Estonia
30-year old Kertu has lived under her father’s power her whole life. Because of her gentle nature, she is thought by locals to be a little simple-minded. The young woman makes her first timid attempt to change something in her life – she send a postcard to Villu, a handsome but degenerate village drunk.
A wide range of relatives and acquaintances have traveled to a funeral, and as is typical of Estonians, the sad event turns into a comical one as the evening develops. The primordial disputes that arise among the Estonians take on hyperbolic dimensions as events unfold, creating misunderstandings.
Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years.
Pirx, an experienced pilot, is hired to go on a top-secret mission to evaluate some ‘nonlinears’ (an experimental model of android) for use as crewmembers on future space flights. Pirx and this intriguing crew are sent out to launch two satellites into the rings of Saturn, but he is determined to find out and identify a hostile unhuman coworker among them.
A young Finnish woman escapes an enigmatic love affair in Moscow by boarding a train to the arctic port of Murmansk. Forced to share the long ride and a tiny sleeping car with a larger than life Russian miner, the unexpected encounter leads the occupants of Compartment No. 6 to face major truths about human connection.
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.
Doctor of Physics Sandra suddenly loses her job. Finding a new job seems easy at first glance, but it turns into various tragicomic challenges. Endless job interviews bring the former researcher together with all sorts of situations and new personalities.
Documentary film about former Estonian tennis player Anett Kontaveit.
Thousands of years ago in ancient China, a man fights against his destiny. He wants another chance to be reunited with his loved one and he gets that chance, in a far away place and a far away time, in modern Finland.
An animated opera version of “Goldfish”. In this modernised version of the fairy tale of the Goldilocks, everything is absurdly modern – turned upside down. It’s the story of a man who lives underwater and a fish who lives above the water in the air and can grant people’s wishes. The man catches the fish and starts wanting all sorts of things, but…
Anya, a young academic raised in an orphanage, is on the cusp of success when she’s accused of drug possession. While in limbo hiding from the police, she hits the road with Kristina, another orphan several years Anya’s junior, in search of her possibly mythical grandmother.
1918. World War I rages in Europe while Erna Jensen tends to her ordinary life at home in Bramstrup, with her simple-minded son, Kalle. One day the village constable comes to enlist Kalle for military service for the German Empire – of which Southern Jutland is a part. If Erna is to save Kalle from certain death, she must follow him through thick and thin. Upon a chance meeting with a deserting solder she trades identities. Now disguised as Private Julius Rasmussen, Erna heads for the front. In her encounters with the other soldiers and in the presence of the war, unknown sides of Erna are awoken. This is the story of a woman who won’t let a war prevent her from fighting for what she loves.
When love is the greatest torment, will art or play save you? A dramatic documentary about author Vaino Vahing.
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.
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.
A bizarre duel of minds develops between an alcoholic writer and an anonymous caller on a stormy night. Behind The Random Denominator is a nerve-racking psychological horror story, which uses minimalist means to create an oppressive atmosphere of unawareness, drawing the viewer deeper into the maze of fear and mistakes with every new and unexpected twist.
In the middle of the night, a drunk town guard happens to meet the daughter of a rich merchant… who drowned herself into a well 10 years ago. Soon after the town guard falls dead from the tower. This is followed by two other suspicious deaths. Doubting the existence of the ghost, Melchior has a hunch that these ‘accidents’ are part of a heinous crime. Tracking down the killer, his path will cross with heretics, old feuds and dark family secrets.
The film summarizes the life and creative path of Mati Hint, an outstanding linguist, essayist, lecturer and who played an important role during the restoration of Estonia’s independence.
An anxious woman navigates the bustle of modern day Cairo to find her missing lover, a young adult strives for an authentic connection in a future society numbed by alcohol, and two Cold War-era lovers face the consequences of finding romance across political borders. A vibrant collection of short films – by turns gritty and dreamlike – exploring the changes and complexities of a Love Evolving.
Dainius, a young rock singer, locks himself away in a secluded country house surrounded by swamps. Hoping to meet his beloved in dreamland, the musician is eagerly assisted in his studies by a local boy exploited by moonshiners.
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.
When conventional medicine is struggling to keep up with ever increasing stress levels in populations biohackers show us their holistic approach to life which not only increases their resilience against the stress, but also helps them to perform on higher level.
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.
Young artist Toomas Haava returns from Paris, back to his brother’s bog farm and wraps himself unintentionally in a conflict with the violent and terrifying Madjak, who is harassing a local girl, Hilda, also known as Wildcat. Enchanted by the mysterious beauty, Toomas finds himself in the middle of a fight for love.
A journey with Estonia’s oldest and most popular band.
It seems the summer will last forever. Sisters Mia and Liki are taking the most out of it, but the signs that something’s wrong with the parents, are disturbing their happy life. Girls perceive the changes around them, but can’t comprehend the situation, which causes inexplicable fear and confusion.
Erik is convinced he has a stone for a heart. That’s why he doesn’t mind that his parents have no time for him, or that he is bullied at school, or that he has no real friends. When his family moves to a villa they inherited, he is confronted by Maria whom Erik’s parents want to kick out along with her father. Maria refuses to move and promises to make Erik’s life a living hell. As a last attempt to defeat Erik, Maria goes to look for her mother who disappeared two years ago. Together they end up on a fantastical journey to the In-Between-World and Erik learns how hard it really is to wear a heart of stone.
The film consists of three chapters. The Manslayer takes place more than a hundred years ago. The leading character Maara is a young bride who is about to start her life in her new family. The Virgin, set in the spring of 1949, tells the story of a young woman called Elina, who has been deported from Ingria into Estonia during the previous war. The Shadow moves in the present, on the border of real life and fantasy. The main character, Luna Lee, has decided to flee from home. Is there anything besides emptiness somewhere? The film is led by the singularity of the leading character – Maara, Elina and Luna Lee are all played by the same actress.
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.
When a man rushing to work hits a woman in a hospital gown with his car, she hijacks the situation and gets into his car, demanding that he take her away from there.
In 1933, a young woman leaves her rural home to chase her dream of becoming a writer in the city. She takes a job as a maid for a middle-aged printing house owner, who quickly starts pursuing her romantically. They marry, but his passionate declarations of love soon turn cold. As political tensions rise in the country, their love story unfolds in a divided society, revealing toxic behaviours and power games that start innocently but lead to dire consequences.
Plucky young Lotte embarks on an adventure with her uncle Klaus to solve the mystery of three stones that a pair of hooded figures are attempting to retrieve.
After 27-year-old Karmen’s father dies, the security structures of her previous life start falling apart, as her relationship with her half-brother Viktor also deteriorates, and she faces the darkness and emptiness of the universe.
A film about Kristiina Ehin, the beloved and internationally known modern poetess of Estonia. Her honest, beautiful and painful sharings reveal to us what experiences she has had to go through to grow into the woman and poet we know her as today. The film contains topics that Kristiina agreed to share for the first time during the filming of “Waterwalker”.
The heroes of the film are three bear cubs from the cult painting by Ivan Shishkin “Morning in a Pine Forest”. After losing their painter mom, the three brothers Henry, Vincent, and August appear in Paris, the City of Light every creator dreams of. All attempts to earn their living as artists fail. Their impressionistic “collies” won’t be acknowledged. Under cover as circus lions, the bear cubs travel back to Russia to find the heritage of their mom.
The feature film based on Eduard Bornhöhe’s story takes the viewer to the early days of the 20th century, when Estonia was still part of the tsarist Russia. Pride in one’s nation was emerging and the desire to give something eternal to one’s people at any cost – be it a miracle machine flying in the air or valuable literature written in the language of the country. Unfortunately, it was not that easy and sometimes there was lack of talent.
Artur is an Armenian guy who dreams about a career in filmmaking, but his grandfather wants him to take over the family wine business. When a bad review from an Estonian critic threatens to ruin the family business, Artur has to go to Tallinn to set things straight. There he meets the feisty Ingrid and things take an unexpected turn.
A story of a naive man, whose direct behavior stirs in people moral unrest, rage and embarrassment over their own pettiness, making them yearn for goodness.
Melchior’s bride Keterlyn happens to witness an attack on a young man. The victim, who has lost his memory, does not know who he is and how he ended up in a Tallinn. A ring found at the scene leads Melchior to the trail of the nocturnal brotherhood, questions are also raised by the troupe of freaks who performed on fair day. Ominous signs suggest that not only is the stranger recovering from a murder attempt at risk, but Melchior and Keterlyn as well. At the same time, an inquisitor known as a ruthless witch hunter arrives in town. Melchior’s ability to “speak to the dead” and to notice invisible traces of murder have raised the suspicion that he may be a dangerous heretic. And the place of the enemy of the church is at the stake…
Lotte gets a little sister named Roosi. Two scientists Karl and Viktor come to Gadgetville, they are taking part in a big folk song collecting competition. Whoever succeeds in recording the folk song of the world’s oldest animal species, wins the competition’s grand prize. Lotte and Roosi decide to help the scientists. Exciting and unexpected adventures await the sisters.