FNE Interview With Edith Sepp - Head of Estonian Film Institute

FNE spoke to the head of the Estonian Film Institute following the recent MEDICI training programme in Tallinn for the heads of film funding bodies and why being a small country does not mean that a country should have a small voice in European film policy making.

What is the MEDICI training programme and what is its relevance for decision-makers in European film?

Edith Sepp: MEDICI is a rather unique programme because it brings together the people who make decisions about public film funding. We carry an enormous responsibility, not only for the future of our film industries, but also for the future of our film cultures. The pressure is enormous. And very often, we carry that responsibility alone.

For me, MEDICI’s value is that it gives us the opportunity to look beyond our everyday rush. European countries have very different film cultures, funding structures and political realities, but we do face many of the same challenges.

In everyday life, we spend a great deal of time discussing how to finance films, aiming for festivals and trophies, but we spend much less time asking whether our funding systems are still responding to the realities of the industry and changing audience…