Elen Lotman is an Estonian cinematographer, screenwriter and director, who has worked on short and long feature films and documentaries, shot around the world, in Japan, Tibet, China, Thailand, India, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Lapland and the Arctic. She graduated in Audiovisual Studies from the Faculty of Educational Sciences in Tallinn and got her PhD degree with the thesis titled ” Experiential heuristics in fiction film cinematography” in 2021.
Lotman directed her first short films in the early 2000s. During this period, she also began working as a cinematographer, i.e. as a ‘steadicam’ cameraman on a number of films: Malev (2005), Ian Uspold goes to Tartu/Jan Uuspõld läheb Tartusse (2007), Georg (2007), Where Souls Go/Kuhu põgenevad hinged (2007).
In the late 2000s, she worked as a cinematographer on the following long films: Taarka (2008), Demons (2012), When You Least Expect It (2016), My Dear Mother/Rakas äitini (2020), which won the Best Film Award at the Parnu International Documentary and Science Film Festival. She is also the cinematographer of Goodbye Soviet Union (2020), awarded by audiences at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Sleeping Beast/Tagurpidi torn (2022), nominated for Estonian Film and TV Awards, and Art in the Cold War/Kunst ja külm sõda (2024). She is the director, screenwriter and cinematographer of the documentary about the 70th birthday of Estonian radio presenter David Vseviov’s titled Vseviov (2020). Lotman, along with three other cinematographers, are the subjects of the documentary: Before the Inner Eye: Seeing as a Profession (2022). She is the screenwriter of Container (2024), a film about refugees in containers whose fate is called into question. Lotman participated in the filming of the virtual exhibition for the Tallinn Art Hall, one of the ten best virtual exhibitions according to The New York Times.
Lotman has lectured at the Tartu High School of Art and at the Baltic School of Film and Media at Tallinn University. She was co-president of the European Federation of Cinematographers IMAGO, having served as a board member of IMAGO, and co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
At the round table titled “Voices Giving Strength” held at the 44th edition of the Manaki Brothers ICFF, Elen Lotman spoke about the cruelty of the film industry in terms of balancing private and professional commitments. According to her, those who witness discrimination on set often choose not to react, fearing the consequences, but experiencing disenfranchisement can cause the discriminated against to become sensitive and constantly self-doubting. She pointed out that she takes her three children with her to interviews and film sets, noting that she is a better parent when making films.
