man and the Sea” and the Icelandic-Estonian-Norwegian co-production film “Mihkel”, which is set to premiere soon.
The film is funded by the Estonian Film Instiute, the Estonian Cultural Endowment and supported by Angel Films Estonia, Cinerama, the Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication Institute and Widescreen Studios.
“Bad Hair” will screen in Estonian cinemas and horror film festivals over the world in 2019.
