Ülo Pikkov

The protagonist is a Miller living in a watermill. He bakes daily bread and raises ducklings whom he wishes one day to set free. But on the field next to his home, hunters go to shoot birds.

What can an old apple tree tell us? What mysteries are hidden in his roots, gnarled over time? Does he remember the serpent and the lost Paradise? Our body remembers more than we can expect and imagine. It remembers the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. It keeps alive the stories of our parents and grandparents as well as their ancestors. But how far back is it possible to go in your bodily memory? The stop-motion animation BODY MEMORY takes as its central concept the idea that our body remembers, not only individual experiences, but also the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. A powerful visualization of subconscious processes and the hidden horror of deportation. Inspired by historical events: the Soviet deportations from Estonia in the 1940s.

In a marathon running, a criminal hides among the runners, after blowing up a statue in the central square.

An immense dissappointment. Instead of a puppy for her birthday she got a father…

Stop motion characters stumble and fumble their way through a clearing in the woods.

The prospect isn't good: situation seems like jail, porridge bowl bottomless and time is running out. An unexpected discovery changes it all though.

The protagonist is a Miller living in a watermill. He bakes daily bread and raises ducklings whom he wishes one day to set free. But on the field next to his home, hunters go to shoot birds.

What can an old apple tree tell us? What mysteries are hidden in his roots, gnarled over time? Does he remember the serpent and the lost Paradise? Our body remembers more than we can expect and imagine. It remembers the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. It keeps alive the stories of our parents and grandparents as well as their ancestors. But how far back is it possible to go in your bodily memory? The stop-motion animation BODY MEMORY takes as its central concept the idea that our body remembers, not only individual experiences, but also the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. A powerful visualization of subconscious processes and the hidden horror of deportation. Inspired by historical events: the Soviet deportations from Estonia in the 1940s.

What can an old apple tree tell us? What mysteries are hidden in his roots, gnarled over time? Does he remember the serpent and the lost Paradise? Our body remembers more than we can expect and imagine. It remembers the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. It keeps alive the stories of our parents and grandparents as well as their ancestors. But how far back is it possible to go in your bodily memory? The stop-motion animation BODY MEMORY takes as its central concept the idea that our body remembers, not only individual experiences, but also the sorrow and pain of our predecessors. A powerful visualization of subconscious processes and the hidden horror of deportation. Inspired by historical events: the Soviet deportations from Estonia in the 1940s.

An immense dissappointment. Instead of a puppy for her birthday she got a father…

An immense dissappointment. Instead of a puppy for her birthday she got a father…

Stop motion characters stumble and fumble their way through a clearing in the woods.

The prospect isn't good: situation seems like jail, porridge bowl bottomless and time is running out. An unexpected discovery changes it all though.

Watchmaker controls the time, but the mouse living in the watchmaker's workshop controls the clocks... This is a film about time and its ephemeral nature.

Watchmaker controls the time, but the mouse living in the watchmaker's workshop controls the clocks... This is a film about time and its ephemeral nature.

Ada the Crow dreams of getting married. At the same time, Otto the Architect is out for a walk in the city looking for a site to build a new skyscraper. Ada notices Otto and feels shivers running down her back…

Ada the Crow dreams of getting married. At the same time, Otto the Architect is out for a walk in the city looking for a site to build a new skyscraper. Ada notices Otto and feels shivers running down her back…

"Roots" tells six very personal stories - a first, big love, the loss of a child, ageing, infidelity, fragile relationships with close ones. Six different views on what our family and environment has left in us and what we leave behind.

A layered, complex film channelling the elegant, brittle austerity that sits at the heart of what it can mean to be an orphan.

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.

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.

An animated documentary about an old lady who returns home after sixty years. The film is based on a true story and taking place on a remote island of the Baltic sea. All objects in the film are made of materials found on that island (Ruhnu).

An animated documentary about an old lady who returns home after sixty years. The film is based on a true story and taking place on a remote island of the Baltic sea. All objects in the film are made of materials found on that island (Ruhnu).

For 25 years, world-famous Estonian clowns Haide and Toomas, better known as Piip and Tuut, have brought joy and laughter to children and families across the globe. But behind the face paint and curtain lies a different story. While entertaining thousands, their own children – Emma, Siim, and Anni – have been growing up at home without them. Eldest daughter Emma dreams of following in her parents' footsteps, but balancing her passion for theatre with caring for her autistic brother and younger sister has forced her to grow up fast. Meanwhile, Haide and Toomas grapple with guilt, exhaustion, and the toll of trying to give their all both on stage and at home.

A woman’s greatest joy is giving the gift of life to a new human being. Her deepest sorrow – the loss of a child. This very personal and touching film is not about death, it is about the beauty of life and how miraculous it is that we are alive. Waiting for a miracle was never planned to be filmed. It was dictated by the unique unusual situation, and life was the main scriptwriter. The director hopes that her work can be therapy for people in similar situations.

Sewing Machine is a film about the town of Pechory (Petseri) and its people, told through the life story of my great-grandmother. My great-grandmother’s father, who was the deputy mayor of Pechory, was killed by the Bolsheviks because he refused to give the keys to the town monastery to the revolutionaries. A few months later, the armored trains of the Estonian War of Independence reached Pechory, and the town was liberated. One of the soldiers of the armored train, a Danish volunteer, had a film camera with him, and he recorded the oldest film footage of Pechory, and somewhere on that film is also my great-grandmother.

Sewing Machine is a film about the town of Pechory (Petseri) and its people, told through the life story of my great-grandmother. My great-grandmother’s father, who was the deputy mayor of Pechory, was killed by the Bolsheviks because he refused to give the keys to the town monastery to the revolutionaries. A few months later, the armored trains of the Estonian War of Independence reached Pechory, and the town was liberated. One of the soldiers of the armored train, a Danish volunteer, had a film camera with him, and he recorded the oldest film footage of Pechory, and somewhere on that film is also my great-grandmother.

Stories about Tartu and Southern Estonia, capturing the tricks and mysteries about the arts of survival. Renowned filmmakers from Estonia and abroad bring us uniquely wild tales of people, communities, and the culture they live in. In these stories, we meet peculiar vehicles known as “karakat” from Peipsi, charming non-places of Tartu, the wild German woman living an off-grid life without water and electricity, mischievous goats and crazy village parties, the diverse Annelinn residents and nostalgic Petseri, slime mould and space exploration, and of course, the artists of survival from today and past.

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

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

A monkey who lives in a zoo starts living like a human being when is mistaken for a drunken Santa Claus who got lost and ended up in the zoo, and is taken away for treatment of alcohol abuse

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.

"Dialogos" is an ironic comedy about modern society where everything is very hi-tech and computer-based. "Dialogos" is drawn and scratched directly on a filmprint.

It is said that if a man is fading away, he sees his life running quickly in front of his eyes. What does a hundred-year old film strip see before it gives way to digital vehicles? Does it see broken frames, scratched film stock or something else? This is a film about time and its ephemeral nature.

Margit has left her life, career and apartment in a big city and moved to a small island Hiiumaa to grow nettle. She believes there's a power in this plant that we don’t know how to fully use yet. Having researched the nettle and its qualities in various laboratories, she is sure that it’s possible to put Estonia on the world map with the plant that many consider to be just useless weed. But are only faith and enthusiasm enough to break through as an entrepreneur?

Right alongside Jerusalem, in a Russian Orthodox Convent in the Mount of Olives, in the middle of the Arab quarter, lives the 82-year-old Estonian nun Mother Ksenya.

In his own way, Anatoli Ljutuk is a legend of Tallinn's Old Town - a man from Western Ukraine who has built a unique world on Laboratory Street, the main core of which is the Ukrainian Cultural Center and Church. There, he engages in calligraphy, makes paper in a medieval way, carves traditional wooden toys in his workshop and makes books in the spirit of old monasteries. According to the oath taken a quarter of a century ago, he has promised to create something good every day. His daily commitment is challenged by the war that broke out in Ukraine, which Anatoly cannot passively ignore.

Two American secret agents - Frank and Wendy - are sent to the world's hotbed of danger, known as Estonia. Estonia is a silly place, perhaps even sillier than the agents themselves. Frank and Wendy, for whom saving the world is their daily work, achieve both mental and manual feats with the greatest of ease. It appears that nothing can prevent their ultimate victory, but go figure. The axis of evil does not wither and attacks the super-agents from where they can least expect it...

A macabre animated comedy about Paul and Georg, a man and a fly. It's a tale of loss and broken love.

Fairytale full of light, magic and nostalgia. A clay doll awakens her surroundings that become a surreal world in constant flow of change. Shot with natural light, the visible changes of daylight emphasize the passage of time in the film.

Magnus Kirt is one throw away from the world title when his shoulder dislocates before the eyes of millions. A years-long struggle forces him to ask: what does a comeback mean when you can never return to the way you were?

The director's parents Tiina and Ülo have saved more stuff in their home throughout the years than they have space to live. Useless piles of clothes, old newspapers and dishes block the way to the dinner table or bed. This is a story about a love for things and the difficulty of letting go of them.

Frustrated by her husband’s absence, an old woman summons a God to rot his fishing nets. This brings him home but what are they to eat?

A story of a mother and her son and a race against a tortoise where you always lose.

A story of a mother and her son and a race against a tortoise where you always lose.

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.