Tanel Toom

Director

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Film, TV & Theatre

Agent: Michelle Archer

Michelle Archer

Associate Agent: Grace Baxter

gbaxter@unitedagents.co.uk

Film, TV & Theatre

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Tanel Toom is an Oscar-nominated film director and screenwriter and graduate of the National Film and Television School. His shorts have been to over 35 international festivals and won 17 awards, including winning Best Foreign Film at the 37th Student Academy Awards for THE CONFESSION. He was also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Live Action Short category at the 83rd Academy Awards.

His first feature film, TRUTH AND JUSTICE, was well received by critics and cinemagoers and is the all-time most viewed film in Estonia beating the previous box-office record held by “Avatar”. It was Estonia's submission for the 2020 Academy Awards, making it to the shortlist in Best International Film category. The film was praised for its performances and visuals and won the Best International Motion Picture at the Satellite Awards 2020, the category included "Parasite", "Pain and Glory", "Les Miserables" and "Portrait of a Lady on Fire". Tanel was chosen by Variety as one of the "10 Europeans to Watch", 2020.

His second feature LAST SENTINEL, starring Kate Bosworth, Lucien Laviscount, Martin McCann and Thomas Kretschmann, premiered in March 2023.

Tanel loves to create mood, atmosphere and emotion and always pushing his actors to give their best. He is equally comfortable with straight drama and VFX heavy projects. Besides graduating from two film schools he has also studied directing actors under one of the top Hollywood acting coaches Ivana Chubbuck.

www.taneltoom.com

Film

Production	Company	Notes
SENTINEL	Sentinel Entertainment/Allfilm/Stigma Films/Kick Film/Altitude Films	Director. Feature film. Writer: Malachi Smyth. Producers: Ben Pullen, Matt Wilkinson and Ivo Felt. Starring Kate Bosworth, Lucien Laviscount, Martin McCann and Thomas Kretschmann. *Nominated for Best Drama, Best Thriller and Best Action at the National Film Awards, 2023 Set in the future on a war-ravaged Earth, four soldiers man “Sentinel”, a remote military base in a vast ocean that separates two warring continents. They await the relief or the enemy, whichever comes first. But as the empty weeks turn to months, a paranoia descends that tests relationships to breaking point. A thriller for our times, Sentinel is inspired by this century’s major themes - territorial dispute and the climate catastrophe. How does humanity respond when the challenges seem not only insurmountable but incomprehensible?
TRUTH AND JUSTICE	Allfilm/ Estonian Film Institute	Director and Writer. Feature film. Based on a novel "Truth and Justice" by A.H.Tammsaare. Shooting in Estonia. Starring Priit Loog, Priit Võigemast, Maiken Schmidt, Simeoni Sundja, Ester Kuntu. Estonia, 1870. The uncompromising new owner of Robber’s Rise must battle with hard work, his spiteful neighbour and with his own family and beliefs to transform the poor land into a flourishing farm of his dreams – to bring truth and justice to a god forsaken place. It's a tragedy of man whose soul is corrupted by the relentless pursuit of his dream. * Shortlist, 92nd Academy Awards - Best International Film * WINNER, Satellite Awards - Best International Motion Picture * Official Selection, Busan International Film FEstival * Official Selection, Palm Springs International Film Festival * Official Selection, Black Nights International Film Festival * Official Selection, Santa Barbara International Film Festival * Winner, Estonian film critics prize The Virgin Maali for Best Estonian Film 2019 * Winner, Estonian Cultural Endowment Awards - Best Estonian Film 2019 * Winner, Estonian Entertainment Awards - Best Film of the Year

Short Films

Production	Company	Notes
THE CONFESSION	NFTS	Director, 25' short film. Nominated for Best Live Action Short Film, Academy Awards, 2011. Winner of Best Foreign Film, 37th Student Academy Awards.
BANANA CHOCOLATE	NFTS	Writer and Director. 19' comedy.
MORGAN FLYNN	NFTS	Director. 18' short film.
THE LOOP	NFTS	Writer and Director. 5' comedy.
THE SECOND COMING (TEINE TULEMINE)	Allfilm	Writer and Director. 27' short film. Estonian Apocalyptic war drama. Winner of Best European Short Film, Arcipelago Short Film Festival, Italy 2009. Winner of Best Cinematography, Avanca Film Festival, Portugal 2009. Official Selection, 65th Venice International Film Festival, Italy 2008. Official Selection, 25th Warsaw Film Festival, Poland 2009. Official Selection, Brussels International Short Film Festival, Belgium 2009. Official Selection, 5th Monterrey International Film Festival, Mexico, 2009. Official Selection, Fajr International Film festival, Iran 2009. Official Selection, Bilbao International Film Festival, Spain 2009. Official Selection, CineFest, Hungary 2009. Official Selection, Kinoshok, Russia 2008.
EXITUS	Tallin University	Writer and Director. 5'.
THE WIND (TUUL)	Tallin University	Writer and Director. 12'.
ONCE A YEAR (KORD AASTAS)	Tallin University	Writer and Director. 7'.
2.68	Tallin University	Writer and Director. 12'.