Estonia Culture Film
Film
Although films were produced in Estonia as early as the beginning of the 20th century, the systematic production of feature films really began after the Second World War when Estonia became a part of the Soviet Union. Though the films of that period were often political or contained communist ideas, there are many pieces produced in the 60's that have become the uniting knowledge or a part of our identity for all Estonians. For instance, Spring and Summer by Arvo Kruusement that are based on the novels by the popular writer Oskar Luts and speak of schoolchildren in the beginning of the 20th century and their life as young adults. Grigori Kromanov's historical adventure The Last Relic (Viimne reliikvia, 1969) has almost become a catechism for everyday catch-phrases.
The most remarkable films of the last decades are Sulev Keedus's Georgics (Georgica, 1998), an impressive story about the friendship between an old missionary and a young boy on an island used by fighter jets as a bombing range. Names Engraved in Marble (2002) and Somnambuul (2003) deal with the pivotal times in Estonian history (1918 and 1944) from different viewpoints. Although animation is usually considered a somewhat remote branch of film, it is nevertheless one of the most intensively cultivated film genres in Estonia. Animation has attracted creative people who are eager to experiment.
