Sulev Luik

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.

It is the night of March 25, 1949. A full moon hangs over Estonia. Endless rows of cattle cars are waiting to transport thousands of Estonian families, asleep in their homes, to Siberia. The Stalinist regime is ready to treat people like animals.

A rock ‘n’ roll road movie, an absurd comedy and a modern love story between the Finn Sam and the Estonian Mari taking place in the newly independent, poetically nightmarish Baltic countries.

Anxiously awaiting the return of his new wife, Adolph finds solace in the words of a stranger. But comfort soon turns to destruction as old wounds are opened, insecurities are laid bare and former debts are settled.

A movie about the life in a small Estonian city in the 1950s. Young people face an instinct for survival that shatters ideals but can also destroy lives.

Tallinn, Estonia, days before outbreak of World War II. Hotel detective and Polish writer team up to find Tear of the Prince of Darkness, a legendary ring which can bring Satan’s rule over the world.

A film about the life of Raimond Valgre, an Estonian songwriter and singer of the 1930s and 40s, the political changes of his country and his life after the war when his songs were considered not suitable for the Soviet way of life.

In the final weeks of the existence of the Soviet empire, a number of unusual films were released. In this wry Estonian comedy, a woman with an unusual talent for mimicry which eventually earns her a career on the radio between WWII and the Russian resettlement of that country (with a corresponding deportation of millions of Estonians to Siberia). In an absurd fashion, her self-generate sound effects help her get out of all sorts of scrapes with the authorities. When those fail, her incredible nonchalance succeeds. By the end of the film, it becomes clear that she has bestowed her inimitable imitative gift on her newborn son, as well.

1938: Shostakovich encourages his pupil Fleischmann to write an opera based on the Chekhov story 'Rothschild's violin'. Fleischmann is killed during the siege of Leningrad. Shostakovich completes the orchestration, but in 1948 is advised to suppress the opera, during Stalin's campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans". Jewish motifs enter Shostakovich's own work.

Young and active nationalist Aleksander Kesküla makes up his mind to use Lenin, the Bolsheviks' leader, in order to start a revolution in Russia with German money and create a new national state of Estonia in the north-east of Russia. For security reasons, five doubles will be found and trained for Lenin. All of them are finally sent to Russia to instigate the revolution. How will the real Lenin put up with all this?

An adventurous action-packed story about a police officer nicknamed "Sheriff", who, bravely fighting mafia functionaries, easily and simply takes bribes from its bosses.

On Christmas Eve, the residents of Peace Avenue discover that there are military guards in front of their houses. Soon they have to start showing their passports when entering their homes. The residents are told by the authorities that in order to keep the peace they have to be ready to co-operate. It is an order and people stick to it. It is heard that the foreign troops will leave when the snow will be gone - so it won't be long until the everyday life will be normal again. When spring arrives, not only the snow disappears but also lots of residents. Those who stay will look forward to the Midsummer Day.

A historical costume drama where the fragments of the adventurous lives of Bernt Notke, one of the most influential Late Gothic painters, and carpenter Michel Sittow are brought together by the story of the panel painting "Danse Macabre" by Notke and the way the painting reached Tallinn, Estonia from Lübeck.

Viktor 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?

"Tractus stellae – Herodes and the Three Wise Men", a liturgical drama based on the 11th Century manuscript, comes alive through images. The story of the birth of the holy infant in manifested through musical visions about king Herod and the premonition that the new king is about to be born in Judea. Performed by the band Hortus Musicus.

A mother released from a prison camp in Russia returns to Estonia to find her son, but realises that reconciliation is impossible.

Everything seems to be fine in the life of a young woman who works as a paramedic. She has chosen a profession that requires understanding and compassion, but she herself needs help in quieting the restlessness in her soul. As a doctor, she lacks an emotional bond when interacting with her patients, she feels alienated from her surroundings and her fellow people.

A passenger steps off his train during a short stop in a small town called Vernanda in order to buy a loaf of bread. However, the train departs early and the passenger is left to deal with a bread-shaped bomb, strangely behaving townsfolk and an ominous laughter that follows him wherever he goes.

When the frontline extends over Estonia in the summer of 1944, the pilots of a shot down Soviet airplane come to ask for help at a farm where organ builder Jaan lives with his kids.

A teenage boy named Vahur, who is from a seemingly upstanding family, becomes an accomplice to the vicious assault on an elderly man. Through a look into the boy's childhood and family, this film raises the question of how to become and remain a decent human being in the schizophrenic Soviet society where everyone was equal, but some were more equal than others.

Anna, the daughter of an elderly owner of Kõrboja farm, is told by her father that if she won't move in their home farm then it will be sold to strangers. But the farm needs also a master, and Anna has been living in town for years. She comes back home and reunites with Villu, her friend from childhood.

Osvald, a man in his sixties, his wife Ragne who is about half his age and full of life, and her ex-lover Tarmo, have reached a decisive point in their lives where important choices need to be made. The isolation of a lonely island sets the characters face to face with each other, depriving them of social safety measures.

No synopsis available yet.

A television film based on the short stories of the American writer O. Henry.

The 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.

A film about national belonging, featuring Latvian director Alvis Hermanis.

Nikolaeva, the wife of a Red Army commander, and her two small children did not have time to evacuate and remained in the city occupied by the Germans. By hiding a persecuted woman in her house, Nikolaeva herself comes under suspicion. Having miraculously escaped arrest, she and her children are now forced to leave the city...

It is the year 1947. The war is over but Estonian forests are still hiding armoured men. When the message comes that Western spies will arrive to support the local bushwhackers, security officer Rein Taim starts to lead the counter operation of the Communist Secret Police in order to catch the Western diversionists and the leader of the Estonian bushwhackers.

Arabella is a daughter of the world's most terrifying pirate captain. She loves her father but also dreams about a life of a usual girl. One day a weird stranger is saved from the sea who will be the only friend of Arabella. At the same time a rival pirate called Raudpats plans to kidnap the girl. Will she be safe and can she ever live a normal life?

A group of saboteurs was sent into Estonia in 1959. This group included a local resident who also has his own personal goal: to find the daughter he lost at the end of the war while fleeing abroad.

The police get a call-out to a lonely hotel in the Alps. When an officer gets to the hotel everything seems to be alright. Suddenly, an avalanche cuts them off from the rest of the world and strange things start happening.

Peeter Simm's diploma film about a forest-guard and a Kyrgyz Red Army soldier in Estonia during the German occupation.

Little Kati spends her summer at her grandma's. Her playmates are the village boys and the whole countryside - animals, flowers, the wind and stones. Kati conjures up the sun and floats above the fields of flowers and the whole universe. There is no borderline between reality and the magic world. Is it possible to play the same game also at her home in the city?