Acuba Film

Just like ordinary people, whole nations often wonder why their neighbors are living better than they are. For example, where did the Estonians living on Mohni Island suddenly get bicycles and sewing machines? Could the answer have some connection with the Latvian cargo ship "Rasma", which sank near Mohni in 1941?

This documentary follows a bustrip from Tallinn to Kaliningrad. A route that was so common in the Soviet times now passes through 4 different countries and crosses 3 different borders.

The Hijacker lands the plane at the Rīga Airport. 7 year-old Tom, travelling on his own, voluntarily becomes a hostage. Along with the traditional demands, the Hijacker adds the demands of the little hostage – beginning with some local chocolate and a self-instruction tape for learning the native language, and ending with organizing a Song Festival and a special biathletes’ performance – all ideas originating from a CD on Latvia.

Various people on the street stand stock still in front of the movie camera as though their photograph were about to be taken. This lasts just a few instants, then they nod as they look into the camera and move on. A family, a group of friends, men. In the background, city noises.

Surprised by rain and sudden darkness Laura and Roland, a young couple hitch-hiking on an empty road, decide to seek shelter at a nearby country house. Osvald, the owner, seems to know the deeper meaning of their unexpected visit. His strange behaviour leads to an equally strange offer: Osvald wants to buy Roland's wife. Laura and Roland start to play along, only to discover that their host is not kidding.

This documentary reflects people's desire to be happy in a rapidly changing world, even if that world is as delicate as spring ice. The film looks at the life of the Estonian coastal people on the ice road through the eyes of the Greek traveller Pytheas, 23 centuries after his visit to Estonia.

Legendary Russian writer Sergei Dovlatov's book "The Compromise" was published at the time of the author's emigration in USA and describes the period that Dovlatov himself has called "Interior emigration" - that is the years that he spent in Tallinn, Estonia as a journalist (1972-1976). The documentary interviews the prototypes of the book, including Dovlatov's former colleagues and friends who comment on the literary work. They share background information that helps to interpret both Dovlatov's destiny as well as the essence of the Soviet era.

This inventive documentary about famed Estonian animator Priit Parn is an involving look at his socialist, absurd, sometimes grotesque art in the eyes of Parn himself, his colleagues, and his fans and suggests that Estonia owes its independence to its animation rather than to material revolt and revolutionary singing