Jaanika Arum
Writer / Director
Estonia
Jaanika Arum graduated in 2014 from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, majoring in acting, and works actively in film and theatre. In 2020, she earned a master’s degree in contemporary art from the Estonian Academy of Arts and has been collaborating with artists from Estonia and abroad for galleries and stage.
As a director and screenwriter, she created the short film Skin of a Mandarin, which won the Grand Prize at the 2020 Baltic Pitching Forum, was selected for the international competition program at PÖFF Shorts in 2023, and received a nomination for Best Short Film at the 2024 Estonian Film and Television Awards. She is currently in the final stage of developing her feature film Beyond the Visible Flowers.
Project
Flourishing Desert
Beekeeper Angela and her daughter Liisu live next door to a businessman Jyri and his wife Marii. Jyri is facing a crisis – his massive investment in a sand quarry business is starting to show cracks after a workplace accident, and pressure begins to mount. When Angela plants wildflowers too close to Jyri’s and Marii’s pristine lawn, a minor dispute between neighbours spirals out of control – drawing thousands of bees into the argument, turning a garden quarrel into a surreal war.
The chaos unexpectedly forges an unlikely bond between Angela and Marii, while Jyri, unraveling under pressure struggles to salvage his failing quarry, which is now transforming into a silent desert under the scorching summer sun. Reality bends and order collapses into absurdity.
As all of them cling to the illusion that their private gardens remain intact, safe and controlled, nature stands as a quiet witness to modern alienation and disconnection – posing an unsettling question: is anyone in the modern world truly sane?
