We weren’t able to restrict ourselves to one day. Thanks to our Estonian collaborator Andreas Kirss, programme director of Tallinn Cinema House, who provided us with a wealth of extraordinary material, we were able to extend the event to a two-day showcase.
On the first day we screened a selection of short films, with particular focus on animation, which has been for many years thriving in Estonia.
The second day we presented a review of Veiko Õunpuu’s two first films: the short film Empty (Tühirand, 2006), winner of the Estonian Critics Association’s Best Estonian Film 2006, and the feature film Autumn Ball (Sügisball, 2007), winner of the Horizon Award at Venice Film Festival 2007.
The Estonian animation scene
is one of the most prominent in the world and in our first showcase we aimed to present our audience with an illuminating tour of the work arising from this national phenomenon. Since the early 70’s, from the Soviet era to the time of the established Republic, animation has been the medium by which Estonian filmmakers have received the greatest international recognition and acclaim. In our first showcase, it was our pleasure to screen films from the most prestigious Estonian animation studios- namely Nukufilm and Eesti Joonisfilm- as well as shorts from independent production companies and students from the region. This gave our audience a panoramic view of the industry as it exists today. Our programme of short films appealed to those who have a particular penchant for video art as well as those who have a simple appreciation of a well-told story.
VEIKO ÕUNPUU
Veiko Õunpuu’s two first films, the short Empty (Tühirand, 2006) and the feature Autumn Ball (Sügisball, 2007) were screened on the second day.
This young director, who counts masters such as Kaurismaki and Tarkovsky among his influences, exposes the life of his characters using sparse but meticulously crafted dialogue. Noting the critical acclaim that has surrounded his most recent feature The Temptation of St Tony (Püha Tõnu kiusamine, 2009) we felt that our audience should have the chance to revise his first films. The director’s dark comic approach and unique visual style make these films a real treat for the viewer and we felt privileged to have the opportunity to screen them at this crucial stage in the director’s career.
Following the screening of the films we welcomed the actor Rain Tolk at Shortwave Cinema for an on-stage Q&A session. Tolk, who plays the lead in Veiko Õunpuu’s Empty and Autumn Ball offered to the audience a unique opportunity to know more about Õunpuu’s work and about the Estonian film scene from an industry insider.
Short Films
Divers in the Rain (Tuukrid Vihmas). Dir: Olga and Priit Pärn / 24’ / 2009
The latest understated drama by animation’s best chronicler is a story about a daytime diver and a nighttime dentist. Their kisses are always ‘farewell kisses’. And a big ship is sinking slowly in the rain. A hypnotic meditation on love and desire.
Grand Prix at Anima Animation Film Festival 2010, Brussels
Small House (Väike Maja). Dir: Kristjan Holm / 6’ / 2008
Every time he goes to the bed and turns off the light, something urgent reminds:
toilet seat was left up, slippers are not exactly parallel, tap is dripping… Unfortunately the small house, where everything happens is on the shore. How does it look from the dark sea?
Jury Prize at Linoleum International Festival of Contemporary Experimental Animation and Media-Art 2009, Moscow
In the Air (Õhus). Dir: Martinus Klemet / 9’ / 2009
The telecommunication between the wolf and humans leads to a situation where the gravitation law changes to the unknown.
Dialogues (Dialogos). Dir: Ülo Pikkov / 4’30 / 2008
Dialogues is an experimental animation film, where all the visual material has been drawn directly on the film print. It is based on absurd humour. The subject of the film is a modern hi-tech society, which has too many sign systems.
Special Mention at International Animation Festival 2008, Ottawa
Morbus (Koolja). Dir: Vallo Toomla / 15’3o / 2009
This film discusses about life and death. Thoughts that pass through everyone mind once in a while. Yet, how does a child expose to that and what does an elderly human being feel about it?
Best Estonian Short Film at Sleepwalkers International Student Short Film Festival 2009, Estonia
The Dress (Kleit). Dir: Jelena Girlin and Mari Liis Bassovskaja 6’30 / 2007
A woman tries to remember the highlights of her life, or maybe dreams about them. Who is that woman, whose dress knows a beautiful-exiting life with kitchen utensils? We don’t see the woman never intact, though we move along her body, rather along her dress, since the dress and the body can be the same.
Best Short Film at Cinanima -International Animated Film Festival 2007, Portugal
The Way to Nirvana (Teekond Nirvaanasee). Dir: Mait Laas / 12’30 / 2000
This story is about a young man, who want`s to go behind the horizon…
Grand Prix at International Oberhausen Short Film Festival 2001
So Long (Nii Pikk). Dir: Andres Tenusaar / 4’/ 2009
This film is like the essential nightmare. People are very afraid of things that come out of them. They are also very afraid of things that are coming at them or into them.
The Second Coming (Teine Tulemine). Dir: Tanel Toom 28’ / 2008
An endless war has worn brothers Thomas and Marcus down. Tired of fighting against nameless enemy and tired of guessing what will come next, the only thing Thomas wants is Marcus to walk. But the problem with dead people is that they don’t walk. Usually.
Best European Short Film at Arcipelago International Festival of Short Films and New Images 2009, Rome
Unlucky Talisman (Neveiksmes Talismans). Dir: Jüri Muttika / 19’30 / 2009
After several years a man steps back into his hometown where his former love still lives. He needs to give her something back.
Veiko Õunpuu’s Films
Empty ( Tühirand). Dir: Veiko Õunpuu /40 ‘ / 2006
A young intellectual, Mati, engineers himself into a situation where he has to spend a weekend with his wife Helina and her lover Eduard. The trio goes to Eduard’s summer house, surrounded by the majestic scenery of big forests and an empty beach. Mati, either out of jealousy or pride, has decided to win back his wife and will do anything his introverted and inert mind can come up with.
Estonian Film Critics Association Prize, Best Estonian Film 2006
Autumn Ball (Sügisball). Dir: Veiko Õunpuu / 120′ / 2007
Autumn Ball talks about six inhabitants of Soviet-era tower blocks whose lives touch together, and who are all united by a feeling of loneliness. The young writer, Mati, lurks outside the window of his ex-wife and unsuccessfully approaches other women. August Kask is a bachelor-barber living a drab life who takes to a little girl, but his approaches are misconstrued as pedophilia. The single mom, Laura, watches a sappy soap opera on TV and pushes away men’s advances because she cannot trust them. Maurer, the architect, thinks about the well-being of humanity, but has forgotten his own wife, who, in turn, looks for solace in the coatroom attendant Theo.
‘Autumn Ball tells a tale of human seclusion and the incapability to reach others. But you also find humor and the absurd, and the properly attuned viewer might even find oneself laughing out loud. If I had to define the film, I would say that Autumn Ball is a pitch black comedy about loneliness, despair and hope’. (Veiko Õunpuu)
Best Director, Veiko Õunpuu, at Thessaloniki Film Festival 2007
Best Director, Veiko Õunpuu, at Bratislava International Film Festival 2007
Venice Horizons Award at Venice International Film Festival 2007
Golden Star at Marrakech International Film Festival 2007
Golden Moon of Valencia at Cinema Jove Valencia International Film Festival 2008
Grand Prize at Brussels International Independent Film Festival 2008
