TALLINN: Estonian director Ivan Pavljutskov is in final postproduction with his Estonian/Lithuanian coming-of-age drama Morten. The film is based on the popular Estonian youth novel Morten, Emilie, and the Lost Worlds (2020) by Reeli Reinaus.
Morten is a 15-year-old boy who lives with his uncle and a one-eyed cat in a crumbling farmhouse in a forest village. His mother works in Finland to save money for their future home, and Morten has never heard anything about his father. One day, everything changes when two girls enter his life: Emilie, the first person Morten ever dares to truly open up to, and Miia, a girl who, by all logic, shouldn’t care about someone like him, yet somehow does. As their paths intertwine, Morten finds himself caught between friendship, love, and the strange pull of something much deeper.
Tõru Kannimäe, Emili Rohumaa, and Helena Maria Reisner play the main characters.
“Morten is a coming-of-age youth drama about love and self-discovery. While the story captures the everyday romance and first relationships of adolescence, it also draws on a mystical atmosphere, largely thanks to its swamp setting and the mysterious appearance of Emilie, the spirit girl. The film is primarily aimed at young audiences, though adults will hopefully also recognise themselves in it. For me, the fragile inner world of a young person, the mysterious sense of timelessness, and the social realities of today beautifully collide in this story”, director Ivan Pavljutskov told FNE.
Anneli Ahven is producing through Estonia’s Kopli Kinokompanii in coproduction with Zivile Gallego through Lithuania’s Fralita Films, with support from the Estonian Film Institute, the Estonian Cultural Endowment, the Tartu Film Fund, and the Lithuanian Film Centre.
The total budget is 1.1 m EUR.
The filming took place in Tallinn and the beautiful swamps in Northern Estonia between May and August 2025.
The domestic release is scheduled for September 2026. Acme Film will distribute the film in the Baltic countries.
Production Information:
Producer:
Kopli Kinokompanii (Estonia)
Anneli Ahven: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Coproducer:
Fralita Films (Lithuania)
Credits:
Director: Ivan Pavljutskov
Scriptwriter: Reeli Reinaus
DoP: Ants Tammik
Composer: Titas Petrikis
Main cast: Tõru Kannimäe, Emili Rohumaa, Helena Maria Reisner
