TALLINN - In the space of a week, a Tallinn filmmaker has slipped from elation to devastation after her film 's selected for the prestigious Cannes festival 's was banned from distribution in Estonia by a court. Filmmaker Kadri Kousaar said she was ecstatic to learn that her film "Magnus" had been included on the official selection for the Cannes Film Festival in May, the first Estonian film to ever reach the world-renowned event.
The movie was one of over 3,000 entries submitted to the festival, but one of only 21 to be included in the "Un Certain Regard" competition, Cannes' arthouse film program.
Yet on April 20, the day after the Cannes announcement, it was made public that a Harju County Court had made an order that forbade Kousaar from publishing and distributing the film, the result of a civil suit brought by the ex-wife of one of the film's lead actors.
Court sources told The Baltic Times that the woman's name is Brit Carmen Norlan.
Norlan's lawyer Kersti Kagi said her client had initiated the suit to protect the interest of the person upon whom the main character was based.
"It's a civil dispute initiated by an acquaintance of the person who serves as the prototype for the film's main character, the purpose of which is to protect the person about whose life the film speaks," Kagi told BNS.
According to its synopsis, "Magnus" is an existential film that follows the life of a young boy who tries to kill himself, and his father, who attempts to show him the meaning of life.
Kousaar, a well-known and often controversial young writer, said she did base her script on real events, but that they had been sufficiently fictionalized.
"The court case is totally absurd and will probably be ruled out by another court soon," Kousaar said.
"It's a fictional film, I can do whatever I want with the characters. It doesn't mention any real person's name, no one has been filmed without permission. The story was inspired by real events, I am not denying that, but it is not based on any one person. It was inspired by stories that I heard that interested me."
She said many films were inspired by real events, but were not necessarily based on individual persons. The film carried the standard warning that all characters were fictional, Kousaar said. "If writers cannot be influenced by real events, where are we heading to?" she said.
The filmmaker said she believed the other party was motivated by money, and refuted suggestions in the Estonian media that she had instigated the action herself to generate publicity.
The legal action will be heard by a higher court in early May, but it is unsure whether the matter will be decided before the commencement of the Cannes festival, which starts on May 16.
However, Kousaar's legal counsel said the ruling was only valid for within Estonia, and would not have an impact at Cannes.
Kousaar said she hoped the film would be released in Estonia by the winter, if the legal action is finalized.
