Sten-Johan Lill

Sten-Johan Lill is Estonia's most decorated cinematographer of his generation, a five-time winner of... the EFTA Award for Best Cinematography, and the eye behind some of Baltic cinema's most internationally recognised work.

Born in Võru and trained at the Baltic Film and Media School, his visual language is naturalistic, intuitive, and deeply sensitive to light, built on instinct rather than formula, with influences running from Harris Savides to Veiko Õunpuu.

His features span multiple Oscar submissions and major festival selections: The Days That Confused (Karlovy Vary 2016), Scandinavian Silence (Karlovy Vary, 2019, Hollywood Reporter: "ravishing Tarkovsky-level cinematography"), The Last Ones (Estonia's 2021 Oscar submission), 8 Views of Lake Biwa (Rotterdam, 2024, Estonia's Oscar entry, Variety: "ethereal wide shots"), and Mo Papa (Torino, 2025).

Co-founder of Kinosaurus Film, he also works as a colorist, most notably on Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, which premiered at Sundance. Read More