02-11-2020

FNE Oscar Watch 2021: Estonia Selects The Last Ones as Oscar Bid

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    The Last Ones by Veiko Õunpuu The Last Ones by Veiko Õunpuu

    TALLINN: The Last Ones / Viimane, an Estonian/Finnish/Dutch coproduction directed by Veiko Õunpuu, has been selected as Estonia's candidate for the 93rd Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award in the best international feature film category. The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on 25 April 2021.

    The Last Ones, which was chosen by a committee appointed by the Estonian Film Institute, will screen in the Baltic Competition programme of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, running 13-29 November 2020.

    The Last Ones takes place in the Lapland tundra in a mining village, filled with tensions between reindeer herders and local miners. Rupi (Pääru Oja) is a tough young miner, estranged from his family. He falls in love with his friend’s wife, who has also caught the eye of the owner of the mine.

    In the director's words, The Last Ones is “a Western-like Northern film about love, crime and revenge, that portrays the moral erosion that follows when industrial revolution takes over places and people whose lives were previously attuned to nature.”

    The film was produced by Estonia's Homeless Bob Production OÜ and coproduced by Finland's Bufo and the Netherland's PRPL. The film received support from the Estonian Film Institute, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Finnish Film Foundation, Yle, and Lapland Film Commission and Creative Europe MEDIA.