Discoveries from Estonia World Cinema

A recently released convict reunites with his sister. They set out on a journey but soon realize that years apart have made communication all but impossible.

Luna returns to her childhood home to retrieve old recordings hidden in a closet and to re-live the sense of home that once was. Much to her surprise, she meets the new inhabitant, from who she hides her true intention.

Documentary presents the archievements of the Soviet Estonia in various fields of economy and science, education and culture. The lifestyle of the era is expressed through the portraits of the front-rank workers and a big family.

Tallinn is known for its medieval old town. However, not only the old houses and streets have been preserved, we have also come down to ancient legends related to these places. The film is about the Oleviste Church and the mysterious craftsman who built one of the world's tallest towers for this church at one time.

Hinrikus is a highly intelligent individual, but he lacks the financial means to achieve his goals. In an effort to overcome his financial struggles, he devises a plan to rob the wealthiest man in town. To carry out this heist, he enlists the help of two unlikely accomplices: Miia, a young woman, and Ardo, a car mechanic.

The "Swingers" is a shameless (and sometimes shy) relationship comedy with the main focus on sex.

Documentary about Estonian media personality David Vseviov. He is one of the most well-known Estonian radio voices whose fascinating stories about cultural history have captivated radio listeners for generations. The film opens up the person behind the mythical radio voice and it does it through the protagonist's big seventieth birthday party.

scary aff movie where the girl goes demon mode

Bring the light of love and kindness with your songs, with a wide smile and a wide open soul, travel almost all of Europe on a bicycle, get into the Guinness Book of Records, meet with the President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel and receive the keys to the bus from his hands as a gift - all of which I could not the dream of an ordinary Soviet citizen came true in the life of a simple guy Gennady Chernetsov.

A young woman and a young man meet in Istanbul. They both lack the money to live in the foreign city and they are both deaf. They connect, spend time together and do what young people always do – party carelessly and seek intimacy. They feel they are in love. But all is not quite as it seems. She’s from Ukraine, he’s from Russia, and there’s a war going on somewhere back home.

A poetic journey from trauma to healing - part of our forest is burnt, the other part is bursting with life.

After a heavy decision, Anna and Juhan are unable to move on with their lives. They take time off at their friends' fancy summer house and once there, are forced to offer shelter to another couple caught in the storm. The couple assumes that the house belongs to Anna and Juhan and they do nothing to correct the mistake. Instead, they seize their new roles and start taking their mutual bitterness out on the strangers.

Martin a boy with adjustment difficulties, moves with his mother to a new place. Martin has a habit of always getting into all kinds of trouble, and on the last day of school, everything goes wrong. Martin likes the school principal's daughter Marta, but the girl is also liked by the most popular boy in the school, Kevin, who has a fancy scooter. In his last trouble, Nitram, a charming wizard cat, comes to Martin's aid, who brings new adventures.

A herd of war-torn and hungry rats tries to get an answer to the question of who is Lili Marleen from a mortally wounded young soldier stuck in a projectile funnel. Is it a reminder of first love or first relationship with a prostitute earning her daily bread? Lili Marleen is not just a distant heroine from a song. Every soldier boy has her own Lili, be it his first love from school or just an imagination. But always, no matter what happens, she is waiting for her soldier underneath the lantern by the barrack gate...

On the shimmering shores of Europe’s otherworldly edge, two teenage girls, Hanake and her best friend are discussing their first love interest while gazing out at yachts sailing to Kyoto. They whisper prayers and poems, the language of their longings. But the magic is fading in their isolated fishing village as they’re dealing with a recent disaster, with some indulging in erotic art, some in spiritual spells. It becomes clear that intimacy alone won’t help them process their loss.

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

An experimental short about a child’s birthday based off the drawings of children.

This story is about a young man who wants to go behind the horizon...

It's the early 90's. A new currency is in circulation in Estonia - the kroon. The former federal republic has become a world leader in non-ferrous metal exports. There is a relentless struggle around this criminal business. It brings new victims every day. Estonia ranks first in Europe in terms of the number of killings. This is just the beginning...

A dreamy love triangle between a mermaid, a sailor with a wooden leg and a flute-playing centaur, who live among the sand dunes of a desert landscape. Ülo’s debut hand-drawn film is full of charm and wit, in equal measures, and never fails to delight.

Anna, a high-tech pick-up artist who helps awkward men to seduce lonely women in high-class bars on cold evenings in Tallinn. She can play the game of sex and love like a professional, she knows just what to say to manipulate anyone into doing what she wants (or consenting to what she wants). But Anna's own love life is far from perfect and she cannot see that she is being manipulated, too.

Veteran actors from the 3 Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - gather at a castle in Latvia to receive awards for their roles as Nazi villains in propagandist Soviet war films. They reminisce about the films that made them famous throughout the USSR, but also stigmatized the Baltic countries as Nazi sympathizers in the eyes of many Russians - a misconception that is nowadays exploited by the Russian media, desperate to label the Baltic countries as a fascist haven.

Surprised by rain and sudden darkness Laura and Roland, a young couple hitch-hiking on an empty road, decide to seek shelter at a nearby country house. Osvald, the owner, seems to know the deeper meaning of their unexpected visit. His strange behaviour leads to an equally strange offer: Osvald wants to buy Roland's wife. Laura and Roland start to play along, only to discover that their host is not kidding.

A late visit to an office building suddenly takes an unexpected turn, involving police and a legendary rock-star.

Love blossoms between Maroc, a singing boat refugee, and Lisa, a collector of singing seashells who dreams about love.

Agate – the older and well-off partner of Matiss and the mother of ten-year-old Paula dies unexpectedly. It becomes a devastating blow for Paula and a grand possibility for Matiss, a charming novice bailiff assistant and a cheating boyfriend, to “upgrade” his social status with Agates splendid house. Matiss and Paula are stuck together in order to find the only relative left – the missing brother of Agate. This journey leaves irreversible footprints on both of them.

An ancient leg bone is found during archeological excavations. It's soon identified as an ancient whistle for performing old buddhist rituals. To learn more about the mysterious instrument, a young scientist flees to the countryside. Before long she discovers that the enchanting sound of the whistle starts to take a strange hold of her.

The story of human error. Every time he goes to bed and turns off the light, he remembers something urgent: the toilet seat is not lowered, the Slippers are not parallel, the tap water is dripping… Unfortunately, the small house where all this happens is on the beach. How does it look at night from the sea? Yes, disaster is inevitable.

Almost her whole life, Ulvi has live in the Soomaa nature reserve, in the middle of deep woods and wild nature. Although the river by her house keeps coming closer due to the eroding riverbank, and the living conditions become more and more complicated, Ulvi is reluctant to leave her childhood home.

Sensitive and restless Johannes is accepted to an elite school in Tallinn and expects life to go uphill. Instead, he becomes the victim of mental abuse by his classmates. In search of recognition, he goes to his old Lasnamäe friends, who spend their time doing drugs, hanging around, and partying, rather than focusing on schoolwork. At home, Johannes must deal with his mother’s deteriorating mental health. As the tension grows, he finds himself at zero point, where he must completely reset his life to build it up from scratch.

Six young filmmakers from Central and East Europe developed shorts about the theme of 'generation'.

A retired Georgian film star, used to playing heroic leads, embarks on a cathartic odyssey after being offered a supporting role of an unpleasant elderly man.

The comical short film "Christmas Day" tells the story of a strong bond between Pia and her grandfather. The story takes place within the familiar Christmas hustle and bustle, complete with stressful gift wrapping, ear-piercing children's squeals, and a traditionally comical family Christmas dinner. Amidst all the chaos, Pia finds herself in a moment of a different reality, through which she manages to regain her Christmas joy and gets a reminder of how much we need our family's warmth and acceptance in good and bad times.

Based on the tales of Chinese writer Pu Songling, the film depicts the romantic relationships of a Chinese student with an undead girl and a fox spirit maiden. Rainer Sarnet's diploma film.

Valdis returns after 20 years, his memory restored, but his hometown transformed. Despite the changes, his friends Märt and Ott guide him through rediscovering life's joys.

At a late-night seance, attended by twelve people, the medium announces that five secrets will be revealed before midnight. There might, however, be one more - the darkest of them all.

Led by the mysterious mirage of his once lost ship, a retired sea captain follows the vessel to the very end.

The hippie movement that captivated hundreds of thousands of young people in the West had a profound impact on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Within the Soviet system, a colorful crowd of artists, musicians, freaks, vagabonds and other long-haired drop-outs created their own system, which connected those who believed in peace, love, and freedom for their bodies and souls. More than 40 years later, a group of eccentric hippies from Estonia take a road trip to Moscow where the hippies still gather annually on the 1st of June for celebration that is related to the tragic event in 1971, when thousands of Soviet hippies were arrested by the KGB. The journey through time and dimensions goes deep into the psychedelic underground world in which these people strived for freedom.

Marta hauls a piano home from a used music shop. She almost succeeds. Albert tries for the thirtieth year already to tell Paula that he loves her. He almost succeeds. Paula wants to respond to Albert in the same vein. She almost succeeds. Police commissioner Kits has dreamed of parachuting all his life. He almost succeeds. Mirjam wants be become a circus artist. She almost succeeds. A honeybee tries to get out past a closed window. It almost succeeds. A film without main characters where the lives of characters that have lost their head intertwine in a dramatic and less dramatic way in an ordinary concrete panel apartment building.

A little boy and his big dream - toy soldiers with souls, who would close their eyes, when dying.

A poetic journey through the inner world of a grieving filmmaker who tries to find solace in talking to her ghost. Different stages of grief are visually linked to seasonal changes in nature. The filmmaker finds reflections of her mindscape in the surrounding scenery and wildlife.

Autumn 1944, Estonia. Tens of thousands of people leave their homeland in fear of approaching frontline. Some seashore villages remain completely empty. A young woman with huge grey eyes gets off the boat. Eetla leaves the last boat, thus giving up her last chance to escape. Defying the cold wind and rain of September, she returns to the lighthouse which is unexpected to her father Gottfrid, the lighthouse keeper, and herself. Eetla's return becomes her self-encounter and self-recognition.

Brothers Tarmo and Toomas Urb are musicians whose phenomenon in 1980s Estonia is hard to overestimate. Performing romantic ballads accompanied by guitar, they were able to bring a full house to any concert hall. Some songs like "Imeline laas" or "Musta pori näkku" have become folklore. The brothers were compared to the duo Simon & Garfunkel.

A rich businessman moves to countryside to give his life a meaning.

A film about three sisters who have reached different turning points in their lives. Liis, who has just graduated from high school, discovers that the future planned with her boyfriend is not so certain. Elder sister Karin, the first victim of her parents' expectations, tries to cope in today's sexist business environment. Jane, the youngest of the sisters, tries to resist the pressure of her party animal friend to prove herself as someone who she is not. During one fateful night, secrets and feelings that none of them wanted to admit to themselves before are revealed.

The mystical and thrilling drama asks what sort of reality can give our life meaning. The film tells the story of Pia (38), an ophthalmologist, whose marriage has recently ended because she was not able to have children. As she strives to move forward with her life, Pia learns the unknown but also finds her inner strength. Unexpectedly, her deepest wish to become a mother materializes, but not quite in the way she imagined it.

The filmmaker decides to address questions about his childhood to his emotionally distant father, while some questions will be asked, others will be just left unsaid.

Seven leading animation artists chose one poem from each Estonian poet according to their own taste and illustrated it with a two- to three-minute cartoon. Leading actors of the Estonian theater and cinema, as well as the authors of the poems themselves, took part in the dubbing.

The young country of Estonia is dancing to the jazzy tune of the 1920's when on December 1, 1924, the capital Tallinn is overrun by members of the Comintern in an attempt to stage a Communist coup. The film follows the fates of a young soldier called Tanel and his wife, a telephone operator named Anna, amidst the ensuing chaos which determines whether the country remains independent or becomes a minor province in the Communist Empire.

Leo is a robot who lives in his cosy rusty house with a cat. On one fine day, a first guest ever, Lilleliisu, is coming to visit him. For this special event he starts to make preparations – the table needs to be set. The closer the guest gets, the greater Leo’s anxiety grows.

A gang of five children spend their summer in an abandoned factory complex. When they are forbidden to go there by the factory owner for safety reasons, the children decide to ignore the ban. This decision changes their lives forever and the friends face a grim confrontation.

Kiik, a young car mechanic stuck between the gears of life, finds out that his girlfriend's heart has been won over by a new handsome man. To get rid of the pain in his soul, Kiik asks his filmmaker best friend to join the adventure, with the destination to cut down the tree of eternal love. The journey to the mystical tree becomes thorny, intriguing and criminal.

On one moonlit night in 1944, Soviet bombers turned Tallinn into a burning labyrinth of fire and ash - attacking the capital of a country that was not even at war. Through restored images, this night is relived.

With his last breath Uu's friend entrusts him with the secret of how to go to the past. Uu is an engineer and doesn't believe in miracles, but the trick works. In the past there is a pleasant, eternal summer, long hair, girls and Jenkki chewing gum. In his real life, it is autumn, his friends are bitter, the girls are married and his father is seriously ill. At the end of the day, however, Uu has to decide in which time to live his life - in the summer of the past or in the autumn of the present.

A young Estonian goes to the Siberian Taiga to live as a hunter in a remote forest hut. He hopes to find his true self far from civilisation. The natives he meets introduce him to the myths of the north. The first is a young village teacher who wants to be a good wife to him. The second is a wild and untameable native who becomes his mythical bear-woman. When he accidentally kills a great black bear, his own shadow-creature, he burdens himself with guilt. However, he is given a chance of finding his inner balance. A romantic drama with mythical elements and breathtaking landscapes.

Kyiv, before 24 February 2022. A family is trying to make ends meet— though the fridge is permanently empty and the electric meter has sharp teeth. Then bombs hit the building across the street.

The final film in the trilogy takes us on another wild ridewhich will stop at nothing and will leave no time to feel shame. The three best friends –Mart, Andres and Toomas, are back! And as always, they offer genius solutions to both their personal problems, as well as the audience’s spare time.

A man falls off a roof. Another one drowns. Another catches fire. Wherever you look, men are dropping like flies. “May God rest their souls,” sigh the widows as they cross themselves somberly. This is the life and the death of the men in Virago—a village where for centuries no man has lived long enough to see his fortieth birthday. Until today.

A lot has happened in a quarter of a century, but the Salmons have remained who they were - Estonia's first family, who have been viewed with both admiration and quiet envy. Viewers of the former series remember how well the Salmon family was able to make money. Now they have secured an even more powerful position in the society, because Ella Salmon has become the President of Estonia.