Discoveries from Estonia World Cinema

Remembering is a fluid affair. A daughter tries to reconcile with her mother through memories of their shared rituals, exposing the intricate aspects of their relationship. As the daughter matures, she begins to contemplate conventional notions of divinity. The blank frames of the 35mm strip regain their function as memorabilia in the process of engraving her past onto its surface.

In 1986, twelve years after his film Kihnu Naine (The women of Kishnou), Mark Soosaar made this complementary documentary at the centre of which are the male inhabitants of the island. With a bitter undertone to it, Soosaar shows how, to this view, a lack of possibilities for self-government and the conceited attitude of the mainland towards the islanders have caused great problems to this society. The island has been negligently placed under far too large a kolkhoz. Enormous alcoholism is prevalent among the male population and, increasingly, among the women. Sheer possession of money has become a standard of regard. If a family cannot spare 4,000 roubles for the marriage of their children, they are ignored by the other islanders. In this dramatic as well as poetic documentary we see how the social awareness of a society has gone by the board. Merely concrete and strict reformations can improve the situation the island is in.

National Song Festival and rap / hip hop. Is it same kind of music?

A documentary portrait of Tiit Pääsuke, the most prominent painter in contemporary Estonia. Artist per excellence, creator of the imaginary picture-landscapes, a charming person, adorer of the woman’s beauty, gentleman and a colonel in local whisky club - Tallinn Uisge Beatha Club. “When painting, I compose the details of my pictures, my human models not as traditional painter, but more like film or theatre director works with actors, my compositions are as performances, theatrical happenings”. - Tiit Pääsuke

Carrot unites all the characters of the story. The Hare doesn't have a carrot. But the Snowman has it. The Hare is hungry. The Snowman becomes hunted. The Snowman tries to hide itself from the Hare by unbelievable camouflage and disguise, but it is the Carrot that betrays him again and again. The coming of beautiful spring shows that the Snowman is not a real snowman and the trouble-maker Carrot becomes a sign of reconciliation.

An encounter between two men in a club in Riga. A stagnant, distant but carefully observant capturing of a hypnotising pole dance to Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York, that ultimately leads to a personal/closer connection, with general introductory questions about life (and its expectations).

Neeme Järvi is one of the most recorded conductors in the world. His name appears on the front cover of more than 500 audio records. In addition to his international reach and being the chief conductor of several world orchestras, he also has a mission as a cultural ambassador. The film follows Neeme Järvi's recent activities - a concert tour with the ERSO in Vienna, Linz, Prague, a winter vacation in Florida, concerts in Tallinn, Glasgow and the Pärnu Music Festival - conducting, giving master classes and interacting with his offspring - the conductor sons Paavo and Kristjan Järvi - and sharing in their success.

A film fairytale about birds living in Estonian forests.

From time to time, Mephistopheles manifests himself to the Estonian people through Linnar Priimägi. The released energy gives birth to chaos. Manfred Vainokivi tries his hardest to portray the one who causes it. Unsuccessfully, of course. Because even the largest letters are unreadable in twilight, as Goethe said. And there is a lot of twilight now. At least according to Linnar.

Film portrait of Estonian artist Dolores Hoffmann.

Matz Topkin, the young and lively star of Estonian paraswimming, is remarkable both in terms of his speed and personality. Matz is a role model for young swimmers, but he has something to teach for everyone.

A story about the adventures of a young ice bird and the difficulties of starting an independent life.

Two young men ski through snowy Estonia, getting to know some beautiful landscapes and industry. The skiing ends with sauna and a dance party.

Lost film. The first banned Estonian film tells a grotesque story about the comical adventures of a naive priest and an ebrious sacristan during a winter bear hunt. The funny burlesque taking place in the beautiful landscape of Southern Estonia takes an unexpected turn when after the three day hunt the priest returns home and instead of his modest wife he will find a fashionable looking woman. His wife has meanwhile been in town to get a close-cropped haircut and acquire modern social etiquette.

In a Christian culture, suicide is a taboo, and a soldier's suicide is a double taboo. Rivo, who has been on a military mission to Afghanistan twice, suffers from a post-traumatic disorder, which ends in suicide. For four years, Rivo's girlfriend Hanna tries to battle his psychological disorder, but then gives up and moves from Estonia to Australia. Six months later Rivo steps in front of a train.

Cabaret has always been place for courageous and passionate people. Passion on stage will take audience along. Some will get turned on, some will despise. Cabaret in Soviet times was against all rules. But it happened. And cabaret was hugely successful. Today only legends have remained. In documentary film “Red Cabaret” one time professionals will tell you those legends and intrigues. Take a trip to Soviet Cabaret!

The documentary tells a story about trees not fit for the sawmill being given a new life. It is important to use what we have, and to give each stump a second chance through new value.

The story of a foal who, through inevitability, ends up in an unfamiliar environment—the city—but ultimately discovers his calling and profession.

In 2023, Tallinn held the title of the European Green Capital, in the wake of which Joosep Matjus and Katri Rannastu made the documentary “Greener Tallinn”. Through four seasons, the diverse natural landscapes and environments of the Estonian capital reveal themselves layer by layer. This is a tribute to Estonian nature that is right here, in the city around us. Matjus's previous film “The Wind Sculpted Land” won the hearts of many Estonians and showed us what an idyllic environment we live in.

A former chief psychiatrist of the Soviet Estonian Psychoneurological Hospital, once the only professional sexologist in a country where sex did not exist, collects frozen sounds and restores a manor once owned by Peter the Great.

Documentary about Peeter Simm and the difficulties of creating a feature film. The Estonian weather and the unfamiliar working style of famous German actors seriously tested the abilities of director Peeter Simm when the Estonian-German feature film “Fed Up!” was filmed in the spring of 2005.

Set against the backdrop of war-torn Ukraine, “VONA” a feature length documentary, exposes a jarring reality: nature has become a new battleground. With meticulous strategy, Russian forces exploit AIR, WATER, SOIL and RADIATION. Weaponizing these elements to wreak havoc. The film delves into four distinct lives, weaving a narrative that unveils the perilous fight for our planet’s future. Through the lens of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, “VONA” unearths the ecological toll of war while offering a ray of hope, spotlighting pathways to mend our wounded Earth.

A young medic decides to escape the devastating horrors of war and wanders off into the endless snowy wilderness. Unexpectedly, he crosses paths with a family who has set a table in the cold fields.

Film-reportage describes the most vital moments in Estonian struggle for independence in 1990, also some typical episodes of everyday life of Estonian people, that altogether should give a concertrated picture about Estonia this year. The documentary is a continuation for the director's former film chronicle "Year of Dragon" (1988).

As the sun sets, director Vladimir Loginov takes audiences to a Tallinn far from the postcard-perfect spires of the medieval Old Town. Venturing into its hidden underbelly, he reveals complex realities and vibrant subcultures. From the first cries of newborns in a maternity ward to the moans of lovers in a sex club, from emergency call operators giving life-saving instructions to the pulsing rhythms of a nightclub, Loginov guides viewers through a waking dream.

A story about a young man who in an absurd situation insists on remaining a human being as if he still believed in happy solutions.

Mirror on the wall, camera on the ceiling: fast tracked images of waves of an influx of movement inside a women’s bathroom. Entering, waiting, using, leaving: this is a surveillance-style depiction of the transitory life in a non-place filled with possibilities.

A glimpse into the real lives of warehouse workers on the desolate streets of Austin, Texas, in this dual-screen documentary.

Miriam's parents are not at home. She, her little brother and the Hen are watching swimming ducks on TV. As the Hen becomes jealous, Miriam decides to bath it in the bath-tube. This triggers a dangerous adventure which, luckily, has a happy ending.

Estonian promotional revue-film created for EXPO 1967 in Montreal.

A transcendental float or an imminent fall: a woman is in a slow motion descent with a slightly illuminated building rushing on the background. Eyes are shut and the body delicately moves: the wind keeps blowing and the end is always near, yet never quite there.

An ode to the magic of cinema bursting out from the darkness of the projection booth.

There are more than 800 known grove sites in Estonia, the ancient holy places of nature. Groves were protected by the religious customs of rural people and its natural environment stayed intact. This way, every grove formed into an original ecosystem due to local conditions of climate, water and soil. Many groves are well-preserved today, some of them, however, are completely gone except a few landscape marks left behind of its existence. The main value of Estonian nature gradually opens up - the variety of the nature surrounding us. Unfortunately, we are not always able to understand the value as the source of balance and inner force. In today's fast-paced lifestyle, it is worth perceiving the Finno-Ugric boreal life and its richness.

Marianne Kõrver's documentary is about the life and work of the painter Konrad Mägi (1878-1925). According to the author, when creating the film, she was primarily interested in Mägi's controversial and sometimes inexplicable personality, the various aspects of which are also transferred to his work.

When an eccentric countess agrees to an interview with a dubious newspaperman, the shadows of the past stir-and neither of them will escape their reach.

A breezy look into an illegal database from a CD-ROM, which contains personal data of Estonian citizens.

Enn is a young student of construction who comes from a small island with high ambitions. Hilma is a city girl from a well-off family. They dream about a happy life together. Construction specialist Pilliroog becomes covetous and puts pressure on Hilma's bourgeoisie parents in order to catch Hilma's attention and win her friendship. In order to get what he wants, Pilliroog stops at nothing and fears no intrigues nor violence. Depicting the life of the nouveau riche in Tallinn during 1920s adds the socio-critical touch to the silent film. Only 1 min and 9 seconds of this film are preserved.

Low IQ lad named Fuuskur tries to find perfect formula for his homemade snus.

The Great Grey Shrike is a strange wildlife-story about the very peculiar manners of the great grey shrike, the common cuckoo, starlings and other birds.

Two lovers, separated by languages, confess to each other in their own native tongues.

In the serene landscape of Haanja, Estonia, Eda Veeroja leads a group of women as they embark on a transformative journey through the ancient Võromaa smoke sauna tradition. Amidst the fragrant smoke and rhythmic chants, they seek emotional and physical healing.

Gerda is working dutifully and focused in the hot-dog stand when David comes by just before closing time and orders a hot-dog with fries. Extra crispy.

Ahto, armed with encyclopaedic knowledge and unbound love for obscure music, embarks on a journey to find the rarest vinyl records of the Soviet era.

One totally ordinary warm summer night, the residents of a totally ordinary apartment house happen to gather in the yard. A citizen of questionable motives takes advantage of the situation, and the ending is of course quite expectable.

It takes 99 % work and 1 % talent to create a masterpiece.

Philosopher Jan Jõemets embodies all Estonian humanitarians of 1990s. While flying too high and being too free he burned his fingers and now the viewers can decide themselves whether Jan has enouth will and power to rise from the ashes. Only Jan's friend Margus Ott has survived in today's desinfected and chlorinated pool of education among the former philosophy students of the School of Humanities. The documentary points out the commercialization of today's higher education and suffocation of free thinking. The protagonists' journey reveals how educational system attempts to cast creative thinkers into similar moulds.

The story of Edgar Väär (1929 Kuressaare, Estonia - 2015 Toronto, Canada), a freelance cameraman, who earned his nickname ‘Fast Eddy’ by reaching the scene of events before police and CBC crime reporters. A major part of his filmed footage has aired on TV. The rest of the footage, over hundreds of thousands of film stock, that he didn’t manage to sell to news broadcasters, are piled up in Eddy’s downtown Toronto penthouse rooms and basement. Do old news have value to be sold? What does the end of a person look like who has documented the ends and destructions of many others in the infotainment industry?

A story about traveling and four women of different ages who embark on a journey. Four different destinations, four different goals, four different options. The film's title is borrowed from Tove Jansson's collection of short stories and the film is dedicated to film director Olav Neuland, who died in a plane crash.

An atmospheric cinema poem about humanity, triggered by the worldwide pandemic, lockdown and social distancing. Although the activity of people in the city is on hold, time continues to move on at a calm yet gallant pace. Welcome to the artificial world built for us, by us, standing without us.

First vanquish the opponent and then embark on the quest to find whatever is at the end of the line that tethers him to this world.

Three sisters notice a strange car while cleaning the apartment of their recently deceased grandmother.

An Eesti Televisioon production, commemorating the 30th anniversary of The Baltic Way, a human chain of almost 700 kilometers in length, formed as a demonstration against the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and a call for freedom. The documentary features interviews and first-hand accounts, as well as unique archival footage.

The world is in every person. Microcosms have no boundaries.

A streamer desperate for attention pushes himself and his friend further and further until things reach a breaking point.

Urmas E. Liiv’s new TV3 documentary sheds light on the moving life story of actress and singer Diana Klas. Why have many former colleagues and friends distanced themselves from her, and how has her meeting with Kerdo Mölder, singer of the popular band Respekt, changed her? What tragic chain of events led to this? The film will also feature rare materials from the personal archive of Diana’s father, Eri Klas.

"Ritual reversals" or "rituals of rebellion" are concepts used for mock rituals performed in Southern and Eastern Africa. During fertility rituals, like rain ceremonies, women in their songs and dances demonstrate obscene behaviour while they behave like men. These are secret performances open strictly for elderly men and women. Still, we were invited to record the rain making ceremony in the land of Chief Chassuka, Manika Province in Mozambique, in order to document the ritual for the younger generations. These rituals are a fading tradition probably due to the special character of the songs and dances.

A young fanatic bird-watcher spends a summer on an islet in the Nortern-Sea with his assistant. Rough nature, hidden feelings.