Max Reikter (1912–1993), who made recreational films for more than half a century, documented the urban space of Tallinn throughout his long creative journey. "Ancient but Persistent", which the audience saw for the first time at the Estonian Amateur Film Festival in May 1988, where it won the prize for the best real-life film, compiles footage from the 1930s to the end of the 1970s of Tallinn's old town and the modern contact zone that arose next to it before the Second World War. Reikter tells the story of a city that flourishes, is destroyed, and rises from the ashes, using foreign chronicle footage (specifically, material captured in Rouen, France during World War II) to fulfill its dramaturgical purposes. The pictorial language that caresses the so-called star objects of the Old Town with long panoramas relies on pictorial conventions dating back to 19th century colonial photography, which focuses on tourist attractions rather than the everyday life of the city and its inhabitants. The monumentality is further emphasized by the film's emotionally charged soundtrack. The shots of the burning and ruined old town filmed during and after the March 1944 bombing are particularly noteworthy - documenting war ruins was forbidden to private individuals.
