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Margus Paju
Director, Partner
Portfolio ››
Margus Paju represents a new generation of filmmakers in Estonia. After getting his degree in film directing at the Baltic Film and Media School in 2006, Margus started to work as a freelance director and film journalist, writing film reviews and articles about film history for several Estonian culture magazines. Since 2008 Margus is an in-house director for Nafta Films and has directed several short films, scientific documentaries, TV series and a great number of commercials. His work is often considered symbolic and poetical, while themes can vary from historical drama to political thrillers to family adventures to dreamy fairy tales. Margus's first feature film “The Secret Society of Souptown” was completed in 2015 and received the title of most watched Estonian family film of all times. The film was recognised at many international festivals, collecting audience's awards as well as several prizes for the best film. The film was also distributed internationally and was screened in cinemas and on TV in Finland, Germany and France, as well as online, winning the hearts of children all over the world. Margus is currently in production with his new feature film “O-2”, a historical spy thriller about an Estonian Military Intelligence officer entitled with tracking down a mysterious Soviet double agent just before the start of WWII. The film is due to be premiered in autumn 2020. Although his main interest is in features, Margus is also available for some commercial projects.
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Evar Anvelt
Director
Portfolio ››
As one of the founding members of Nafta Films, Evar started his way in film business at quite a young age by trying nearly every role in filmmaking, creating visual effects and art projects. He has now been working in film industry for more than 15 years, having various roles in production and post-production, and specialising in colour grading. He is also a musician and often composes music for his own film projects. Over the years he started to feel more and more passionate about directing, which resulted in him doing many commercials, and in 2018 he wrote and directed his first short film “The Good Shepherd”. While still circling festivals around the world, the film has received many special mentions and recognitions, including the award for best script. He now has multiple new projects in development, including a full-length feature film. From drama to comedy, he can tell a story in a variety of genres. His heart is calling the most for social themes and a conscious way of life.
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Pavel Gumennikov
Director
Portfolio ››
Pavel is a director who is passionate about storytelling. His film career started in China, thousands of miles away from his home in Riga, Latvia. Inspired by his job as an English teacher, he decided to make a short film about it and got the first real experience as a filmmaker. Exceeding all expectations, the film started to win many festival awards, which brought many new work opportunities. Shortly after, Pavel got into commercials, seizing the opportunity to work in a creative environment that is expecting the best of him every second. He has now been working in the film industry for more than 12 years and has gained experience in directing short films, TV shows, commercials and music videos. His latest self-produced short film “Just Go” (2017) was shortlisted for the Oscars, and has been shown in over 50 film festivals worldwide and received 17 awards (5 in Oscar qualifying film festivals). Besides that he has created and directed numerous commercials for large brands as TELE 2, Huawei, Fazer, Red Bull etc. When free from directing himself, he is in high demand across the Baltic countries as a 1st AD. Pavel loves the opportunity to add a bit of humour to his stories and create a modern looking film that will talk to the audience on many levels.
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Helen Takkin
Director
Portfolio ››
Helen is a distinguished commercial director, whose stories have a heart-warming effect and power to make the world look beautiful. Going to the film school was surprisingly not her first choice, but we can all be thankful to the twists and turns of life, as now she is one of the most loved commercial directors in Estonia. And that's not all. Over the past 10 years she has worked internationally in more than 15 countries (USA, Lebanon, Romania, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, Norway.. to mention only a few of them). Including working for clients like VW, Peta, Johnson and Johnson, KFC, Raffaello, Ferrero Rocher, Nestle, Sberbank, OMO, LG, Nesquik. Additionally she has directed 2 short films, numerous music videos and is working on several scripts for TV and feature films. If you are wondering about awards, she has a lot of them. But what she herself cares about the most, is enjoying the process with all the lovely people around her. This is also probably the reason why actors, both children and adults, feel so good while working with her and bring out the most naturalistic performances. She doesn't limit herself with certain topics, instead enjoys mixing of different genres with the aim of creating deeper recognition in people.
Margus Paju represents a new generation of filmmakers in Estonia. After getting his degree in film directing at the Baltic Film and Media School in 2006, Margus started to work as a freelance director and film journalist, writing film reviews and articles about film history for several Estonian culture magazines. Since 2008 Margus is an in-house director for Nafta Films and has directed several short films, scientific documentaries, TV series and a great number of commercials. His work is often considered symbolic and poetical, while themes can vary from historical drama to political thrillers to family adventures to dreamy fairy tales. Margus's first feature film “The Secret Society of Souptown” was completed in 2015 and received the title of most watched Estonian family film of all times. The film was recognised at many international festivals, collecting audience's awards as well as several prizes for the best film. The film was also distributed internationally and was screened in cinemas and on TV in Finland, Germany and France, as well as online, winning the hearts of children all over the world. Margus is currently in production with his new feature film “O-2”, a historical spy thriller about an Estonian Military Intelligence officer entitled with tracking down a mysterious Soviet double agent just before the start of WWII. The film is due to be premiered in autumn 2020. Although his main interest is in features, Margus is also available for some commercial projects.
As one of the founding members of Nafta Films, Evar started his way in film business at quite a young age by trying nearly every role in filmmaking, creating visual effects and art projects. He has now been working in film industry for more than 15 years, having various roles in production and post-production, and specialising in colour grading. He is also a musician and often composes music for his own film projects. Over the years he started to feel more and more passionate about directing, which resulted in him doing many commercials, and in 2018 he wrote and directed his first short film “The Good Shepherd”. While still circling festivals around the world, the film has received many special mentions and recognitions, including the award for best script. He now has multiple new projects in development, including a full-length feature film. From drama to comedy, he can tell a story in a variety of genres. His heart is calling the most for social themes and a conscious way of life.
Pavel is a director who is passionate about storytelling. His film career started in China, thousands of miles away from his home in Riga, Latvia. Inspired by his job as an English teacher, he decided to make a short film about it and got the first real experience as a filmmaker. Exceeding all expectations, the film started to win many festival awards, which brought many new work opportunities. Shortly after, Pavel got into commercials, seizing the opportunity to work in a creative environment that is expecting the best of him every second. He has now been working in the film industry for more than 12 years and has gained experience in directing short films, TV shows, commercials and music videos. His latest self-produced short film “Just Go” (2017) was shortlisted for the Oscars, and has been shown in over 50 film festivals worldwide and received 17 awards (5 in Oscar qualifying film festivals). Besides that he has created and directed numerous commercials for large brands as TELE 2, Huawei, Fazer, Red Bull etc. When free from directing himself, he is in high demand across the Baltic countries as a 1st AD. Pavel loves the opportunity to add a bit of humour to his stories and create a modern looking film that will talk to the audience on many levels.
Helen is a distinguished commercial director, whose stories have a heart-warming effect and power to make the world look beautiful. Going to the film school was surprisingly not her first choice, but we can all be thankful to the twists and turns of life, as now she is one of the most loved commercial directors in Estonia. And that's not all. Over the past 10 years she has worked internationally in more than 15 countries (USA, Lebanon, Romania, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, Norway.. to mention only a few of them). Including working for clients like VW, Peta, Johnson and Johnson, KFC, Raffaello, Ferrero Rocher, Nestle, Sberbank, OMO, LG, Nesquik. Additionally she has directed 2 short films, numerous music videos and is working on several scripts for TV and feature films. If you are wondering about awards, she has a lot of them. But what she herself cares about the most, is enjoying the process with all the lovely people around her. This is also probably the reason why actors, both children and adults, feel so good while working with her and bring out the most naturalistic performances. She doesn't limit herself with certain topics, instead enjoys mixing of different genres with the aim of creating deeper recognition in people.
