Moonika Siimets
Directing
Biography
Moonika Siimets (born May 7, 1980) is an Estonian film director who has directed award-winning documentaries, television series and short films. In 2010, she received the Cultural Endowment of Estonia for World Champion and Trendy Dog. Her first feature film The Little Comrade (Seltsimees laps) remained the top film in Estonia for five weeks, attracting 100,000 viewers. Born in Tartu, Moonika Siimets matriculated from the Forselius High School in 1999 and went on to study Estonian literature and folklore at the University of Tartu. From 2002, she studied at the Department of Audiovisual Art at Tallinn University, majoring in directing in 2006. In parallel, she attended classes at the University of Central Lancashire under the Erasmus Programme. She completed her studies in Los Angeles at the Judith Weston Studios. From 2004, Siimets worked on a number of documentary films at Estonian Television and directed the series Selgeltnägijate tuleproov (Psychic Challenge) in 2008. Her documentaries include Report: Green Estonia (2007), World Champion (2009), Trendy Dog (2010), Another Dimension (2012), Is It You? (Stockholm Film Festival 2013) and Pink Cardigan (2014). The Little Comrade, her first feature film, was presented at the Busan International Film Festival in 2018, receiving the BNK Busan Bank Award. It was later screened at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Known For
A comical triptych about residents in an apartment block district who long for a better life. When a black hole mysteriously appears in a lilac bush, they will have to face aliens, a giant spider, and an Austrian in breeches.
The Black Hole
In the midst of Stalinist tyranny, six-year-old Leelo's mother is sent to a prison camp. Haunted by her mother's last words telling her to be a good kid, Leelo vows to be on her best behaviour in the confusing grown-up world in the hope that it will bring her mother back.
The Little Comrade
Romantic country boy Lembo lives in a far away village, where men are drunkards and women are dreaming about the bright city life. Lembo has fallen in love with the village beauty Liisu and decides to propose to her. The story takes an unexpected turn when Liisu's father and the vodka loving dog step in. During one night lives and dreams will change and nothing will be like it used to be before.
The Last Romeo
UFOs and spirits can be seen in Salme municipality on the island Saaremaa. There are viking skeletons and the Sõnajalg family wind turbines coming out of the depths of the earth and a helicopter flying to a village shop scares away cow herds. There are two realities here that do not fit together.
Another Dimension
A phone rings in the night. A man makes a mistake and picks it up.
Is It You?
The director's parents Tiina and Ülo have saved more stuff in their home throughout the years than they have space to live. Useless piles of clothes, old newspapers and dishes block the way to the dinner table or bed. This is a story about a love for things and the difficulty of letting go of them.
40 Years Later
Henrik is a successful actor and comedian who's always trying to prove he's not a homophobe. In his private life, he is lonely and insecure, struggling with adulthood. One day, after dislocating his shoulder, he joins a yoga class and makes his first gay friend ever.
Pink Cardigan
A poetical documentary about longing and searching for happiness between Estonia and Finland.
Two Hours to Happiness
"Roots" tells six very personal stories - a first, big love, the loss of a child, ageing, infidelity, fragile relationships with close ones. Six different views on what our family and environment has left in us and what we leave behind.