Tenet in Tallinn
Christopher Nolan's science-fiction thriller Tenet (2020) — the story of objects inverted in time and the saving of the world — was filmed in large part in Tallinn. It was the biggest film production ever made in Estonia: in the summer of 2019 Tallinn became a Hollywood set, the Linnahall played the Kyiv opera house, and on Laagna tee cars were turned backwards in time.
Summer 2019: Hollywood in Tallinn
The Estonian shoot ran through June and July 2019 across some 13 locations, mostly in and around Tallinn. John David Washington and Robert Pattinson led the cast. The local partner was the Estonian film company Allfilm, joined by Estonian transport and construction firms and students of the Baltic Film and Media School. Hundreds to thousands of Estonians took part in the crowd scenes — sources' estimates range from 1,200 to about 3,000.
The Linnahall as the Kyiv opera house
The film's famous opening scene — the opera-house siege — was shot in the Linnahall, playing the Kyiv opera house. The vast building, erected under the Soviet occupation for the sailing regatta of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, had stood closed since 2010; Nolan's crew restored large parts of it for the shoot. For the opening scene the hall was filled with an audience of thousands of locals.
The backwards car chase on Laagna tee
The film's best-known Estonian mark is the Laagna tee car chase, in which some of the cars move backwards through time. For the shoot about six kilometres of the six-lane Laagna tee and part of Pärnu maantee were closed — for weeks at a stretch, which took long negotiations between the city and the producers over detours and conditions. And in the film the scene takes place precisely in Tallinn: Estonia is not a disguised location but part of the plot.
Kumu and the other locations
The Kumu Art Museum played the Oslo freeport vault — Washington's and Pattinson's characters can be seen walking its atrium. There were more locations besides, and today Tallinn even offers visitors a Tenet filming-locations trail.
The impact on Estonia
The production left an estimated more than 16 million euros in Estonia, and the state gave the Film Estonia cash-rebate fund a one-off boost of 5 million euros to bring the project here. Tenet showed that Estonia can host the world's biggest film productions — and put Tallinn before millions of cinema-goers around the world.
See also
More stories of Estonia's trace in world culture: The world's first Christmas tree and Tchaikovsky and Estonia.
See also: Arvo Pärt.
See also: Explorers from Estonia, Estonian science that changed the world, The Kaali meteorite crater, Bernt Notke's Danse Macabre.
Sources: Tenet (Wikipedia); Where was Tenet filmed? (Visit Tallinn); Estonia: A Baltic Backlot for Blockbusters (The Hollywood Reporter); Hollywoodi põneviku võtted sulgevad Laagna tee (ERR); The Film Estonia rebate fund grew by 5 million euros (Ministry of Culture).