The film is the first European co-production to be backed by the Belarus government.

Estonian director Peeter Simm, whose credits include the Berlin award winning film Good Hands, is gearing up to shoot ensemble drama Lonely Island in Belarus on June 1.

He will direct from a screenplay by Mihkel Ulman about the lives of five sets of interweaving characters in a modern day city in Northern Europe. The cast includes Igor Sigov, Lembit Ulfsak, Juhan Ulfsak, Veronica Plyashkevich and Vlad Zhuravlov.

A co-production between Estonia, Belarus and Latvia, the $1.7m (1.2m) Euros film will shoot in all three countries. It is the first European co-production to be backed by the Film Department of Belarusian Ministry of Culture.

Gatis Upmalis is producing for Latvian company Studio F.O.R.M.A, Enda Lehtmets for Estonian based Lege Artis Film and Ivan Kolb for Belarusfilm, Belarus.

The film is scheduled for an early 2012 release.

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