MEET OUR TEAM - Merilin Paart
INTRODUCING MERILIN PAART
Down-to-earth dancer, Imaginative director and Colourful Coordinator!
Say Hello or Tere to Merilin Paart, our Spectrum Live Coordinator, who has a lot of adventures in her creative journey. She has a unique take on art from her Eastern European roots and she has a lot of enthusiasm in making very stylized films. I was really curious to know where she draws her inspiration from!
Merilin writing with Angela
So you're from Europe, right? What country specifically?
Yes, I'm from Estonia, which is in between Finland and Russia. I absolutely loved growing up there since the culture there is so rich! We have our own language and strong Nordic roots along with Eastern European. The Estonian language was actually Tolkien's inspiration for the Elvish language in Lord of the Rings!
How did you come from Estonia to Canada?
It connects to the very first job that I had, which was working for the Estonian public broadcasting network. I did an internship there after university as a producer's assistant where I helped coordinate a mini documentary series about the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia. Each year, they focus on a specific country to highlight their films and when I was putting together the the mini shorts, the focus was on Canadian cinema. When I interviewed the Canadian Embassy, I met a bunch of film directors from Vancouver and and that's how I really I knew that I had to come to Canada and and learn more about film and become a director myself. So that's been my bigger aspiration: to focus on script writing and eventually directing my own movies
Merilin and Jake working on a Spectrum Live segment together
What is it like coming from a European country with all that history in art? How differently is art valued there compared to here?
I would say it's quite different for sure. In history and art history classes we learn a lot about European art and and especially Western Europe, but also Russian literature. So we definitely focus more on the European aspects. I feel like here in Montreal specifically art is valued much more than Vancouver where I first lived.
What kind of film inspirations have you had?
Oh, so my favorite director of all time has always been David Lynch and also Sofia Coppola. They influenced me as a as a kid already which is weird to say. I'm always balancing between being very strange and experimental, as well as aerial styles and just talking about the small tiny experiences that we have as humans through the relationships that we have. Overall I definitely want to try more experimental approaches.
Merilin posing in front of the set she built
What would you say your art style is?
I love uniting the art house with the mainstream. The approach of making something that is maybe a little bit more heavy and with more depth more consumable to everyone. So providing that accessibility is very important to me. Just making heavier things seem more light so we would actually be able to understand it better.
How did you hear about Spectrum to begin with?
Well, back in Estonia I have a 12-year old cousin who is on the spectrum. Before I moved to Montreal, we were making all of his amazing ideas come to life through video. He ran this Youtube Channel called Catfood Network TV. It focuses on all the different things you might need, or might want to know about cat food and even some cat songs! When came to Montreal, I had an idea of starting something very similar to Spectrum in Estonia. I imagined having a summer camp for for kids like my cousin to come together and practice filmmaking. After some Googling I found Spectrum productions right here in Montreal, where I was, and I was absolutely mindblown! When Spectrum Fest happened in April, I came over to see the films and I loved every single minute of it.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love to dance; that's definitely my favorite favorite hobby right now. I practice modern dance and even jazz! It provides such a good workout and I just love dancing and expressing myself through music. It's so important to me.
That sounds beautiful! I'm excited to see what you and the team will make for Spectrum Live!
Merilin is the Spectrum Live Outreach Coordinator. If you want to take part in season two of Spectrum Live, out artist call out is still open! Go here to read all the details!
