Mikk Granström: For me movie means telling stories
Written by Eva Csölleová, Vítek Formánek
First moving picture was showed in Estonia already in 1896.First cinema was opened 12 years later in Tallin In 1930 local actress Miliza Korjus was nominated for Academy Award and she had successful career in Hollywood. Later the film was used mainly for propaganda reasons and after the death of Stalin the approach was more liberal but there was still censorship. In 1969 director Grigori Kromanov made a movie “ The Last Relic” which saw in Soviet Union incredible 45 million people. It was showed in more than 60 countries worldwide. After the collapse of Soviet Empire Estonia regained independence but state film funds dried up and cost of making films escalated, which hit rock bottom in 1996 when no film was made in Estonia. Since that time local filmmakers look for co-producers behind the border. At Zlín film festival we met Estonian director of film festival Black Nights Mikk Granström and asked him few questions. He was in a hurry –being a jury member-so his replies were very quick.
You were born in 1987 just 4 years before collapse of Soviet Union, which put production to stand still. What made you dream about becoming connected with film and become a film maker?
My father was a filmmaker so I grew up among films. So I thought its was quite logical for me to follow his steps.
You work 9 years for Black Night Film Festival which means you had to be pretty young when you started.Where did you get your experience, did you attend any film school or just gained experience as you worked?
I am 28 years old so I became a director when I was just 19.When I was a school boy I wanted to make movies and had two good friends and we did a movie together. But no one wanted to show them so we did amateur film festival at old school and it was successful so we kept do doing it for further five years. After that I got a call from director who asked me if I felt like organizing Black Nights Film Festival. Since I was only 19.I was very surprised and being inexperienced I made hundreds of mistakes but I learnt from them.
What is it actually Black Nights Film Festival? Also you run the JUST film, did you establish the festival or you took over and want to improve it, which is one of the reasons you travel festivals around the world?
Black Nights Film Festival is an international film festival and our goal is obviously showing interesting films from various countries. We have main competition, competition for young filmmakers, panels, discussions and workshops. Last year we have showed 254 full length movies. JUST film is sub-festival for Black Night Festival. In fact we have three sub-festivals, one is aimed at animation film, another for students and JUST is for children and youth. I took over and try to upgrade it as much as I can.
You also teach Film studies to kids at schools. What do you teach them? Do you tell them about whole history of Estonian cinematography even during Stalin era or just new trends and technology?
Of course I teach them general film history-American, European, Russian and I teach them story telling. For me the movie means telling stories. Young people have to understand how to tell the story. Obviously the director´s job, lights etc is also very important but story is the most important.
Estonia makes 6-7 films a year. Is it enough for your country or there could be more if there were more money? How is film funded in Estonia, by state and some ministry grants?
Obviously it´s not enough. We don´t do movies for children and youth, we make only dramas and documentaries. We are small country so obviously money for films are not big either. Ministry of Culture and Film Institute are two main bodies who put money into filmmaking. Ministry gives money to Fund who re-distribute them to filmmakers.TV doesn´t get involved at all but we have also small private companies.
You are close to Finland so it is natural for Estonian filmmakers to try and get co-producers in this country since you have similar language as well. Are films made also in English so they can be sold abroad?
Our last film was made in cooperation with Finland and it was nominated for Golden Globe. We don´t make that many films in cooperation with Finland, don´t ask me why. Yeah, we do films in Estonian language but if they go to competition, we of course put English subtitles there.
In 2002 Estonian film” Names in marble” was at home more successful than Lord of the Rings. What was so special at it and what is good attendance and what is box office hit?
It was a historical movie about Estonian independence so all school saw it which obviously boosted the attendance. It was based on book of Estonian history so it´s quite logical. Attendance depends if you make comedies or historical films based on true stories about our independence. Estonia is a small country so 10 000 viewers is rated as successful film.
You worked as an organizer of various amateur film festivals. Can you tell us how big is the amateur and independent scene in Estonia. Does it have any platform and market?
We have only four festivals for amateur films and two festivals for independent films. We don´t have any platform for independent film as such since we don´t have big mainstream so obviously we don´t need subculture.
Do you have any big studios where all films are made and even foreign crews come to shoot or you use various locations around the country?
We don´t have big studio but film in locations and have two big companies which promote them.
I
s film popular in Estonia or it is overshadowed by theatre and do you think Estonia will grow as film nation or it will stay as small as it is?
Film is very popular and people go to movies and they want to learn about art and it´s history. We show European films and American indies in cinemas. Big blockbusters like Harry Potter and that kind of stuff are showed in mainstream multiplexis.I think we get bigger and bigger and within 20 years Estonia will be big film country.
How much is Czech feature and animated film known in Estonia. Do you know names like Karel Zeman and Jiří Trnka?
Everybody in Estonia knows Karel Zeman, he is legendary guy. Many Czech films are shown at Black Nights Festival and our audience knows about Czech feature films. I came to Zlín to make contacts and also choose films for our festival. I am a jury member and saw a movie called PAT a MAT and I loved them. They are cute and I will take them to our festival. I like it here at Zlín, they look after us very well and I like how they structure the programme. They put together old movies, feature films. I think that is also important in order to make festival successful.