21/09/2005

One of the most extensive film retrospective of Estonian films ever organised is going to take place during the Baltic Film Festival from September 23-28 at the art-house cinema Arsenal in Berlin, thanks to the initiative of German journalist and festival organiser Gudrun Holz and the cooperation of the Estonian Film Foundation, the Estonian Institute in Tallin, the Estonian Embassy in Berlin, and other sponsors.

Although a few films from Latvia and Lithuania will also screen, the focus this year will be on Estonian cinema with as many as 63 films in the programme: Feature length, short, documentary films but mostly animation works from the 1970s and 1980s. Perhaps the most well-known filmmaker in the genre, Priit Pärn who initiated a whole new school of animation with his very personal style full of visual metaphors, will be one of the Special guests of the festival. Three other established animation specialists Elbert Tuganov, Priit Tender and Mait Lass will be on hand to present some of their works, alongside documentary filmmaker Andres Maimik (Choose Order, 2005).

32-year-old Jaak Kilmi who started his filmmaking career making three documentaries with Maimik, will have the honour to open the Festival on Friday with his feature film debut Revolution of Pigs co-directed with René Reinumägi, among the 10 most successful local films in 2004 and winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival 2004. The film produced by Rudolf Konimois Film in Estonia with Crea Video in Finland is set in 1986 and tells about a spontaneous youth revolt against the surrounding totalitarian system in an Estonian student summer camp.

On Sunday 25th, Kilmi will discussion ‘film production in Estonia’ with his colleagues Andres Maimik, Mait Laas, Priit Prän, as well as Jaan Ruus, Chairman of the Estonian Film Foundation (EFF) and Karlo Funk, Head of International relations at the EFF.
The Festival will close on Monday 28 with the screening of two historical films: the 1914 political satire Bear Hunt in Pärnumaa by Johannes Pääsuke, the first Estonian full-length feature film ever produced, and The Last Relic by Grigori Kvomanov, a costume film from 1960 that has become a classic in Estonian cinema.
Next year, the focus of the Baltic Film Festival in Berlin will be on Latvian cinema and in 2007 on Lithuanian cinema.