Estonia Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorKarlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival’s industry section, Eastern Promises, has unveiled its lineup of 35 film projects, which will be showcased during the Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch, First Cut+ Works in Progress and Odesa International Film Festival Works in Progress presentations.

Ted Sarandos To Be Named Entertainment Person Of The Year At Cannes Lions

K.J. Yossman The adaptation of T.M. Logan’s novel “The Holiday” has an exclusive trailer and a U.S.

David and Victoria Beckham own quite the inventory of mesmerising homes across the globe. One of which is their incredible home in the Cotswolds – a £6.2 million converted farmhouse where the couple like to relax with their children Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper.MORE: Inside David and Victoria Beckham's incredible holiday homeThe house has many magnificent features, including a tennis court which has since been converted into a football pitch for Romeo and David to practice on, a sauna and steam room and much more.WATCH: Brooklyn Beckham unveils touching new tattoo in honour of Nicola Peltz's familyYoungest Beckham son Cruz took to social media to show off one of the house's most overlooked yet unique additions – an outdoor plunge pool.

Based on a true story, Firebird is a meticulously researched and produced film about two young men on a military base in Soviet-occupied Estonia in the late 1970s.Sergey (Tom Prior) is a private just weeks away from discharge; Roman (Oleg Zagorodnii) is an officer and pilot, newly assigned to the base. Their attraction is almost immediate, unfolding with a tender intimacy which is beautifully, painfully naïve to the realities of their society – both military and civilian.Tom Prior and Oleg Zagorodnii in ‘Firebird’Firebird feels like a film for the ages, but also of the times.

Britain's Got Talent. The Welsh Of The West End is made up of ten professional performers who either currently perform, or have performed, in London's West End.

Christopher Vourlias Riding the high of a production-servicing boom, Estonia’s domestic industry has likewise shown no signs of slowing down. Here’s a roundup of top local productions in the pipeline, from producers who are searching for international partners in Cannes:The Invisible Fight Director: Rainer Sarnet Producers: Katrin Kissa, Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Alise Gelze, White Picture (Latvia), Amanda Livanou, Neda Film (Greece), Helen Vinogradov, Helsinki-filmi (Finland) Sarnet, whose fantasy-drama “November” played at Tribeca in 2017, returns with a ‘70s-set kung-fu comedy about a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he’s capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.

Christopher Vourlias Estonia received a splashy introduction to the limelight in 2019, when it played host to Christopher Nolan’s time-bending sci-fi drama “Tenet.” The biggest production to shoot in the Baltic nation to date, Warner Bros.’ $200 million blockbuster landed Estonia squarely on the map for international film and television productions.Though the coronavirus pandemic arrived not long after principal photography wrapped, the industry hasn’t skipped a beat since, with both domestic and international production — drawn by a cash rebate of up to 30% —continuing apace. This year, says Estonian Film Institute CEO Edith Sepp, there are no signs of slowing down.“The Estonian cash rebate has been booming more than ever in the first half of this year,” she says.

Christopher Vourlias In the days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, organizers of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival quickly shifted gears to offer whatever support they could.

Christopher Vourlias The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival is already recognized as one of the most influential industry showcases in the Baltic and Nordic regions. But the organizing team of the festival, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, are keen to point out that the popular event isn’t just a one-off affair.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In response to shifting dynamics at film festivals, many of which have been impacted by the pandemic, a new curated Spanish film platform, Panoramic.film is entering the market.Spearheaded by curator Xavier Puerto, director of the Festival REC de Tarragona and a Spanish-language film programmer for the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, Panoramica’s offer is two-fold: “We offer festivals the possibility of completing their line-up with especially curated programs and, through our selective catalogue, offer filmmakers the chance to see their films extend their rounds on the international festival circuit,” said Puerto.The idea for the platform came about after conversations with various festival heads and cultural institutions as they grappled with the changes brought about by the pandemic, with many forced to hold online or hybrid editions. “On the other hand, it is a common conversation among filmmakers that most films, for a variety of reasons, have a very ‘short’ life on the festival scene, regardless of their quality,” Puerto noted.With a number of festivals coming to realize that a hybrid version has enabled them to reach audiences beyond their borders, many have embraced it for the long term.“We want to help festivals with the sometimes rather complex process of presenting a hybrid version and help its audiences discover hidden gems,” said Puerto.In practice, Panoramica is integrated into the programming of the festival itself, as well as on its website with a series of conditions such as viewings with geo-blocking, specific dates or viewing limitations.

Ukraine won Eurovision 2022 in a historic evening in Turin.

Avi Federgreen’s Indiecan Entertainment is launching a genre-focused distribution arm, hot on the heels of releasing Junta Yamaguchi’s time paradox comedy Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes.

Guy Lodge Film CriticAt a crucial point in “Firebird,” two perfectly chiseled servicemen steal away from the Soviet Air Force base where they’re stationed for a skinny dip in the Baltic Sea. Behind craggy rocks and away from prying eyes, they kiss, before one gives the other a charged underwater handjob; as they jointly climax, director Peeter Rebane cuts to an image of two fighter jets blazing overhead, the lovers’ clenched moans drowned in a roaring sonic boom.

Tristan Priimägi Elmo Nüganen’s historical crime thriller “Melchior the Apothecary” has become the first Estonian film to cross the 50,000 admission mark at the local box office in the two years of the pandemic. The film, which was released by Hea Film on April 11, tops the box office with 57,456 admissions, according to Film New Europe. The pic is the initial instalment in a trilogy – the first time a movie trilogy has been produced in Estonia.

Ben Croll Boasting a network of more than 700 screens in France, CGR Cinemas became a powerhouse in Gallic exhibition by developing markets beyond the country’s metropolitan hubs, and by foregrounding technological advancements. Of late, the cinema chain has looked outward, exporting its proprietary Immersive Cinema Experience (ICE) model to Spain, Saudi Arabia, the U.S.

A Stand Up for Ukraine event taking place Saturday saw $4.6 billion in grants and $5.5 billion in loans pledged for humanitarian efforts being undertaken by Ukraine and other European countries, UN agencies and grassroots organizations to support all those impacted by the Russian invasion.

Visitors of a Scots nature reserve have enjoyed the first-ever live footage of a wild white-tailed eagle hatching in the UK.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentTrustNordisk, which is at the Canneseries Festival (Apr. 1-6) with “The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen,” has scored a raft of deals on Christian Tafdrup’s psychological horror film “Speak No Evil.”The Sundance film follows a Danish family who befriends a Dutch family while vacationing in Tuscany.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney Plus confirmed launch dates — and pricing — for the 42 countries and 11 new territories across Europe, West Asia and Africa.Disney’s flagship streaming service will bow in South Africa on May 18, followed by all other countries listed in June (see below for dates and pricing). The media conglomerate earlier this year announced plans for summer 2022 expansion to countries including Turkey, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.The countries set to get Disney Plus are: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine Territories, Poland, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City and Yemen.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBlue Note New York has announced the 11th Annual Sony Presents Blue Note Jazz Festival. The festival kicks off on June 1 with a free show in Washington Square Park headlined by Robert Glasper — who performed on the Oscars Sunday night — in association with Washington Square Park Conservancy.Taking place at major venues across New York City, including Blue Note New York, Sony Hall, The Town Hall, and SummerStage in Central Park, this year’s festival features performances from George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, Chris Botti, Charles Lloyd, Macy Gray, Kenny G, Al Di Meola, Madeleine Peyroux, Dave Holland & Kenny Barron, Robert Cray, Kenny Garrett, José James, Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), Bilal, DOMi & JD Beck, Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Theo Croker and so many more legends, with a major headliner announcement on April 26.

Vladimir Putin once warned that he could have Russian troops in six capital cities in just 48 hours, it is claimed.

Naman Ramachandran Heavily localized content complementing a wealth of new and library offerings out of the U.S. is very much the modus operandi for HBO Max in Europe.The WarnerMedia-backed streamer, which will soon be combined with Discovery Plus, rolled out recently to 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), as well as Portugal and the Netherlands, with Turkey, Greece, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to follow later this year.

The official trailer for the movie Firebird has been released ahead of its theatrical release next month.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become known globally as a key figure in Ukraine's response to the Russian invasion.

A Russian oligarch was found dead in the garage of his luxury UK mansion just days after the invasion of Ukraine commenced.

Banijay has paused all activity in Russia until further notice.