Shadows of Summer
Anna stages a participatory performance recreating the abuse she suffered at a theatre camp.
Fourteen-year-old Anna arrives at a summer theatre camp knowing no one and desperate to belong. An older girl draws her into innocent games with reality. The games turn cruel, the others follow, and soon Anna is unsure what is real. Only the young instructor everyone adores seems to see her.
Sixteen years later, Anna, now an actress, turns that summer into a participatory theatre play. The doors lock, and every member of the audience is handed a role from her past and told they are free to intervene. Anna has planned every moment of the evening, but one person in the crowd is not part of her plan.
Producers' note
Shadows of Summer came to Nafta Films in 2024, when director Helen Takkin presented us with the first treatment. We were immediately drawn to the story's exploration of power dynamics, bullying and codependency.
The story unfolds across two timelines– a present-day participatory theatre performance and the events of a summer sixteen years earlier. As the two gradually begin to merge with each other and with the theatrical world itself, the film approaches its universal themes through a distinctive cinematic form.
To date, Shadows of Summer has secured national funding for both script and feature film development, and we have begun the casting process. In terms of shooting locations, most of the story takes place at a youth camp in a forest by the sea, while the present-day storyline unfolds in a black box theatre, giving us considerable flexibility.
Although fictional, the film deals with issues that remain painfully relevant today. We hope it can open up meaningful conversations among both young people and adults, while resonating with those who have lived through similar experiences.
At the co-production market, we are looking for co-producers and sales agents who connect with the project and share our vision for bringing it to life.
Director's note
Many films about grooming end when the young character understands and walks away. This can send the wrong message. It makes me feel as if, at that age, I was supposed to understand the manipulation and do something about it. That’s why the film has two timelines. The past is a summer: intimate, warm, instinctive. The present is controlled – a theatre, cool, dry and acoustically bare, where a grown woman tries to force that memory into a shape she can control, and in the end weaponise.
She locks the doors, casts the audience as the people from her past and puts the man who groomed her on trial. She expects clarity, but causes new harm, imposing her version on people who can't defend themselves. The audience is told they can intervene, but they never really do. Watching them, we have to ask ourselves what we do when we sense something is wrong but don't know whether, or how, to step in.
I borrow from the toolkit of horror films and play with deceit, so the audience goes through what she does. I want you to fall in love with the man, then feel a growing unease when he keeps stepping over the line.
When I was a teenager, attention from older men felt like warmth. I was lonely and felt rejected, so it was easy to convince me to go along with anything. Only as an adult did I realise I had disappeared into those relationships, blamed myself for what was not my responsibility and carried guilt for speaking about it. The film is about that guilt too, about how we internalise and reinforce ideas designed to work against us. The story is fictional; the feeling underneath it is not. I want people to leave knowing that if this is happening to you, it's not your fault, and if it's happening to someone near you, the answer can be friendship and belonging.
Biography
Helen Takkin is an Estonian writer-director. Her debut feature “Life & Love” screened at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. She has spent over a decade directing commercials, short films, and music videos internationally, including in the US, UK, and the Middle East. With a background in editing, post-production, and VFX, her work combines restrained, honest performances with elements of magical realism. Helen is currently developing her second feature film.
Biography
Andreas Kask joined Nafta Films in 2014 and has since worked as a producer, associate producer, and co-producer on several productions. For the past five years, he has served as Head of Development in the company's film department, overseeing the creative development of all Nafta's feature films, short films, and co-productions. One of his most recently produced films, "Something Real", premiered in March 2026.
Biography
Elisabeth Madisson is a screenwriter, development coordinator, and emerging producer based in Tallinn, Estonia. She works at Nafta Films, supporting feature films from early development through production, and is currently developing her first feature as a producer. With a background in screenwriting, she is particularly drawn to character-driven and coming-of-age stories. She was also a participant in the Baltic Women in Film Mentorship Programme 2025–2026.
Profile
Founded in 2009, Nafta Films quickly became one of the largest production companies in the Baltic region, producing audiovisual content in various forms: films, TV productions, and commercials.