
Directing
Arvo Kruusement
Born — Died
1928-04-20 — 2026-09-09
Place of birth
Undla, Viru County, Estonia [now Lääne-Viru County]
Known for
Directing
Credits
23 titles
Arvo Kruusement (April 20, 1928 – September 9, 2026) was an Estonian actor, theatre and film director who has made some of Estonia's classic novels into films; Spring (1969), Summer (1976), and Autumn (1990). The movie Spring has been noted as the best Estonian feature film in the Top Ten Poll held by Estonian film critics and journalists in 2002. Arvo Kruusement attended GITIS in Moscow, Russia from where he graduated in 1953. in 1953-1961 he worked as an actor at the Estonian Drama Theatre in Tallinn. In 1962-1964 Arvo Kruusement was the director of the Endla Theatre in Pärnu, Estonia, and film director for Tallinnfilm in 1965–1991.
Known for
6.0Once upon a time, a King had eleven sons and one daughter. When his wife, the Queen, died, the King remarried. The new wife and the children's stepmother looks beautiful on the outside, but actually she's an evil witch. She sends the young princess Eliise to live in the village as an ordinary peasant girl and turns all the princes into wild swans. The princes are stuck being swans all day long and only at night can they regain their true form. When Eliise is 15 years old, she learns about the fate of her brothers and now she must overcome the obstacles put in her way by her stepmother in order to release her brothers from the spell.
The Wild Swans
1987
8.0Peeter Simm's diploma film about a forest-guard and a Kyrgyz Red Army soldier in Estonia during the German occupation.
Võsakurat
1976
Reactionary and aggressive circles in the United States are trying to establish a dictatorship in the country, preparing to assassinate the president and introduce a state of emergency in the country. The conspiracy is led by the FBI director...
The R Document
1985
8.0Viktor Kingissepp has been the underground head of the Communist Party of Estonia for three years. He corresponds with Moscow, writes speeches for the members of the Communist Workers' Party and makes leaflets for the events of trade union. His purpose is to overthrow the Republic of Estonia since he does not believe in Estonian independence nor in any national ideals. Yet the clock keeps ticking, tuberculosis spreads rapidly, the world revolution is being postponed. What to do in order to make one's efforts work?
In One Hundred Years in May
1987
10.0After the war, young yachtsmen from the coastal town deal with daily work, training and competitions without knowing about the downside. Suddenly, mysterious events start to happen, testing the vigilance, ideological and moral beliefs of the local people.
Yachts at Sea
1955
5.9School is over, final exams are behind — and Dima was the first to think of waving away from home. The convictions of his elder brother Viktor about a serious attitude to the future life only more “warmed up” the four friends, and for the first time they went to Tallinn for the first time without the bored care of adults...
My Younger Brother
1962
Film credits
2000s · 2 titles
6.0Veteran 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.
Nazis and Blondes
2008
NRAs a young woman, Claire left her hometown in disgrace. Now she is old and unimaginably rich, as for the first time she returns. The town is nearly bankrupt and in urgent need of money. Everybody hopes Clara will come to the rescue. And she will. However, there is a condition: somebody must kill the man who was her lover all those years ago.
Visit of an Old Lady
2006
1980s · 4 titles
6.0Once upon a time, a King had eleven sons and one daughter. When his wife, the Queen, died, the King remarried. The new wife and the children's stepmother looks beautiful on the outside, but actually she's an evil witch. She sends the young princess Eliise to live in the village as an ordinary peasant girl and turns all the princes into wild swans. The princes are stuck being swans all day long and only at night can they regain their true form. When Eliise is 15 years old, she learns about the fate of her brothers and now she must overcome the obstacles put in her way by her stepmother in order to release her brothers from the spell.
The Wild Swans
1987
8.0Viktor Kingissepp has been the underground head of the Communist Party of Estonia for three years. He corresponds with Moscow, writes speeches for the members of the Communist Workers' Party and makes leaflets for the events of trade union. His purpose is to overthrow the Republic of Estonia since he does not believe in Estonian independence nor in any national ideals. Yet the clock keeps ticking, tuberculosis spreads rapidly, the world revolution is being postponed. What to do in order to make one's efforts work?
In One Hundred Years in May
1987
6.8The movie travels through the 20th century by monitoring a steam boiler. We see the history of Estonia through life, agricultural work and people at different times.
Dance Around the Steam Boiler
1988
NRA story of a Latvian journalist spying for USSR in Spain during the civil war.
Spanish Version
1980
1960s · 3 titles
5.9School is over, final exams are behind — and Dima was the first to think of waving away from home. The convictions of his elder brother Viktor about a serious attitude to the future life only more “warmed up” the four friends, and for the first time they went to Tallinn for the first time without the bored care of adults...
My Younger Brother
1962
5.0After a long night with his old war buddies, Andres Lapeteus regains consciousness in the hospital. How has confusion, bewilderment and alienation developed between these men who once fought together side by side? Is this the inevitable result of the Stalinist regime, the influence of his social climber wife, or the effect of his personal cowardliness and conformism? What happened to Andres Lapeteus?
What Happened To Andres Lapeteus?
1967
NRAbout the scout girl "Bereza", her dangerous work behind enemy lines during the Second World War. Twenty years later, a journalist is looking for the heroine and interviews her...
I Am Bereza
1964
1950s · 2 titles
10.0After the war, young yachtsmen from the coastal town deal with daily work, training and competitions without knowing about the downside. Suddenly, mysterious events start to happen, testing the vigilance, ideological and moral beliefs of the local people.
Yachts at Sea
1955
7.8Peeter Saarmann has grown up in the Raidma family with the knowledge that his father was a casualty of war and mother died during evacuation. He is a university student who prepares to get married. During renovation Peeter finds a pre-war newspaper article about an enterprise that seems to upset his stepfather. The night before his wedding day, Peeter runs into a drunk man who calls Peeter an illegitimate offspring. When Peeter hears the truth about his real parents from his stepfather, he has the feeling that this could become crucial for his future plans.
Days of June
1958
Series credits
Behind the camera
8.0Peeter Simm's diploma film about a forest-guard and a Kyrgyz Red Army soldier in Estonia during the German occupation.
Võsakurat
1976
6.3In the beginning of the 20th century, Joosep Toots has returned from Russia, where he learned agriculture. He wants to start reforming his father's farm, Ülesoo. At the same time, he's competing with Kiir to win the love of Teele. Teele has stated that she agrees to marry with a farmer only. So Kiir decides to go to Russia to learn agriculture too.
Summer
1976
7.5The Smacking Sea is a film about the work of traditional seal hunters on the smacking Baltic Sea and their life in the coastal village.
The Smacking Sea
1981
7.5The Smacking Sea is a film about the work of traditional seal hunters on the smacking Baltic Sea and their life in the coastal village.
The Smacking Sea
1981
7.0Paul Madvig is a businessman in an American town in the 1920s, doing everything to maintain his power. He plans to marry Janet, the daughter of senator Ralph Henry who must be re-elected in order to ensure Paul's position. Paul is sure of himself and treats his competitor Shad O'Rory, who is involved in the gambling business, with arrogance. Then the senator's son is murdered. It is rumoured that Paul is behind the murder. Private detective Ned Beaumont, an old friend of Paul's, starts to investigate the case. Based on the novel "The Glass Key" by Dashiell Hammett.
The Gang
1986
5.7Don Juan arrives in Tallinn and soon the gossip spreads like wildfire. The local women trip over themselves to be seduced by him; the men race to defend their honor by challenging him to a duel. What no one knows is that Don Juan is a woman in disguise.
Don Juan in Tallinn
1973
6.6Paunvere parish school students Arno and Teele, Toots and Kiir, Tõnisson and Imelik experience feelings during one school winter, the traces of which they carry throughout their future lives - from true friendship and first love to self-discovery and clarifying life goals.
Spring
1970
5.6The story is about a woman, who has to heat up the company's sauna, because the bosses want to entertain foreign visitors. The sauna is situated in a small village where her ex-husband is from, and an old aunt of his is still living. In addition to having to face her bosses she also has to face her past.
A Woman Heats the Sauna
1979
NRBased on the second part of the pentalogy "Truth and Justice" by Anton H. Tammsaare.
Indrek
1976
6.0The main character of the film is Paunvere tailor Jorh Adniel Kiir. Two young seamstresses, Juuli and Maali, arrive in Paunvere. At first, Kiir regards them as competitors, but then he establishes friendly relations with them. Kiir marries Juuli, but he is not indifferent to Maali either. The film also follows Kiir's efforts to get his own farm.
Autumn
1990

