Discoveries from Estonia World Cinema

A woman and a man in a vital fight - over an empty milk carton.

A story about two girls' basketballs teams - Estonian and Russian - merged and having to learn to play together

Built in an old forest by the sea, Arvo Pärt Centre creates a sensation of being both inside and outside at the same time: the building's transparent glass walls make it seem almost non-existent. This concept is also the main idea of the film shot in this centre: it is hard to say whether the dancer is inside or outside, whether it is her dancing or rather the nature moving around, and, last but not least, whether the architectural structure exists or is barely a dream or an illusion.

A documentary portrait about a linguist and scientist Villem Ernits, made in occasion of his 130th anniversary.

Follow blind poet Paiv as he navigates a sighted world, finding solace through his art.

Our hero Udo embarks on something that can imagine a hike. Along the way, he meets some mildly absurd characters.

Romanek, captain of the starfleet geology team, is left behind as his spaceship leaves uninhabited planet Ephestos without him. As his oxygen levels are running low he establishes contact with 7-year-old Nele, who was playing hide and seek on earth.

A diligent postman performs his job duties exemplarily and then meets his future wife.

A story about a young man named Joonatan, who seeks closeness and practical physical touch from doctors.

Three teenagers meet while hanging out at the seaside. They start to seduce and challenge each other to hide their own insecurities in this intense triangle. The playful provocation leads to humiliation and the inexperienced youngsters are taken over by instincts that are out of their control.

Souvenir / sculptural intervention in the public space 8m high metal scaffolding in the form of a Christmas tree.

The film portrays the president of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, marine scientist and mathematician Tarmo Soomere. In the film, Tarmo Soomere meets several top Estonian scientists. Our current time and the challenges faced by researchers are made sense of through the resulting dialogues.

Creative documentary portrays the mind of a talented young composer in seeking of pure inspiration in nature despite the chaos, noise pollution and distraction created by modern city life.

The children's world includes as much brutality as the world of adults. Filmmakers Andres Maimik and Jaak Kilmi study the cases of the following kids: Kätlin, Märt, Marek and Indrek. All of them have experienced more violence in their own way than most of the kids of their age. The film brings the viewer to a sad journey to the hidden and traumatic zone in society. The filmmakers try to talk to the children, parents and teachers about the subjects that are often referred to only in abstract ways.

Silvi is one of the last Estonians to keep two cows in her home farm for her own use. Unfortunately Silvi sees no future in keeping the cows, so the time has come to send her two beloved animals away.

Through daily life and chores, a mother passes on her family heritage to her daughter.

The final performance of the six students of the BA choreography at the Tallinn University, 2011. Inspired by Heiner Müller's The Hamletmachine, the artists are searching the classics for nuggets of wisdom, confusion, high art and low physical humor.

People wander around looking for their lives that will always remain unattainable. This film is about Marju Lepajõe, who was a classical philologist, a religious historian and a lecturer at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Tartu. With a witty charm, Marju reflects on the modern world, where the need and the ability to deal with a subject matter in depth have become insignificant. Even universities, temples of erudition and culture, are losing their intellectual aspect. Where can a scholar find their place in these unfavourable circumstances? The viewers get a chance to follow Marju on her path towards refined wording and personal truth. This is an encounter that broadens the mind, offers comfort and inspires

The film reveals how our sense of hearing can use non-linguistic signals to communicate, interpret and build relations to the world around us. Using sound as the primary signifier, the film shows a specific approach to the artistic use of sound, covering a 3 year period of the authors personal research and collaborations with a number of close colleagues. The film documents in-situ processes of exploration and sonification of the landscape along with the numerous objects and structures found there.

A psychological drama about the experience of a young ex-ballerina Anna in a toxic relationship with a young man Jevgeni driven by dreams of wealth. Jevgeni having lured Anna away from ballet and into being the star of his low-budget children’s TV show.

Two long-serving city officials are being forced into compulsory retirement from the environment agency. The enterprising men decide to take it upon themselves to fight predators on the fishing lakes. On a boat trip, they meet the fishermen. But the fishermen and the surrounding wildlife hold more mystery than the men can initially see. A trip to a fishing village will change the men's lives forever.

Max Voronski was on the road to a life of crime until he discovered kickboxing and turned into an aspiring young sportsman, eager to become a world champion. Max has got the talent, but the road to glory is a bumpy one.

The documentary about Toomas Edur tells us an intimate story about the most outstanding Estonian ballet artist, his searches, changes in his life and adapting to those changes. Choreography and dancing partners may change but the simplicity, passion and belief in fairytales still remain...

On the half-way of his worldly journey, Toomas Edur looks back to his significant dancing career. High jumps on the world stages made him great also in the eyes of his own people, although the most remarkable footage of his performances have only recently been shown to his home audience. Where to go on and with whom, when it is time to leave the stage? Where is the home where a fairytale man to return after searching for fortune in the wide world?

“Linear” is a dance film that conveys misunderstandings and crossing paths between people. Seemingly linear paths can intertwine with others, and anything can emerge from a sudden meeting. Random collisions show that we do not live alone but in parallel with others. How many soul mates could there be whom we live linearly and never meet? In our film, this does not happen – there is a moment in time to find and perceive each other.

Eldar is a 21-year-old Russian film student residing in Estonia after living for 18 years in Russia as a woman. His grandmother lives in a small town in Russia. Eldar is leading a double-life hiding from her that he transitioned into a man by making his voice appear more feminine during phone calls with her, and photoshopping his pictures he sends her. After Eldar gets a call from his grandmother, who is concerned about the rumours of her granddaughter posing as a man online, Eldar decides to come to his grandmother’s birthday party to address the situation.

A man and a woman eat. Inside the room, there is a fly. The woman obliges the man to get rid of the fly.

Takes a look at the life of the talented musician and composer, saxophonist Maria Faust. The film closely follows the birth of three works and how Maria's personal experiences are reflected in her work.

A monk goes through his present and past life, constantly bouncing between desire and denial. His life in the monastery and later in the city evolves around looping patterns, coincidences and unavoidable consequences.

The third production in a series of Monoteater productions on the theme of "A Man's Life". In its first year, the theatre, which started in 2009, dealt with the early stages of a man's life in the monocomedy "The Husband", in which Jan Uuspõld explored in depth the differences between men and women. In March 2010, Monoteater staged the monocomedy "The Father", which took the audience into the sometimes crazy period of a young man's life, when a big change is about to take place - a baby is about to be born into the family. In April 2012, the audience was introduced to the next important stage in the man's life - a man and a father about to become a grandfather.

The shortage or excess of water is one of the farmer’s main concerns, and solving this problem is the task undertaken by Vello Ott.

Easter in Pechory. The film is divided into five chapters: "The Monastery," "The Pre-Holiday Market," "The Holidays Have Arrived," "The Crusade," and "The Holidays Begin." Konstantin Märska captured views of Petseri Monastery and the town, people at the pre-holiday market, buying animals, pottery, and other items, and people queuing at the liquor store. Cleaning work in apartments and on the streets are also shown.

A portrait about composer Galina Grigorjeva. Born in Ukraine, she studied at the Simferopol Music School and the Odessa Conservatory, graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory under Yuri Falik in 1991, and pursued her master`s studies at the Estonian Academy of Music from 1994 to 1998 under the guidance of Lepo Sumera.

After getting fired from an advertising agency, the project manager Rain tries to make a new company. He tried to convince Andres, a film director to join in hopes of getting a feature film contract. Everything goes smoothly until the lies surface.

Not to mention the story of the Estonian unit Estcoy-8, which suffered the biggest losses in the history of Estonian foreign missions in Afghanistan.

Documentary about now 80-years old composer Arvo Pärt and his music, philosophy and family.

The science fiction film takes place in historically recognizable places in Valga. During the shooting, local militias also had to be dealt with. The robot misleads gangsters-bank robbers. But who is he and who is his master?

Nighttime at the tram depot. A closed tram car, from which a young businessman who fell asleep on the tram finds himself waking up. However, he is not alone...

Ada the Crow dreams of getting married. At the same time, Otto the Architect is out for a walk in the city looking for a site to build a new skyscraper. Ada notices Otto and feels shivers running down her back…

Taff, Brolla, Pärnakas and Konks are ordinary Tartu students who have been earning extra money by transporting corpses around the city. In the midst of their daily chores, the four friends and their companions have to ensure round-the-clock readiness to respond to police calls and deliver bodies for forensic examination. Transporting corpses is far from an easy job. However, this profession, which is repulsive and harsh to the average person, has not changed the optimistic and humorous attitude towards life of the main characters, at least on the outside. What has forced the students to seize such an unusual earning opportunity?

Arvo Pärt's work Cecilia, vergine romana was commissioned by the Agency of Preparations for Holy Years in Roma, appointed by the Pope. The work is dedicated to the Santa Cecilia choir and orchestra of the National Academy and to their conductor Myung-Whun Chung. The film recorded the rehearsals in Rome together with composer Arvo Pärt before the premiere in Rome on 19th of November 2000.

The family is on an outing. Mother and father are laying the picnic table, meanwhile the small ones start playing on a meadow. The hen wanders into somebody's vegetable patch and is scared to half-death seeing a scarecrow. Everybody starts looking for her and the little brother encounters a snake. But the hen is brave now and ends up as the hero of the day...

Midnight Student wants to charm a special lady called Moon Orchid, but his physique fails to impress her. Eager to improve his situation, he visits a miracle doctor. Inspired by ancient Chinese erotic literature, this absurdist and allegorical story serves as a comical mirror to our modern vanities.

We don't have high mountains or dark valleys, so the forest has become a safe haven from invaders, diseases or other people. For many, the forest is a source of income, for others something like a sanctuary or rather a clinic. Twice in history it has supported the national currency. The most diverse people think about the forest in this film; their perceptions are opposite, but for everyone the forest is something very important.

A film about one of the best football players of all time in Estonia. The story of a Russian boy living in Maardu becoming an Estonian hero. Still, Vassiliev's career, known as the maestro, did not go unhindered. Like a philosopher, he was able to understand both the highs and the lows of his career.

Two elderly people have decided to start having children. There was no time for this in their youth, they had to work hard to survive. Now, in retirement, nimble old people are making children for sale to spend the night with beer, cigarettes and cocaine. It is the year 2050. The third child of the elderly is about to be born and the selling price is rising. The moral and ethical categories have changed. An aging Europe needs children.

Elna goes around the school building unscrewing light bulbs. She replaces stronger ones with weaker bulbs and sells the better ones at the market to feed her son Ennu and his girlfriend Leena. One day, Ennu informs her that she is no longer needed.

This film portraits Leonhard Lapin, who becomes one of the most outstanding avant-garde artists on the Soviet Estonian art and architecture scene. Lapin is especially inspired by pre-war Estonian funk architecture and Russian constructivists. In contrast, the bleak mass production on the actual building arena provokes protest and anger. He finds many like-minded people, and his artistic circle of friends is diverse and active. Several groups grow out of Lapin’s inner circle, among them the legendary group of architects that the Finnish architect Komonen started calling ‘the Tallinn school’. The rebel Lapin becomes the leading avant-garde artist of Soviet Estonia, whose diverse portfolio includes paintings, graphics and architectural drawings, architectonic works and architectural projects, performances and happenings, writings and poetry, and his own theory of architecture and colour. His fiery temper gets him into conflicts with the authorities as well as passionate human relations.

A portrait of the writer Peeter Sauter, who has reached a low point after a divorce and thus also lost his desire to write. To get over this crisis, the writer embarks on a curious journey.

Uku Masing (11.08.1909-25.04.1985, born in Raikküla parish, Lipa village) was a theologian, Orientalist, philosopher, poet, folklorist and ethnologist. The residents of Masing's home village recall their memories about Uku Masing and his family.

Mr. Notakiwi wants to merge into the community. Is society ready to embrace him and his song?

One of the inhabitants of the flat earth gains possession of glasses that enable one to see in three dimensions. He has good intentions but controlling one extra dimension proves to be rather complicated...

The nameless man, left alone in a sterile office environment, rethinks his existence. He hears the Alentejo song, a traditional Portuguese chant that shows him a different world from the meaningless everyday existence of work and society that he knows.

Architects discuss architectual challenges in Tallinn, Estonia. In particular Pirita Purjespordikeskus, hotel Olümpia and Linnahall.

The mysterious writer Mehis Heinsaar is on a journey. In such days, where he walks alone for days in a wild thicket towards the vast meadows, he calls the poor man's pilgrimages. The writer is surrounded by unusual and meaningful nature, he can still speak the language of animals and birds and see what is invisible to the eye. There will be seven meetings along the way for the traveler, which will open the magical inner world of Mehis Heinsaar to the viewer.

Siisi is an active and handsome young woman who would have the energy to send the first Estonian space shuttle to Venus. Instead, she flies to Uganda, where she plans to open a caféteria that will provide employment for young people with disabilities.

Two former lovers revisit their past in the vibrant lights and music of Tallinn’s bars. As night slowly turns into dawn, they try to figure out whether something new can be born out of nostalgia.

A family that just moved to their new city apartment, has to figure out what to do with a goat that was suddenly gifted as part of a charity program.