Erik Norkroos

Jaan Tootsen’s documentary follows President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in the last year and a half of his term in office – as he grapples with the complexities of world politics and his private life. Tootsen’s keen camera eye follows Ilves at his most difficult moments, showing no mercy, but creating a gripping, rather harsh and at the same time very human portrait of the President.

A documentary following an Estonian fashion designer Reet Aus on a global tour to explore the origin process and the environmental footprints of today's fast paced fashion industry. On the road the mission takes an unexpected turn towards trying to introduce her "upcycling" inspired product line to some of the major fashion retailers to increase awareness of the massive resource waste built into the current product lifecycle.

A documentary about a group of activists in Tallinn who try to improve their quarter.

A documentary with elements of animation about 85-year-old Elbert Tuganov and 80-year-old Heino Pars - two animators and artists who despite changing times have become masters of their domain. The exact time of the real events in the documentary is not actually essential. It may be yesterday, today, tomorrow... And it may happen to you... and to me... However, in the film, it all took place in the 1950s, the time when the first Sputnik was launched to space, rivers were reversed and hydraulic power plants built.

A group of young people goes for a walk on a summer night which stirs the imagination. They begin telling stories about a girl named Paula, who isn’t among them, but with whom each of them has had a meaningful encounter in the past. This is a romantic drama, structured as a road movie, with a deliberately fragmented narrative style that mirrors the wandering of free thought.

A documentary about professional chess player Jaan Ehlvest and his daily life in a harsh world of professional sports where every result influences one's income and subsistence. The protagonist questions whether it is worth living a life where between championships he keeps running through different American cities and staying in hotels that look exactly the same. So it is not that much a sports documentary but rather a view into a development story of a talented and willful man.

Entertaining portrait of Erlend Štaub - a self-made professional photographer working at the president's annual reception, theatrical premieres, and film festivals like Black Nights and Cannes, and talking about life and everything in it.

The documentary observes two matriarchs - Tiina Jantson governs the beauty contest empire in Estonia; Anne Eenpanu leads the activities of "Home Daughters" - a girls' corps of Estonian Defence League. The film's main characters and their activities are very different. Whereas Anne's pedagogical approach is almost totally based on the love for fatherland then Tiina spends her days in the glitter of show business. However, there are some similiarities in their lives. The documentary studies the values, gender roles and moral norms in Estonia at the beginning of 21st century.

In a remote corner of Estonia, in Võru, lives Kalju, who is building a 19-metre-high observation tower with his own hands. He has been doing this for years, all year round. Why does he do this hard work alone? Who is he building it for? Step by step, we discover the story of Kalju, who lives in this fast-paced, chaotic world at his own pace and by his own rules. He believes in his own convictions and keeps on working.

In an atmosphere ripe with nationalism, two young engineers are commissioned by the Estonian Ministry of Defense to erect the country’s most important monument – a statue commemorating the War of Independence. With strong political and social pressure, the main characters of the film find themselves in many tragicomic situations and a constant row of ordeals. All of this paints a colourful and unique picture of the creation of a symbol during a time of financial crisis in Estonia.

Follow up film to "Call-girl´s Christmas" captured four years prior by Artur Talvik and Rein Kotov. Kerstin, a prostitute portrayed in a blatantly natural-poetic documentary by Talvik-Kotov, has meanwhile been in prison for theft, then released and again called in front of the camera. A new person, perhaps, but still as skilled a manipulator of men as ever.

The children's world includes as much brutality as the world of adults. Filmmakers Andres Maimik and Jaak Kilmi study the cases of the following kids: Kätlin, Märt, Marek and Indrek. All of them have experienced more violence in their own way than most of the kids of their age. The film brings the viewer to a sad journey to the hidden and traumatic zone in society. The filmmakers try to talk to the children, parents and teachers about the subjects that are often referred to only in abstract ways.

A portrait film about Seaküla Simson, one of the sculptors with the best sense of form in Estonia. It is impossible for a man who went through the war in Afghanistan to forget what he experienced. Again and again the past catches up with him. Even in dreams. The only way to face your demons is to make fun of them.

On a sunny day in November 1938 a magnificent white schooner set sail from Greenwich Village under the command of the young Estonian captain Ahto Valter. Travelling among several wealthy passengers from the US, Canada and England are also his Scottish-American wife and their 1.5-year-old son Teddy. With a crew of adventurers chosen from 5,000 applicants in the United States, the 70-ton auxiliary ketch Ahto starts a memorable and adventurous voyage around a world, flying the Estonian flag.

Horsepower is a unit that has dropped behind in time. Also dropping in time are the machines using fossil fuels, and even human relations, at least in the way that the older generations see them. In the 1920s, vehicles with combustible engines began to take over the work done by the horses. Just a hundred years later, virtual reality is in the beginning of its triumph, as is physical solitude that comes with it. Risto Kappet is a professional e-athlete who spends his work days in the corner of his room, turning the steering wheel of car simulator. Turning the wheel in front of the computer used to be his hobby, but in the recent years he's been earning an average Estonian salary, competing as a professional with the world's best on the virtual circuits of the world.

Textile artist Anu Raud enjoys life on her grandfather's farm in Kääriku. She has never thought about demolishing something there just because it's old. Or to change something just for the act of changing something. She likes to be surrounded by life. Anu also likes small things - they just fit the country life. She longs to see small roads and small villages. She believes that in small places, people can grow much larger than in large places. And in large places, she thinks people just stay small.

The documentary about Toomas Edur tells us an intimate story about the most outstanding Estonian ballet artist, his searches, changes in his life and adapting to those changes. Choreography and dancing partners may change but the simplicity, passion and belief in fairytales still remain...

On the half-way of his worldly journey, Toomas Edur looks back to his significant dancing career. High jumps on the world stages made him great also in the eyes of his own people, although the most remarkable footage of his performances have only recently been shown to his home audience. Where to go on and with whom, when it is time to leave the stage? Where is the home where a fairytale man to return after searching for fortune in the wide world?

Siisi is an active and handsome young woman who would have the energy to send the first Estonian space shuttle to Venus. Instead, she flies to Uganda, where she plans to open a caféteria that will provide employment for young people with disabilities.

The film portrays five different Estonian female politicians: Minister of Culture Signe Kivi, businesswoman Terje Aru, former Miss Estonia Kristiina Heinmets, strike movement leader Kadi Pärnits, and the grand old lady of Estonian women's politics, Marju Lauristin. All of them have been in the media spotlight, and many have fallen victim to it due to their openness. How can a woman assert herself in a post-communist society? What opportunities do women have to succeed in politics within a traditionally patriarchal system? Through the actions of these five protagonists, the hidden world of Estonian politics unfolds—both in its glamour and its horror.

Film portrait of Estonian artist Dolores Hoffmann.