The documentary about tennis player Anett Kontaveit is completed

On September 24 the documentary film Anett directed by Kaupo Kruusiauk will premiere. It tells about tennis player Anett Kontaveit, who rose to become the world’s second-ranked player.

Kontaveit is a six-time WTA tournament winner. In 2020 she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and was the runner-up at the WTA Finals in Mexico in 2021. In 2022, she was ranked second in the world.

The documentary Anett offers a glimpse into the highlights of the career of the top Estonian tennis player, as well as the challenges she faced that ultimately led to her decision to retire from professional sports in the summer of 2023.

Anett’s decision matured and the announcement to the public was made when she was frequently accompanied by a film crew, as a documentary about her life as a top tennis player was in the works. According to Kaupo Kruusiauk, a director known for several successful documentaries, it is exactly this pivotal decision emerging during the filming period that made the creation of the film about Anett so special: “When making a documentary, you can never set the script in stone because the film reflects the main character’s life as it unfolds. We set out to make a film about a top tennis player: her life and career, not knowing that such a significant turning point in Anett’s career would occur during the filming.”

Kruusiauk’s films delve deep into the daily lives of their protagonists, aiming to reveal the hard work, determination, and psychological struggles behind both successes and downfalls. According to the director, Anett closely follows the evolution of Anett Kontaveit’s life-changing decision: “This is real life that often remains in the shadow of the glamorous world of tennis: the efforts at the limits of human capabilities, victories, defeats. Loneliness is often the price of being at the top.”

“The film provides a great opportunity to observe the end of an extraordinary journey and the beginning of a new one,” Kruusiauk added.

In addition to Anett Kontaveit, the documentary features people who played a significant role in shaping her career – Anett’s mother and first coach Ülle Milk, a long-time supporter and manager Tarmo Sumberg, Anett’s last coach Torben Beltz, and others.

Anett trailer: https://vimeo.com/1001627310

The premiere will take place in Tallinn on September 24, 2024. The film will be released in Estonian cinemas on September 27.

The film’s director and producer is Kaupo Kruusiauk, with cinematography provided by Aivo Rannik, sound by Mart Kessel-Otsa, editing by Roland Abel, and sound design by Harmo Kallaste. The film is produced by Flo Film.

The production of the documentary Anett was supported by the Estonian Film Institute, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, and private sponsors.

The previous full-length documentary of Kaupo Kruusiauk Machina Faust portrayed the talented musician and composer Maria Faust. It was selected by the Estonian Film Critics Association as the best Estonian film of 2022 (Neitsi Maali) and was named the Best Estonian Documentary at the EFTA 2023 gala. The international premiere of Machina Faust took place at the prestigious CPH:DOX film festival in Denmark.