Mark O'Brien & Anneke Sluiters Lead Sci-Fi 'Soma' Filming in Estonia — SkimNews
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- Soma has begun filming through mid-September in Estonia (Tallinn and Käsmu) and the Netherlands as a Belgium-Canada-Netherlands-Estonia co-production, with Game Theory set to handle Canadian distribution.
- Mark O'Brien (Nuremberg, Ready or Not) and Dutch actress Anneke Sluiters (Heresay) lead the cast as scientist couple Paul and Sarah, whose son Theo suffers from a rare language disorder; additional cast includes newcomer Leonhard Kõuhkna and Lucie Debay (Omen).
- Miklós Keleti, a Belgian-Hungarian director and INSAS graduate, makes his feature debut after shorts screened at Sitges, Seattle, BIFFF, Rhode Island and Shanghai, and selection for the Atelier Grand Nord with psychological thriller Watching You Sleep.
- The four-country production is led by Sebastian Schelenz of Velvet Films (Belgium), Amber Ripley of Goodbye Productions (Canada), Elina Litvinova of Three Brothers (Estonia) and Denis Vaslin of Volya Films (Netherlands), with financing from the Film Center of the Wallonia Brussels Federation, Telefilm Canada, the Netherlands Film Fund and the Estonian Film Institute.
- Key creative team includes Belgian cinematographer Virginie Surdej (Calle Malaga), Estonian production designer Tiiu-Ann Pello (Tenet) and Belgian editor Yannick Leroy (Austral), with Belgian broadcasters RTBF, Be tv and Proximus also on board.
Why it matters: The four-country financing structure — pairing public broadcasters in Belgium with national film funds across Canada, the Netherlands and Estonia — gives a debut director access to A-list crew including a Tenet production designer and leads with international genre credentials, a rare launchpad for a first feature that combines sci-fi premise with domestic drama.
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