Born on May 8, 1975 in Tallinn.
He has been interested since childhood in drawing comic strips and writing stories for which he made illustrations himself. His first moving pictures came into being in the corners of his school notebooks. Later in his school years, his brother’s friend, who was a member of a film club, helped him make a short plasticine puppet animated film.
This was followed by a two-year period as a working youth, which was not particularly educational, but was brimming with adventures. During that time he began working systematically with music. He has been part of the creative core of several rock groups, written song lyrics, made arrangements and created tunes. He enrolled at the Tallinn Pedagogical University in 1996.
He completed his first films at that school – the silent film “Dr. Maisarve and the Matshalka Case” (1996) and the cutout puppet film “Flight of the Little White Helicopter” (1996), which was screened at rock concerts and also on television. He transferred from the Pedagogical University to the Turku Arts and Media School in Finland in 1997 to study animation under the guidance of Priit Pärn.
He made his debut film “Romance” (1999) in Turku, and it has participated in several international film festivals.
Films:
1999 ROMANCE
(5 min. mixed technique – cut-out puppet animation,
cartoon animation and pixillation; Beta SP)
- Jury special prize at the “Visions of Light” international youth film festival in Rakvere, 1999
- Grand Prix in the undergraduate competition programme at the seventh Animerte Dager festival of animated films from the Nordic and Baltic countries in Fredrikstad, Norway 2000
2002 WEITZENBERG STREET (17 min / 35mm / an animated film)
- Best animation film at Sleepwalkers Student Film Festival, Tallinn, Estonia 2002
- 2nd prize in the Animated Film Category at Filmfest Dresden – International Festival for Animation and Short Film, Dresden, Germany 2003
- Prize for the Best Animation at the 5th Dervio’s Animation Film Festival, Italy 2003
- Special Mentioni in the Student Film Category at FAN International Animation Festival, 23.-26.10.2003, UK
2003-2005 FRANK AND WENDY (Scr. P.Pärn, Dir. P.Tender, Ü.Pikkov, K.Jancis / 7 x 9,5 min / 75 min)
- Estonian Cultural Endowment annual award for the best animated film of the year, Estonia 2005
- Eesti Ekspress cultural supplement Areen annual award, Estonia 2005
- Prize for the Best Television Film and Serial from AniFest International Festival of Animation Films, Czech Republic 2005
2006 MARATHON (15 min / 35mm / an animated film)
- Grand Prix from Balkanima International Animated Film Festival, Serbia 2007
- Best European film from I Castelli Animati, Rome, Italy 2007
2007 THE VERY LAST CIGARETTE (2 min / 35mm / a short story from an animated film BLACK CEILING)
2009 CROCODILE (17 min / 35mm / an animated film)
- Grand Prix from Eksjö Animation Festival, Sweden 2009
- Best directing diploma from the 6th European Festival of animated Films BALKANIMA 09, Serbia 2009
- Grand Prix and Cartoon d’Or 2010 nomination from Fredrikstad Animation Festival, Norway 2009
- ANOBA nomination for the best Estonian animation film from the 11th Animation Film Festival Animated Dreams, Estonia 2009
- Grand Prix from 6th International Animated Film Festival Animateka, Slovenia 2009
- Price Cartoon d’Or from Cartoon Forum 2010, Hungary 2010
- ANOBA AWARD for the Best Animated Short of Northern Europe from Animatricks Animation Festival, Finland 2010
- 1st prize from Fest Anča International Animation Festival, Slovakia 2011
2012 VILLA ANTROPOFF (co-director Vladimir Leschiov / 13 min / 35mm / an animated film)
- Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards 2012 from Krakow Film Festival, Poland 2012
- Golden Baltic Herring Award from Blue Sea Film Festival, Finland 2012,
- Prize for the Best Script in ANIMAGE Festival, Brazil 2012
- Grand Prix (“New Belgrade” Award) from European Animated Film Festival BALKANIMA, Serbia 2012
- Judges Vote “Best in Program 2” from London International Animation Festival, UK 2012
- Jury Special Mention from 36th International Animated Film Festival CINANIMA, Portugal 2012
- Jury Special Mention from European Film Forum Scanorama- New Baltic Cinema competition, Lithuania 2012
- Students Special Prize for the Best Short Film from European Film Festival in Essone, France 2012
- Students Jury award and Jury Special Award from ANILOGUE Animation Festival in Hungary/Austria 2012
- Jury Special Mention from ANIMATEKA International Animation Festival, Slovenia 2012
- Jury Special Prize from MONSTRA – Lisbon Animated Film Festival, Portugal 2014
2015 PIANO (10 min / DCP / an animated film)
- Viewer’s choice award from Animation Festival Insomnia, Russia 2015
- The Best Film For Adult and The Best Script from International Festival of Animated Films “Tofuzi”, Georgia 2015
- Estonian Cultural Endowment Audio-Visual Foundation Annual Award for Animated Film 2015
- Best animated short film prize (10 to 45 min) from the International Animation Film Festival (IAFF) Golden Kuker- Sofia, Bulgaria 2016
- Special Mention to a Film at the International Competition Section from Animasyros 9.0 International Animation Festival+Agora, Greece 2016
- Honorable Mentions from XIV International Festival of Animation Arts “Multivision”, Russia 2016
- Best Animation – Fiction Prize at the ANIMA2017, IX Córdoba International Animation Festival, Argentina 2017
2018 CAPTAIN MORTEN AND THE SPIDER QUEEN (79 min / DCP / a stop motion film)
2019 COSMONAUT (12 min / DCP / an animated film)
- Jury Special Mention from International Animated Film Festival Animateka, Slovenia 2019
- Special Mention of Anča Award at International Animation Festival Fest Anča, Slovakia 2020
- Grand Prix from “TOFUZI” International Animated Film Festival, Georgia 2020
- Diploma from Big Cartoon Festival, 14th International Animation Film Festival, Russia 2020
- A Special Mention at the 34th Leeds International Film Festival, UK 2020
- Jury Award Best Short | Animation from Sonoma International Film Festival, USA 2021