Estonian‑co‑produced film gets 7‑minute standing ovation in Venice
The Estonian‑co‑produced feature "Woman Unknown" premiered Sunday at the ongoing Venice Film Festival's main competition, and got a seven‑and‑a‑half‑minute standing ovation.
"Woman Unknown" (Danish: Kvinde ukendt) is directed by Danish filmmaker May el‑Toukhy and is a psychological drama filmed primarily in Latvia. Of the 28 shooting days, 25 took place in Riga, with Estonia's Nafta Films among the co‑producers.
Esko Rips, CEO of Nafta Films and a co‑producer, said the film's selection among the 21 titles in the main competition is important recognition of the Estonian company's three years of work, which was a truly pan-Baltic states affair as it began in Lithuania and culminated in filming in Riga.
"For us, this confirms that operating in all three Baltic states gives us an advantage in producing international films. It allows us to find the best solution for each film in terms of financing, filming locations and creative needs," Rips said.
The Danish-Swedish-Latvian-Estonian co‑production was locally managed by Nafta Films' Latvian team, with co‑producers including Rips and Latvia's Madara Kalniņa.
"Woman Unknown" stands out in this year's competition also because el‑Toukhy is one of just two women directors from among the 21 competing films, ironically enough given women's invisibility and the limits imposed on them by society are central themes of the film itself.
"My film is about the invisibility of women. On the one hand, about objectification, and on the other, about how women are neither seen nor listened to," el‑Toukhy said at a film festival press conference.
"Woman Unknown" is set in Denmark at the end of World War Two. The story centers on Marie, a young nanny and housekeeper preparing to marry her wealthy employer, Christian, an older widower. A dark secret from her past — an intimate relationship with a German soldier during the Nazi occupation of Denmark — threatens her new life.
The film explores society's control over women's choices, their bodies and pasts, showing that the end of the war did not necessarily spell an end to all violence and condemnation.
Mathilde Arcel Fock ("Second victims," "Special Unit: The First Murder") stars in the lead role. The cast also includes Carsten Bjørnlun ("Barracuda Queens," "The Shooter").
The Venice Film Festival runs to Saturday.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Karmen Rebane
