Neitsi Maali laureaadid

Machina Faust

An intimate documentary about the internationally renowned Estonian musician, saxophone player and improvisational jazz composer Maria Faust.

A Loss of Something Ever Felt

Hille has a close relationship with her drug addict son. She sends him money every other week. After a fight they have over the phone, Lauri disappears mysteriously. His last known location is Bogotá, Colombia. At Hille's request, Lauri's sister, Eeva, reluctantly embarks on a journey and soon finds herself in the surreal and merciless underbelly of Bogotá. She contacts her only Colombian acquaintance, Carlos, who also lost his brother in the past, and they film their search for answers for a loss they both share.

The Last Ones

“The Last Ones” is a Nordic Western that takes place in the untamed Lapland tundra. The protagonist is young miner Rupi, who hopes to scrape together enough money through excavating the tundra to forever shake the suffocating dust of the mining village from his feet. But the work has come to a halt because Rupi’s reindeer herder father refuses to sell his land. What’s more, the manipulative mine owner nicknamed the Fisherman has his eye on Rupi’s friend’s wife, a woman who Rupi is also secretly in love with. Now that life in the mining village is becoming more dangerous by the day, Rupi must decide where and to whom he belongs. Is it the primal tundra of his forefathers or the cold terrain of personal interest?

Truth and Justice

Estonia, 1870. Young and staunch Andres along with his wife Krõõt arrive at a farm bought on a loan to establish their new life. Desolate and neglected between the marshes, Robber’s Rise must be transformed into a place that will take care of the family. All they have to do is to break the resistance of the barren land, make his neighbour cooperate, and raise an heir – a son to inherit his father’s life’s work. But when nature refuses to bend, the neighbour turns out to be a roughneck rival, and Krõõt keeps giving birth to daughters, Andres struggles to find the right way. In his desperate search for truth and justice – from the court, the tavern and the Bible, he sacrifices his family, his friends and eventually himself. The beautiful dream of prosperous and nurturing Robber’s Rise gives way to an obsession, resulting in none of the things Andres wanted and everything he was afraid of. The film is made the frame of EV100 Programme dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.

November

The story is set in a pagan Estonian village where werewolves, the plague, and spirits roam. The villagers’ main problem is how to survive the cold, dark winter. And, to that aim, nothing is taboo. People steal from each other, from their German manor lords, and from spirits, the devil, and Christ. To guard their souls, they’ll give them away to thieving creatures made of wood and metal called kratts, who help their masters by stealing more. They steal even if their barns are already overflowing. Stealing is an obsession that makes the villagers more and more like the soulless creatures they command, the kratts. The main character of the film is a young farm girl named Liina who is hopelessly and forlornly in love with a village boy named Hans. Her longing makes the girl become a werewolf and jump into an ice-cold pond. She’s ready to die in the name of love. The pragmatic farmers are faced with a question: is the life that they’ve won through so much toil worth anything, if it lacks a soul? Estonian pagan and European Christian mythologies come together in this film. Both mythologies look for a miracle; for an ancient force that gives one a soul. This film is about souls – longing for a soul, selling your soul, and living without a soul.

The Master

A dog Popi and a monkey Huhuu are waiting for their Master to come home and one day he is just not coming any more… From this particular day there starts their mutual life. Popi, being actually smarter and stronger capitulates in front of monkey’s whims symbolizing with it his obedience and submissiveness. In the other hand, Huhuu symbolizes licentiousness and silliness.

In the Crosswind

14 June 1941. Without warning tens of thousands of people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were removed from their homes. Without any sort of trial men faced being sent to prison camps and women and children were deported to Siberia. The aim of this extraordinary operation – carried out on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin – was to purge the Baltic countries of their native inhabitants. Erna, happily married and the mother of a young daughter, is sent to Siberia. For her, time takes on another dimension. Fighting starvation and humiliation in inhuman conditions, her soul seeks and finds freedom in the letters she sends to her husband who has been sentenced to prison camp. Even so, the years in Siberia rob Erna of something much more precious than just her youth. This film is based on a true story and uses extraordinary visual techniques and language to tell the heart-wrenching tale of the fate of thousands of Estonians.

Tangerines

“Tangerines” is the spare yet haunting tale of an older Estonian man who cares for two wounded soldiers from opposite sides of the 1990s-era war in Georgia. The film reveals compassion to be the ultimate response to centuries of political, cultural and ethnic conflict, a compellingly relevant message for contemporary audiences.

Mushrooming

Politician Aadu and his wife set out to pick mushrooms on a day when he gets a call from a journalist confronting him with regard to suspected corruption. By coincidence the married couple find themselves in a car with a pompous rock idol named Zäk. After discovering that the spot his wife has chosen to pick mushrooms is full of vacationers, Aadu decides to find a quieter place. The woods where he ultimately ends up, however, are perhaps too deep and inhospitable, and finding a way out may not be easy….

The Russians on Crow Island

The Crow Island on the River Narva was the place where Krenholm Manufacturing Company was founded in 1857. The company provided work for 13 000 employees during its best days. The textile factory was closed for good in 2010. During the past few decades, more than ten thousand workers have lost their job. Younger Russians, the descendants of the generation of Krenholm employees, living in Narva tell their dreary story of life. Their harsh monologues tell about abandonment, street life, alcohol, drugs and prison. Most of them have grown up with severe mental and physical traumatic experiences. They have no power, hope nor will to struggle out of their situation.

New World

Anatomy of a revolution: this is the story about people, relationships and a big change. The New World is a district in Tallinn where there is a group of young active people - some consider them noisy roisterers, some think that they are some gang of hippies, and some take them as heroes. The members of the New World Society started as an anarchistic group of urban guerrillas whose mission was to fight for healthier and more car-free environment, causing issues of public order. However, at some point their efforts were crowned with appreciation, attention and financial support. What will be left of craziness when it has to be packed within a project at some point? How is it possible to keep alive the creative chaos throughout years? What about human relationships that won't obey the project logic?

Sky Song

Sky Song – it is an ode for all of those who like to fly. Is it possible to reach the moon in one breath? Yes, it is if you have the will to fly and the appropriate training. This is the case with postman Rain.

The Temptation of St. Tony

Eastern Europe, the new century. Wolflike laws and a wolflike appetite. There are still a few who look for the withered tree of knowledge of good and evil, planning to build quality office furniture out of it. “The Temptation of St. Tony” is a film about a man, who has reached middle age, and finds himself in exactly the kind of darkening forest that Dante describes. An unusual problem intrudes upon his moderately prosperous and quiet life – morality. Is it possible to be a “good person”? What does that mean anyway? And what’s in it for you? On his journey towards a clearer conscience but an increasingly complicated reality, Tony meets several typical specimens familiar from contemporary Estonian society and lives through exciting adventures, not without some diverting humor. And it starts to seem that slowly, and quite inevitably, the man loses his job, his family, and finally reality, itself. Compassion incurs capital loss.

Autumn Ball

How close can we get to others? Is it possible to live a life completely devoid of love? Can someone , who has experienced what a fragile state of affairs shared happiness is, trust another again? What can be said about life anyway? Some chosen moments from the life of six people living in a huge sprawling conurbation of tower blocks built during the soviet era. The gently stylised and indifferent world of “Autumn Ball” is steadily advancing towards winter and will not give any answers to these questions. What this world can demonstrate though is the possibility for laughter even there, where hope has long since become a sparse commodity. „Autumn Ball” is not exactly a comedy but it will not hurt you to go and see it anyway.

Jonathan from Australia

Residents of a bright green house in Mustjala, a small place in Saaremaa, tell about their hard life - most of them are constantly drunk. A few kilometers away, a great deep port is being constructed where a huge German cruise ship Lili Marleen lands, accompanied by fireworks and salute. German tourists can watch the performances of wedding games in Mustjala. However, construction of the port and the arrival of the white cruise ship won't change anything in the lives of local people. The residents of the green house will stay friends with beer and vodka. The documentary reveals a depressive truth that is behind an Estonian success story.

Empty

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.

Choose Order

The most sensational Estonian satirical documentary film of 2004 talks about a so called new political order, which uses the nations need for a firm ruling hand. EstoTV will follow the political party as well as the prime minister to uncover conspiracies and to remove scum from the streets. EstoTV will conceal themselves into the layers of society to uncover our xenophobia, racism and hatred.

Somnambulance

Autumn 1944, Estonia. Tens of thousands of people leave their homeland in fear of approaching frontline. Some seashore villages remain completely empty. A young woman with huge grey eyes gets off the boat. Eetla leaves the last boat, thus giving up her last chance to escape. Defying the cold wind and rain of September, she returns to the lighthouse which is unexpected to her father Gottfrid, the lighthouse keeper, and herself. Eetla’s return becomes her self-encounter and self-recognition.

Mont Blanc

An aging man leaves his wife and sets off on his way to Fujiyama, the mountain of his dreams. Fujiyama is not his destination alone, though – thousands of people striving to make it to the mountaintop bustle about, each carrying his suitcase. The mountain itself consists of hundreds of thousands of suitcases. The inexorable climb to the top reveals the background of the entire exercise to the main character: the suitcase of everyone that reaches the top bites their head off, and the lifeless corpses fall into a crater. Prior to that, though, the suitcase sings an incredibly beautiful tune with a woman’s voice, from which those striving for the top gain ever more inspiration. Our hero, though, makes an unprecedented decision – he tosses a burning cigarette into his suitcase and then throws the burning suitcase into the crater, causing an earthquake. The mountain rips apart, the earth swallows thousands, entire cities are destroyed in the ruins of card houses, suitcases and headless corpses fly through the air. But the man makes it back home. His wife’s gigantic breast no longer moves, however – it towers before him as a lifeless white mountain.

Lotte Journey South

Little baby bird Pippo falls behind his flock on their way south for the winter and lands in the chimney of little girl dog Lotte. Lotte decides that Pippo must be taken south to be reunited with his flock. Lotte’s father, Oskar the inventor, has just finished building a flying machine. Oskar’s friend, the old traveler dog Klaus, is invited along on the trip. The exciting journey south begins. New adventures and encounters await our travelers in each episode of the serial. Many of these new acquaintances have run into difficulties and the travelers help them.

1895

“1895” is a picture about the life of brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere. The cartoon acquaints the public with so far unknown biographical facts and events from the life of the two celebrated brothers who have immortalized their names as inventors of cinematography. The picture is an illusion. Is illusion truth? This assertion and the subsequent question gave the authors of this cartoon the rights to declare that namely their version of the life of brothers Lumiere and the birth of cinema was the most original and unique of all.

Georgica

Story about the silent Boy who is sent for medical treatment to Jakub, a former colonial missionary living on an island that is also a military training area. Jakub is the only civilian there. He has to make observations during the bombing at night and phone the headquarters about the results. The observation spot is located in the tower of a church in ruins where Jakub makes silage. The missionary - an old horse - tramples silage in the church tower. There are beehives inside of the church. Jakub plays the organ, singing chorals and the Boy pumps the organ bellows by foot. Their home is inside of an old airplane hangar where Jakub translates "Georgica" by Vergilius from Latin into Swahili in order to be able to take the book to Africa some day. "And then joy will come.. And peace.... And wealth will come as well...".

The Firewater

When Eerik and his companions go on another night sea trip, they are aware of the danger of getting caught by the border guard. Spirit smuggling to Finland during the era of the Dry Law pays off, so the risk must be taken. After all, he needs a house to live in with Hilda, and a boat to work on the sea. And even if something goes wrong, an old man Nymann will help with his money. Yet, Aleks, the new chief at the borderguard office, has different views. Having fought at the Estonian War of Independence, he cannot see that money would buy off the authorities of the Republic of Estonia. While catching the spirit smugglers, Aleks will get involved in a ruthless, big game where friends can turn out your enemies and the other way round.