NEWS Dark Paradise

An Antidote

to the Eat-Pray-Love Culture

The new feature film Dark Paradise, directed by award-winning director Triin Ruumet (The Days that Confused, 2016), has entered the post-production phase. The film with the budget of 1.5 million EUR is produced as a co-project of Estonia and France.

By Maria Ulfsak Photos by Heikki Leis, Virge Viertek and Felix Laasme

The producers of the film are Elina Litvinova (Three Brothers) and Jeremy Forni (Chevaldeuxtrois). The film will be completed by the first half of 2022, yet the premiere in Estonia is planned for spring 2023.

Triin Ruumet completed the screenplay of Dark Paradise in collaboration with Livia Ulman and Andris Feldmanis who are also the screenwriters of Compartment No. 6 – a feature film whose screenplay was completed together with director Juho Kuosmanen, and nominated for the Golden Globe, and shortlisted for the Academy Award in the Best International Feature Film category.

PERSONAL AND UNIVERSAL STORY Dark Paradise follows a 27-year-old woman called Karmen. After her father’s death, she commits an atrocious act against her half-brother Viktor. Now she must face the dark void of the universe. At the centre of the film is the hedonistic lifestyle and nihilistic search for love and intimacy. Actors Rea Lest and Jörgen Liik are the main protagonists, both of them known internationally for their main roles in November (directed by Rainer Sarnet). Juhan Ulfsak, Maria Avdjushko, Kaie Mihkelson and Reimo Sagor also play in the film. The cinematographer is Erik Põllumaa, the production designer is Matis Mäesalu, and the costume designer is Liis Plato.

The producer of the film Elina Litvinova says: “In my opinion, Triin Ruumet as the screenwriter and the director is the high-end professional of her generation, telling both very personal and universal stories. With her strong, unique style, Ruumet can raise serious topics, and show these things through a prism

Elina Litvinova

of comedy, which is essential considering the audience. Together with co-screenwriters Andris Feldmanis and Livia Ulman, our common purpose was to narrate a multi-layered and complicated story about young people, and to do that in an entertaining way using pop

The shooting of Dark Paradise.

At the centre of the film is the hedonistic lifestyle and nihilistic search for love and intimacy.

to the Eat-Pray-Love Culture

music and black comedy, so that viewers of different backgrounds could identify with it.”

Litvinova says that Dark Paradise is a sombre yet magical fairytale about millennial kids. She explains the concept of the film: “It is a drama balancing on the edge of tragedy and dark comedy, where the protagonists are searching for happiness and love. In opposition to today’s esoteric self-development methods, where welfare, positivity and the best version of oneself dominate, the protagonists of the

Rea Lest, the European Shooting Star 2019 is playing the leading role. film go on a self-destructive journey in order to face their personal demons. As Triin herself says, the film serves as an antidote to the eat-pray-love culture.”

COMPLICATED SHOOTING PERIOD The filming of Dark Paradise took place at the end of summer/autumn 2021, it was divided between Tartu and Tallinn, and altogether there were 32 days of shooting. According to the producer, the filming period was extremely charged by the director’s strong energy and the film crew’s dedication. The filming was complete barely before the third wave of coronavirus in Estonia. Elina Litvinova comments to Estonian Film: “Since we have developed the film since 2017, starting the filming was a day of celebration for both the crew and the actors. Due to the large number of actors in the film, all of them having terribly complicated working schedules, the greatest risk was that if someone had been infected with coronavirus, the whole ensemble would have fallen apart. The COVID crisis support from the Cultural Ministry of Estonia was a big help, providing us with weekly testing and other necessary equipment to secure the working process.” EF

Dark Paradise is a drama balancing on the edge of tragedy and dark comedy, where the protagonists are searching for happiness and love.