Bufo’s ambitious Memory of Water starts rolling

The long-gestated film Memory of Water started filming two weeks ago in and around Tallinn, Estonia for Finland’s established production outfit Bufo, after more than five years in the making and a three-month shoot delay due to Covid-19.

“It’s been a long journey,” admits Bufo co-founder and producer Mark Lwoff who first pitched the film at Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s former scheme Nordic Genre Boost in 2016.

The dystopian drama is written by Ilja Rautsi based on the eponymous novel by Emmi Itäranta, translated into more than 20 languages. The story centres on a young woman who finds courage to start a battle over fresh water in the Scandinavian Union, a land dried by eco disasters and controlled by a harsh military government.

The stellar cast comprises Saga Sarkola (Thicker Than Water, Maria’s Paradise), Mimosa Willamo (Aurora), Pekka Strang (Dogs Don’s Wear Pants, Tom of Finland), and Lauri Tilkanen (Deadwind, Ladies of Steel) among others. Depending on travel restrictions, filming is set to move from Estonia to Germany and Norwegian Lapland.

Memory of Water is one of Bufo’s most ambitious projects ever, with a €3.5 million budget. The film is co-produced by Germany’s Pandora, Norway’s Mer Film, Estonia’s Allfilm, with co-financing from Yle, NRW, support from the Finnish Film Foundation, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Creative Europe.

The premiere via Bufo’s own distribution arm B-Plan is scheduled for 2021.

Bufo’s upcoming productions include Khadar Ahmed’s The Gravedigger, co-produced by Germany’s Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion and France’s Pyramide Productions. Somali-born Ahmed won a €20,000 post-production grant at last December’s Marrakesh Film Festival for his project about a family who in times of misfortune, has to push itself to the limits in order to find strength to reunite.

Bufo also acts as co-producer on the upcoming quality auteur films The Innocents by Norway’s Eskil Vogt, Let the River Flow by Ole Giæver (both produced by Mer Film), Boy from Heaven by Sweden’s Tarik Saleh (Atmo), and The Last Ones by Estonia’s Veiko Õunpuu (Homeless Bob). The latter will be released by B-Plan in November.

Meanwhile Bufo’s other Estonian co-production Goodbye Soviet Union by Lauri Randla just opened on July 10 at the top of the Finnish box office. The film has now sold 18,664 tickets.