Board of the ESG 2025-2026
Leana Jalukse
Sven-Sander Paas
Birk Rohelend

Leana Jalukse (1979) is an Estonian screenwriter and script consultant. Her debut film MOTHER (2016) premiered internationally in competition at Tribeca, USA, won Best Feature in Kitzbühel, Austria, Best Estonian Feature at Tallinn Black Nights, Estonia, was selected Estonia’s national entry for the Oscars, and nominated for Best Screenplay at Estonian Film and TV Awards. FIRE LILY (2018) premiered in Mannheim-Heidelberg, DESERTED (2021, as co-writer) premiered in Busan and won Best Feature at Estonian Film and TV Awards, and KIDS OF THE NIGHT (2021, as script doctor) won Best Screenplay at Estonian Film and TV Awards.

The feature documentary KELLY. SOMEONE ELSE’S DREAM, as writer-director, held its world premiere at Hot Docs in April 2024, reaching the top 10 in audience rankings, and opened theatrically to box office success in Estonian cinemas in October 2024.

In recent years, Leana has primarily focused on writing drama series, the first of which, the Estonian-Latvian-Italian co-production titled VON FOCK (2025) is sold internationally by ZDF Studios.

She is also developing C21 Drama Series Script Competition 2023 shortlist project BREAKING THE ICE, BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN, the Most Promising Project award winner at TV Beats Co-Financing Market 2023, and THE CODE OF THULE, which received development financing from the Estonian Film Institute and won the Best Estonian Project award at Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event 2024.

In 2025, Leana was selected for the international Pop Up Series Incubator programme, where she is developing the Romanian project ANGELMAKER in collaboration with the series’ author Cristina Groșan and French screenwriter Loïc Barrère.

Leana teaches screenwriting and acts as an expert for international film funds, markets, and workshops. She is a founding and board member of the Estonian Screenwriters’ Guild and a member of the Estonian Filmmakers’ Union and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.

Contact: leana@leanajalukse.com

Sven-Sander Paas is a screenwriter born and raised in Tallinn.

Creatively, he has transitioned from poetry to prose and from prose to playwriting before finally landing on screenwriting in 2017. Studied playwriting at Drakadeemia and film arts with screenwriting at Tallinn University, Baltic Film, Media and Arts School (BFM). He was awarded the Püha Jüri prize in 2021 during his studies.

Because of the curriculum at BFM and his own preferences, he has mainly written sketches and short films, though rumors suggest that as of 2025, he is working on his first featurelength screenplay. His student film „Eyes on You“ won the Best Short Film award at the 2022

Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF), and his first short film outside of school

„Heiki on the Other Side“ received the Young Director Award in France the same year.

On a daily basis, he works at BFM as a production assistant and film distribution coordinator while giving film history lectures at both Tallinn University and the Estonian Academy of

Arts.

He has been a member of the Estonian Screenwriters’ Guild since 2023 and has served on its board since the same year.

Birk Rohelend (1981) is an Estonian writer and screenwriter, who has studied playwriting, dramaturgy and performance analysis in Drakadeemia (2008-2011) and screenwriting mentored by Lew Hunter in Nebraska (2013). Among her works are the feature film “Bad Hair Friday” (2013) and several series, among them  ViaPlay’s crime drama “Who Shot Otto Müller” (2022). She has written several comedy series such as “The Pillow Club”, “The Taxi”, “Stories by Krista” as well crime series “Wicked Girls”, “Restart”, “The Trap”. She is the author of several acknowledged novels, among them “Me, Mortimer” (III place 2007 Tänapäev’s Youth Novel Competion), “The Ones Who Kill Themselves” (II place 2009 Tänapäev’s Youth Novel Competition) and “My Clawed Friend” (III place 2009 Estonian Novel Competition). In addition to novels she has published a poetry collection titled “Morbidarium” and a ballad “Alexander and Belle”. Her short story “Love” was nominated for Tuglas price in 2010. She has also written several plays, among them “Foxtrot” (2013). In her daily life, Birk works as the Head of Marketing and Communications Department in Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). She is the board member of Estonian Audiovisual Authors’ Union and a member of Estonina Writers’ Union.