Andres Puustusmaa

Directing

Andres Puustusmaa

Born 1971-07-19 · Tallinn, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Harju County, Estonia]

Andres Puustusmaa (born July 19, 1971) is an Estonian film director, actor, screenwriter, professor, and photographer who began his career in the early 1990s. He has worked extensively in his native Estonia, as well as in Russia. Andres Puususmaa was born in Tallinn to Tõnu and Eva Puustusmaa (née Mildeberg). After secondary school he enrolled in the Drama Department of Tallinn Conservatory (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) under the instruction of theatre pedagogue Ingo Normet, graduating in 1994. Following his graduation from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre he joined the Estonian Drama Theatre in Tallinn, where he performed as a stage actor until 2002 when he relocated to Russia to study High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow until 2004. As well as performing onstage at the Estonian Drama Theatre, Puustusmaa has appeared as an actor on television and in film. One of his first television appearances was a small role was in the 1993 Maximilian Schell-directed American made for television drama Candles in the Dark, which was filmed on location in Tallinn. In 2001, he appeared on the popular, long-running Eesti Televisioon drama series Õnne 13. Puustusmaa's first film role was a small part in the 1997 Hardi Volmer-directed historical comedy Minu Leninid. This was followed by roles in the 1999 Valentin Kuik-directed drama Lurjus, the 2009 Veiko Õunpuu-directed drama Püha Tõnu kiusamine, and the 2016 Anton Bilzho-directed Russian comedy Dreamfish, among others. He has also appeared in small roles in films that he has directed, such as 2011's crime drama Rotilõks and the 2017 drama Rohelised kassid. After graduation from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, Puustusmaa worked as a film director in Russia for Mosfilm and Lenfilm. Some Russian-language features directed by Puustusmaa include: 1814 (2007), Krasnyy zhemchug lyubvi (2008), Volshebnik (2008), My iz budushchego 2 (2010), and Belyy pesok (2010). Following his return to Estonia, he has continued to direct shorts and features, including: Rotilõks (2011), Rohelised kassid (2017), and Kohtunik (2018). Since 2004, Andres Puustusmaa has been a lecturer in film and telecommunication at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and from 2015, a professor at the institution.

Acting credits

Sisu: Road to Revenge poster
7.3

Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, "the man who refuses to die" dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor. When the commander who killed his family comes back hellbent on finishing the job, a relentless, eye-popping cross-country chase ensues.

Sisu: Road to Revenge

2025

One-Dimensional Man poster
4.0

Raul's father Viktor, a Soviet-era Estonian militia officer, shaped his son with communist ideology. Raul was raised in a violent and pathological attitude of the despotic father, blindly driven by the ideology. Driven by his jealousy of his wife and her bohemian lifestyle, Viktor, being a high ranking KGB officer, stated her as a predator against the Soviet nation, and one early morning she is taken by KGB agents to an unknown destination.

One-Dimensional Man

2025

O'Slaughter Day poster
NR

The day before Christmas, the Veterinary Board receives a positive A test result from a wild boar shot by a hunter. The young veterinary officer has a disposal machine ready and starts touring the farms in his former home village. The very first farm in Kiuma village is home to the elderly and childless Ants and Minna. For the couple, their domestic animals are a substitute for their missing children and loved ones. At the same time, Ants' nephews arrive with their wives and children. The goal is to quickly deliver the gifts and drive back home to the city. But the farmer Ants announces the situation he is in with his animals, and now he needs the help of his relatives to slaughter the pigs.

O'Slaughter Day

2026

18-14 poster
7.2

Detective story set up in the time and place of young Pushkin, at Tsarskosel'sky Liceum.

18-14

2007

Buttered Cards, Shattered Hearts poster
7.0

After the death of the world's last cow, a young couple finds themselves on a hunt for butter through the labyrinth of their apartment building. When they finally reach the basement, a dangerous game for life and butter awaits them.

Buttered Cards, Shattered Hearts

2023

The Temptation of St. Tony poster
6.9

A mid-level manager who develops an aversion to being a good person questions his morality as he faces the challenges of middle age and loses control of his life.

The Temptation of St. Tony

2009

All My Lenins poster
5.4

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?

All My Lenins

1997

Candles in the Dark poster
6.0

Candles in the Dark is the story of a girl who comes to visit her father's homeland, the Soviet Republic of Estonia. After she arrives, she finds that her father is part of the dissident anti-soviet underground. She soon find her self engulfed in the struggle with her father and a lot of new friends, and finds herself being hunted by the KGB.

Candles in the Dark

1993

Rat Trap poster
6.0

During an election campaign, a large sum of money goes missing at an Estonian politician's home party. The story involves some party guests who have serious money problems and are trying to come to terms with past mistakes. However, the self-confident politician strangely does not turn to the police, but begins to demand his justice by force.

Rat Trap

2011

Green Cats poster
5.2

This is a story of two old folks, who have spent most of their lives behind prison walls. Now, as seventy year old men, they have been granted amnesty. Both men have a passionate desire to change their lives according to certain plans.

Green Cats

2017

Crossing The Line poster
NR

Jakop, a lone fisherman on the coast of lake Peipus has to decide whether refugees brought to his door are his way of redeeming past sins or merely a means to quickly earn much needed cash.

Crossing The Line

2022

An Affair of Honor poster
8.0

Hendrik is a responsible public servant who is deeply in love with his beautiful wife Evelin. Evelin, however, finds their protected life boring; she wants Hendrik to do something more exciting. When he returns from his business trip, Hendrik will find his schoolmate Berg in their balcony and will furiously throw his gloves to Berg's face. Soon it will turn out that this has been the challenge accepted.

An Affair of Honor

1999

Dreamfish poster
4.7

Roman is a born proofreader from a family of proofreaders, a real intellectual from St. Petersburg who comes to Narva-Jõesuu, a small Estonian spa town, to find inspiration, tranquility, and silence. He does proofreading of the encyclopedia of the Baltic Sea Fishes, compiled in the same location by Professor Polyanski, winner of the Nobel Prize. This work is very important for Roman. He would have accomplished his task, but once he swam too far in the sea. It was then that Helena came into his life, to change his ideas about the world forever.

Dreamfish

2016

Shift poster
NR

When Miina, a seemingly well-off woman is caught shoplifting, the female officer uses her chance to show off her contempt. She sees a rival in the shoplifter and decides to teach Miina a lesson. Surprisingly, both women meet just a few hours later in a situation where the previous rivals become partners in crime and must put their fates in the hands of each other.

Shift

2010

Behind the camera

One-Dimensional Man poster
4.0

Raul's father Viktor, a Soviet-era Estonian militia officer, shaped his son with communist ideology. Raul was raised in a violent and pathological attitude of the despotic father, blindly driven by the ideology. Driven by his jealousy of his wife and her bohemian lifestyle, Viktor, being a high ranking KGB officer, stated her as a predator against the Soviet nation, and one early morning she is taken by KGB agents to an unknown destination.

One-Dimensional Man

2025

One-Dimensional Man poster
4.0

Raul's father Viktor, a Soviet-era Estonian militia officer, shaped his son with communist ideology. Raul was raised in a violent and pathological attitude of the despotic father, blindly driven by the ideology. Driven by his jealousy of his wife and her bohemian lifestyle, Viktor, being a high ranking KGB officer, stated her as a predator against the Soviet nation, and one early morning she is taken by KGB agents to an unknown destination.

One-Dimensional Man

2025

Libertas poster
NR

Seven directors develop their own scripts and come to Estonia to make their films with local cast and crew. Libertade is a feature length film project, comprising of seven short films directed by renowned film-makers from Georgia, Russia, Switzerland, Estonia and France. They all take their unique look into questions about our roots and identity, our choices and our search for freedom and its consequences. —Katerina Monastyrskaya

Libertas

2018

Your Honor poster
6.0

The Judge (Mait Malmsten) is a man who represents strict rules and laws in the courtroom. However, his own personal life is an absolute mess. After the judge makes a decision to give a long prison sentence to a woman, the woman’s brother (Märt Avandi) starts following the judge to change his mind about the verdict. The judge stays adamant. The verdict is final. A conflict takes place between the men, resulting in the judge suddenly becoming a criminal himself. Unable to confess his crime, the judge escapes to Finland, where a series of comedic twists and turns lead him to a number of strange people and comical situations. However, the shadows of his dark deeds keep haunting him. To leave his dark crime behind and to fix his earlier decisions, the judge returns home.

Your Honor

2019

Your Honor poster
6.0

The Judge (Mait Malmsten) is a man who represents strict rules and laws in the courtroom. However, his own personal life is an absolute mess. After the judge makes a decision to give a long prison sentence to a woman, the woman’s brother (Märt Avandi) starts following the judge to change his mind about the verdict. The judge stays adamant. The verdict is final. A conflict takes place between the men, resulting in the judge suddenly becoming a criminal himself. Unable to confess his crime, the judge escapes to Finland, where a series of comedic twists and turns lead him to a number of strange people and comical situations. However, the shadows of his dark deeds keep haunting him. To leave his dark crime behind and to fix his earlier decisions, the judge returns home.

Your Honor

2019

18-14 poster
7.2

Detective story set up in the time and place of young Pushkin, at Tsarskosel'sky Liceum.

18-14

2007

Minsk poster
7.2

Minsk, August 2020. Pasha and Yulia, a young married couple, leave the house at night and find themselves in the midst of peaceful protests. Everyday walk turns into a real hell, in which innocent people are victims of police brutality.

Minsk

2022

Rat Trap poster
6.0

During an election campaign, a large sum of money goes missing at an Estonian politician's home party. The story involves some party guests who have serious money problems and are trying to come to terms with past mistakes. However, the self-confident politician strangely does not turn to the police, but begins to demand his justice by force.

Rat Trap

2011

Rat Trap poster
6.0

During an election campaign, a large sum of money goes missing at an Estonian politician's home party. The story involves some party guests who have serious money problems and are trying to come to terms with past mistakes. However, the self-confident politician strangely does not turn to the police, but begins to demand his justice by force.

Rat Trap

2011

A Wizard poster
NR

A story of love between a young soldier Sergey and a fellow officer Anna.

A Wizard

2008

Green Cats poster
5.2

This is a story of two old folks, who have spent most of their lives behind prison walls. Now, as seventy year old men, they have been granted amnesty. Both men have a passionate desire to change their lives according to certain plans.

Green Cats

2017

Green Cats poster
5.2

This is a story of two old folks, who have spent most of their lives behind prison walls. Now, as seventy year old men, they have been granted amnesty. Both men have a passionate desire to change their lives according to certain plans.

Green Cats

2017

Red Mercury poster
4.2

It's the early 90's. A new currency is in circulation in Estonia - the kroon. The former federal republic has become a world leader in non-ferrous metal exports. There is a relentless struggle around this criminal business. It brings new victims every day. Estonia ranks first in Europe in terms of the number of killings. This is just the beginning...

Red Mercury

2010

Red Pearls of Love poster
2.3

Maria is young and beautiful. Her life resembles a fairy tale, in which the wishes come true if by magic. She has a smart, loving husband. And all that can be bought for money. Maria wants a child but could not bear it. She lives, but does not feel life. She is very unhappy.

Red Pearls of Love

2008

Бесприданница poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Бесприданница

2011