Discoveries from Estonia World Cinema

A mystical beauty surgery clinic is built next to a sports club which threatens to ruin the club's owner. What is going on in this clinic? The solution seems to be inside a bottle of "Fat Burner".

The reflections on the past and present by 82-year-old Karl Peterson, the former master of Enno farm, stand in stark contrast to the views of the officials running the Moscow-directed Soviet economic system.

A short documentary about the city Tallinn.

"But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince." - Daniel 10:21 "Peaingel Mikael" was filmed at the end of May 2024 at the Keller Theatre in Tallinn.

A boy invents a super fast turbo sled. It backfires.

World War III has been going on for 70 years. The Soloist, a lonely traumatized by military service 35-year old man with a supernatural gift to recognize and reproduce people's memories with sound, goes on a journey together with the Teacher, a 55-year old woman from a village, who asks him to create a memory that never existed – her dead son’s return from war. Her persistence blends with his desperate desire to recollect his own memories. Together, they embark on a journey to fulfill their needs while overcoming the obstacles of the war-torn world.

Its title translating to "Illusion of Safety", this documentary interviews several survivors from M/S Estonia.

As a student, the protagonist watches Emir Kusturica’s film “Black cat, white cat”, about the wacky life of the Balkans, and suddenly realizes that he has already seen all this in his childhood in Võrumaa.

The video game Disco Elysium was released in 2019. Great sales, prestigious awards — it was a resounding success. The main character of the documentary "Disco Elysium: the battle behind the scene", a gamer, wants to meet with the creators of the game. However, gradually an unexpected truth about his favorite game opens up to him…

Leonhard Lapin is the classic and the enfant terrible of Estonian contemporary art, constantly followed by scandals, lewd legends and envious grumbling. Lapin confidently steps on the cornea of mediocrity, enjoying the situation to the fullest. Loved by his muses, the artist is not ashamed of his dalliances. He still has plenty at the grand old age of 70. The new Estonian film opens the doors to a disappearing Bohemianism, in which racy vocabulary reigns instead of political correctness.

Sundial takes us on a journey through the mists of the Estonian countryside. In each house whose door Liis Nimik opens, live people who have chosen to carve their existence at the fringes of modernity. Far from our tumultuous world, the rhythm of life is tranquil and peaceful. Here, humans seem to have found their place, living in harmony with nature.

A celebration of the multitude of the forms, textures and colours of nature through 527 autumn leaves.

The Russian Federation has attacked sovereign Ukraine and shook the whole balance of Europe. War does not affect only the soldiers on the field, but the side effects cover vast entities; international organizations, state officials, rescue workers, volunteers. But the smallest denominator of war is often a child. This smallest piece of the puzzle is unable to understand the entire reality of which it is a part of. Their experience consists of short moments, full of unclarity, sadness and often even happiness. The film tries to depict what goes around in the heads of these children, as we follow through the lens a bus full of Ukrainian refugees fleeing towards Finland.

Kristina Norman works with the physical and emotional dimension of the concept of imprisonment. She draws a parallel between the contemporary experiences of political imprisonment and the conditions in the concentration camp set up on Suomenlinna island in Helsinki in the aftermath of the Finnish Civil War (1918–1919).

Volli, who works as a tour-guide, discovers one morning a Portuguese man in his closet. Vollis partner Olivier is not amused over the sudden appearance of this southern man. Volli, totally ignoring the more and more peculiar situations, continues his usual routine until the dream-like drunkenness of the night and the exponentially rising rate in paranormal activities make his work and not-work even more difficult.

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? The story of Estonia’s oldest youtuber, influencer and star-chef, Uncle Arvo. The story of food and a hunger for life.

Lost film. The Livonian Order has conquered Estonia and country people try hard protecting their freedom. Uno, a brave man, escapes from imprisonment and goes back to his fellow tribesmen. Encouraged by his parents and a wise man, Kaljo has just become a young leader, when people are being attacked by the Brothers of the Sword. Kaljo's loved one Laine and Uno become victims of the enemy. Virve, Kaljo's sister, sneaks in and liberates Uno who will join the resistance fighters facing the battle of life and death.

The Text Allows No Interpretation is a personal essay documentary displaying the director’s conversation with his trauma in a stream of consciousness. The moments in photographs and videos are set in temporal disarray, meeting the superimposed phone calls speaking to and around the trauma from the past. The ever-present noise of repetition is created through jumps between memories of fear and death during the decade-old Arab Spring to insomnia and anxiety emerging through the footage of NATO military exercises on the borders of Russia.

film about the preparation for the anniversary and its celebration in Rapla on June 17, 1934. The creators of the community. The first store buildings. A diagram of the emergence of department stores. Bakers making bread, tasting cookies. Young people fishing. People gathering for the celebration. Commemoration of community figures at the cemetery. Anniversary ceremony in the garden of the Rapla community center, speakers, choir, orchestra.

A film about two-time Olympic champion Erika Salumäe, filmed throughout her preparation for her third and final Atlanta Games. We summarize Salumäe's journey as an athlete so far and hear Erika's assessments of top sports and life in general.

A spectre is haunting the city - a spectre of a cryptic ghost. In the liminal, neglected areas of Ljubljana, lurks the spectre of a striped hyena - a ghost of an animal that fled from the travelling menagerie in 1898. After her escape she managed to lurk around the periphery of the city for several months, scaring and confusing the locals with her presence. In the end, she was shot in the Rasica forest and transformed into an exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Slovenia. Now she stands there, frozen in an awkward pose, small fragile body and glass eyes full of fear with a large bloody bone placed in her mouth by the taxidermist to enhance the animal's perceived ferocity.

Paul and Mary fall in love in the pottery factory. However, the seemingly innocent clay mugs have their own vision of the budding romance. By manipulating with lively messages, the mugs take it upon themselves to decide the fate of the characters.

Piirissaar is a tiny Estonian island in Lake Peipus, on the very border of Russia. The Russian Old Believers who inhabited the island appeared here 300 years ago, during the Great Northern War, fleeing from the religious reforms in the Orthodox Church and to avoid being mobilized in the Russian army. As the waves have washed the island smaller and smaller, the community here has also fused over time, inevitably reaching the brink of extinction. However, the local culture and sense of life that developed in isolation from the rest of the “Russian world” has not yet completely disappeared from Piiriissaar.

A film-report and a unique document of the current state of mind in Estonia. After the country gained independence in 1991, most of the monuments established by the Soviet government were eliminated. In the center of the city, however, the Bronze Soldier, popularly called Alyosha, continued to stand. But in 2007, different views on history led to the “bronze night”, tragic clashes and the dismantling of the monument.

A short film that deals with the relationship between love and food.

The documentary reflects Uku Masing's life as an inner migrant during the restricted conditions in the Soviet era, including the repressions by KGB and keeping quiet about the writer. The main channel for distributing Masing's work was manual copying. As the last part of the film trilogy, the film follows the scope and influence of such activity while combining the subjects of KGB, Masing's wife and manual copying of Masing's work based on recollections by about thirty people touched by the great man.

A documentary about the life of an ordinary Estonian family, which the film group followed for 14 months after the monetary reform in 1992. The background is the emergence of statehood in Estonia.

Kristiina Davidjants' documentary "In Search of Nipernaadi" was completed almost a quarter of a century after the premiere of the feature film "Nipernaadi". Actors and members of the film crew recall the birth story of the legendary film and share their thoughts. This was one of the last interviews for the film's director Kaljo Kiisk.

Short film from Rao Heidmets about voyeurism, violence and media. Mixing live action with stop motion animation.

Hiiumaa Island, Estonia. About 455 million years ago, a meteorite fell here, forming a crater 4 kilometers in diameter. This event is now represented by a landmark, a 1:100 scale model field of the Kärdla meteorite crater. In the middle of the field, there is a rock — or perhaps two rocks? One is an object of the speechless wilderness: a rock is a rock is a rock. The other is a signified, an agent of the symbolic domain that participates in language and claims to be a meteorite.

The ancient burial mounds and a village graveyard dating back to the Middle Ages located near Kaagjärve Lake in Karula parish, Valga county, were plundered in the summer of 2012. The central area of the burial mound was completely torn up by the excavator and the bronze jewellery findings from the ground were collected with the metal detector. A crime has been commited. The ancient graveyard has been destroyed, bones are scattered around, and plenty of valuables have been stolen from the ground. The locals say that they know nothing about what has happened. The sacred ancient Niklusmägi gathers around it crime, science, souls of the dead and local destinies.

Intimacy between two individuals does not always have to be physical. This film explores what are some things that connect us with those who we love.

The documentary is dedicated to those who fell in the First Chechen War. Based on archival footage, the film offers an overview of the 20th century, highlighting its great and small figures — both victims and executioners. Political events are given an additional dimension through their interweaving with biblical motifs.

Legendary Russian writer Sergei Dovlatov's book "The Compromise" was published at the time of the author's emigration in USA and describes the period that Dovlatov himself has called "Interior emigration" - that is the years that he spent in Tallinn, Estonia as a journalist (1972-1976). The documentary interviews the prototypes of the book, including Dovlatov's former colleagues and friends who comment on the literary work. They share background information that helps to interpret both Dovlatov's destiny as well as the essence of the Soviet era.

The documentary tries to clarify the fate of the film "Leelo" - whose script title was "Singing Estonian". Enn Säde searched the archives for footage from the central committee sessions and detailed documents about both the 1947 and 1969 parties and the preparations of the films made about them.

The viewer of the film is drawn into an infinite cycle - a journey between life and death. Peedu and Robert are inseparable friends, wandering around, looking for answers. Instead of answers, their journey raises serious questions that make them look deeply into themselves.

Riddle me this: A group of five sits at a table with a box in the middle.

Strange Company - a monkey, a bear, and a centipede are intensely engaged in playing a board game. However, there is more at stake than just game pieces.

Euro Euphoria is the very first film about the fans of the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s a fast-paced story full of humor that captivates the viewer with a cascade of perspectives amid aficionados’ adventures on the sidelines of the annual contest.

Poetic, experimental animated short directed by one of the greatest Estonian cartoonists Priit Pärn.

There are only few of them left in the home village. In the middle of emptiness and despair the only way out is to come up with new schemes. Small change has the price of gold here. Riks ropes hobby artist friend Oskar into his hunting-business in hope of quick wealth.

The film follows Lennart Meri's filmmaking since 1964, when he was invited to work in Tallinnfilm's editorial office and soon became a key person in the planning of Estonian-Finnish film cooperation plans.

A man who has a unique way of using toilet paper after pooping. A couple who always orders delivery because they don’t like to put on clothes. A family that has a way to avoid washing dishes. A woman who likes her table to be sparkly clean. People use bags for every little thing, a convenience of life we enjoy every day. Too much waste? No problem, just flush them all down the toilet!

An observational documentary by Maria Aua is about the reconstruction of the former textile factory into the Academy of Arts. The process of transformation is the result of the selfless and hard physical work of the builders.

The film's narrative is based on a traditional Estonian fairytale, telling the story of a group of mosquitoes that challenge a horse to a contest of strength. As the film begins, it evokes an almost documentary sensibility, in part through its use of voice-over narration (in English). Though the film might at first seem to be a relatively traditional work, it is not long until this impression changes, and drastically. The character design and voice recording, along with fantastically unrestricted cinematography and editing, combine with folk songs (sung in Estonian, with English subtitles) that might be described as 'quirky' or maybe just 'really odd.' Some dialogue is presented in 'word bubbles' printed on the film as well. So much is going on, on so many levels, that the film defies its viewer to look away -- and who would want to? It's all wonderful. The Mosquito and the Horse clearly demonstrates how successful a film can be operating outside the classical Hollywood model.

A look at an exhibition in Reval (now known as Tallinn).

A documentary about the illegal distribution and screenings of Western films and about people who dubbed them in 1980s Estonia.

Who? Where? When? What happens in an abandoned building when the doors are closed? The former souls of the building appear and tell their stories. As they dance, they fill the space that was once their home.

Security guard Nico lives a routine life at a logistics center until a series of events pulls him and a young woman into danger. A single decision changes everything and sets off a mysterious chain of consequences that disrupts reality. Trapped in a repeating cycle, Nico is forced to navigate shifting circumstances and confront the weight of his choices as the situation escalates beyond his control. What begins as an ordinary workday turns into a tense struggle where every decision matters and nothing is certain.

These stories take us to the dreamlike outskirts of Estonia, where the everyday is intertwined with the paranormal. At the heart of the film is the human desire to understand the unseen and listen to those whose experiences are often ignored. It is a peaceful and human journey to the edge of the unknown, which does not seek proof, but tries to understand what it means to believe.

A study film commissioned by Estonia's National Institute for Health Development outlining the negative effects of drug use.

Top athletes live an enviable life surfing the crest of the wave: they are rich, beautiful, healthy and admired. Yet everyone has to start from scratch after their sports career ends. It is a new life that must be faced with courage. Andrus Värnik, a former world champion who was sentenced to prison almost 10 years ago, now lives with his mother in his childhood home.

This is not a biographical film about Veljo Tormis. This film does not browse through old photo albums, nor does it tell stories about the exciting events in the composer’s life. Tormis is sitting in his summer cottage, enjoying the silence around him. He says that he put a full stop to writing music five years ago. He does not create any music any more. Instead of facing his piano he is solving crossword puzzles.

After colliding with a flock of ducks, the military loses its missile in a dense forest.

A failed chemistry experiment turns a little boy's pet rat into a radioactive killer.

Becoming parents is the happiest day of most people's lives—but not for Gerhard and Keity, because the birth leaves both the newborn and the mother in critical condition. Gerhard is forced to face this situation alone, as he cannot be with Keity in the hospital. The film follows him over the next few days—with the first 72 hours being the most critical time for the newborn.

Short animation about freedom and peoples' ability to be free.

Two managers Adolf and Rudolf solve a problem that threatens to ruin the company.