About
Ilmar Taska is an Estonian film director, producer, and writer. Taska gained prominence as an international film and theatre figure working in Estonia, Sweden and the United States. He began writing in the second decade of the new millennium, publishing the autobiographical book Parem kui elu in 2011. It describes Taska’s life in Hollywood and working at the famous Twentieth Century Fox studios, but also includes short stories. In 2014, the literary magazine Looming recognised Taska’s short story Pobeda. The title refers to a popular car produced in the Soviet Union in the 1940s and 1950s, and Taska uses the same motif in his best-known literary work, his debut novel Pobeda 1946. The book looks at the effect the Iron Curtain has on people’s personal lives, with the reality of the Stalinist society clashing with the dreams of the people living in it.
A short story, 'Apartment for Rent', was included in the anthology of Best European Fiction 2016, which was published by Dalkey Archive Press.
His novel Pobeda 1946 (2017) has been translated into fourteen languages and nominated for several international awards. Two short films have been based on it already and The Times Literary Supplement chose it as one of the Books of the Year 2018.
In December 2021 a novel The Call of Elysium was published in Estonia and the rights have been sold already to the Netherlands, Finland, Lithuania. etc
Ilmar Taska is a unique phenomenon of literary landscape, an Estonian writer who can truly be considered international in terms of of his work, since the breadth of his talent reaches beyond the boundaries of conventional writing.
ILMAR TASKA WAS BORN IN KIROV, RUSSIA, WHERE HIS FAMILY HAD BEEN SENT FROM ESTONIA BY STALIN'S REPRESSIONS. HE WENT TO SCHOOL IN ESTONIA WHERE HE WON A YOUTH LITERARY PRICE,"NOORTE HAAL", STUDIED AT THE MOSCOW FILM INSTITUTE (MA IN FILM).
MR.TASKA WAS HIRED BY TALLINN FILM STUDIOS, ESTONIA AS A PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION, WORKING WITH DIRECTORS SUCH AS TARKOVSKI AND KROMANOV. HE WROTE AND DIRECTED A DOCUMENTARY, "PAUL WUNDERLICH", WAS A SCREENPLAY CONSULTANT FOR "SONET FILM", CO-CREATED "NIGHT EXERCISE" FOR TV2 OF SWEDEN.
TO EXPAND HIS MEDIA EXPERIENCE, MR.TASKA BECAME THE CO-PRODUCER AND ACTOR OF THE EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE GROUP CALLED "REMOTE CONTROL PRODUCTIONS" PERFORMING IN VARIOUS CULTURAL CENTERS IN SWEDEN AND THE REST OF EUROPE.
HE ALSO WORKED WITH INDEPENDENT THEATRE GROUP “NORDSTJARNA”.
WHILE WORKING IN SWEDEN, HE WON TWO SCOLARSHIPS FROM THE SCANDINAVIAN-AMERICAN FOUNDATION AND FROM THE SWEDISH INSTITUTE.
ILMAR TASKA FACILITATED HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS BETWEEN THE FILM INDUSTRIES OF THE USSR AND THE USA IN MOSCOW, HOLLYWOOD AND THE ROCKEFELLER ESTATE IN NEW YORK, UNDER THE BANNER OF THE "ENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT".
IN 1990 THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURES ASKED MR. TASKA TO PRODUCE AND DIRECT A SEGMENT WITH JACK LEMMON FOR THE ACADEMY AWARDS WHICH WAS TELECAST SIMULTANEOUSLY ALL OVER THE WORLD FROM MOSCOW.
IN 1990/91 HE CO-WROTE AND PRODUCED "BACK IN THE USSR" WITH
LINDSAY SMITH, (DIR. DERAN SERAFIAN, STARRING FRANK WHALEY, ROMAN POLANSKI AND NATALYA NEGODA) FOR LARGO ENTERTAINMENT
(20TH CENTURY FOX RELEASE).
IN 1993 HE PRODUCED A TV MOVIE IN ESTONIA, "CANDLES IN THE DARK" FOR THE FAMILY CHANNEL (LATER ABC FAMILY, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY) .
THE MOVIE WAS DIRECTED BY MAXIMILIAN SCHELL AND IT IS STARRING CHAD LOWE, MAXIMILIAN SCHELL AND ALYSSA MILANO.
IN 1994, MR.TASKA LAUNCHED THE FIRST PRIVATE TV CHANNEL, CHANNEL 2 IN ESTONIA AND TURNED IT INTO THE LEADING NATIONAL NETWORK OF THE COUNTRY. HE SERVED AS THE PRESIDENT OF CHANNEL 2 UNTIL 1998.
HE CREATED THE BEST RATED TV TALK SHOWS IN ESTONIA WITH ESTONIAN ACTORS, WRITERS AND COMPOSERS.
IN 1999, HE SERVED AS ESTONIAN CO-PRODUCER ON AN INDEPENDENT FEATURE FILM "OUT OF THE COLD", DIRECTED BY SACHA BURAVSKI, STARRING KEITH CARRADINE, MIA KIRSCHNER, MERCEDES RUHL, BRIAN DENNEHY, JUDD HIRSCH.
SINCE 2000 ILMAR TASKA HAS DEVELOPED VARIOUS FILM AND THEATRE PROJECTS FOR TASKA PRODUCTION.
IN 2004 HE DIRECTED AND CO-WROTE “WE WON’T SLEEP TONIGHT/
SET POINT” WITH CARMEN KASS AND PETER FRANZEN
(OFFICIAL SELECTION IN 10 FILM FESTIVALS, DISTRIBUTED BY HOUSE OF FILM/ CINEQUEST).
IN 2009 HE DIRECTED AND CO-PRODUCED A REDARK-ABS CO-PRODUCTION “THY KINGDOM COME” WRITTEN BY LORIS CURCI AND MARIANO BAINO, STARRING JULIAN BERLIN AND TIYA CIRCAR.
IN 2010 HE DIRECTED A PLAY “POWER OF LOVE” FOR THE COURTYARD THEATRE IN LONDON, STARRING ANNA WINSLET, CHRISTOPH DOSTAL AND LUCIA EDWARDS.
IN 2011 A BOOK OF ILMAR TASKA’S NOVELLAS AND SHORT STORIES „BETTER THAN LIFE“ WAS PUBLISHED BY HEA LUGU IN TALLINN, ESTONIA
IN 2012 ILMAR TASKA DIRECTED ERLAND JOSEPHSON’S „ONE SUMMER NIGHT IN SWEDEN“ FOR RUSSIAN THEATRE IN TALLINN, STARRING ALEKSANDR IVASKEVICH AND LARISA SAVANKOVA. (REICEVED A CULTURE PRIZE IN 2013)
HE ALSO DIRECTED A PLAY „GODOT“ BY STEVE GOUGH FOR MET THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES (A BRITISH-AMERICAN CO-PRODUCTION) STARRING TYSON TURROU AND CO-DIRECTED A PLAY „LAVENDER LOVE“ BY ODALYS NANIN FOR MACHA THEATRE IN WEST-HOLLYWOOD
IN 2013 ILMAR TASKA DIRECTED „YES, PRIME MINISTER“ FOR RUSSIAN NATIONAL THEATRE IN ESTONIA.
IN 2014 TASKA´S SHORT STORY "POBEDA" WON THE ESTONIAN LITERARY PRICE "LOOMING".
HIS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BOOK OF SHORT STORIES "MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN LIFE" WAS PUBLISHED IN SWEDEN BY SOLEKA FÖRLAG.
IN 2015 I.TASKA'S STORY „ APARTMENT FOR RENT“ WAS SELECTED BY DALKEY ARCHIVES PRESS TO THE PRESTIGIOUS EDITION „BEST EUROPEAN FICTION 2016“.
ILMAR TASKA'S STORIES HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH, SWEDISH, FINNISH, DANISH, LATVIAN, RUSSIAN, CHECK, HUNGARIAN, CHINESE AND BULGARIAN.
IN 2016 HIS NOVEL POBEDA 1946 IS A CRITICAL SUCCESS IN ESTONIA. THE FACT THAT IT CROWNED A BESTSELLER LIST OF ESTONIAN FICTION FOR SEVERAL MONTHS SURELY SAYS SOMETHING ALSO OF ITS RECEPTION.
NOVELLA BETTER THAN LIFE IN DANISH PUBLISHED BY JENSEN & DALGAARD
IN 2017 - 2019 HIS NOVEL POBEDA 1946 CAME OUT IN FINNISH BY WSOY (BONNIER BOOKS) IN GERMAN BY KOMMODE VERLAG AND IN ENGLISH BY NORVIK PRESS.
THE NOVEL HAS BEEN TRANSLATED ALREADY TO 14 LANGUAGES AND HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR SEVERAL INTERNATIONAL LITERARY AWARDS.
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IN 2021 HIS NOVEL THE CALL OF ELYSIUM (ELÜÜSIUMI KUTSE) WAS PUBLISHED BY VARRAK IN ESTONIA.
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