Maria Annus
Acting
Biography
Maria Annus (until 2016, Maria Soomets; born February 21, 1979) is an Estonian stage, television and film actress. Maria Soomets was born in Tallinn. She has an older brother, Simmo Soomets, born in 1974. She attended primary and secondary schools in Tallinn and in her youth sang with the Ellerhein Girls' Choir. After secondary school, she studied acting at the EMA Higher Drama School (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre), graduating in 2002. Among her graduating classmates were Priit Võigemast, Ott Aardam, Hele Kõrve, Karin Rask, Mart Toome, Evelin Võigemast, Elisabet Reinsalu, and Argo Aadli. Annus's first substantial television role was as the character Malvina in the Eesti Televisioon (ETV) children's television series Buratino tegutseb jälle in 2002; a role which she would play until the series ended in 2005. This was followed by the role of Anni on another ETV children's television series, Saame kokku Tomi juures, from 2006 until 2011. From 2007 until 2009, she also appeared as the character Ira on the TV3 drama Brigaad 3, which follows the work and lives of an ambulance crew. Annus has also made a number of appearances on other television series, among them; the ETV crime drama series Ohtlik lend in 2007; the TV3 comedy-crime series Kättemaksukontor in 2012 and 2013; the ETV comedy series ENSV in 2012; and the Kanal 2 crime drama series Viimane võmm in 2016, among others. In 2003, Annus made her screen debut in the Anu Aun directed drama Liivakellade parandaja for Exitfilm. The short film was based on the eponymously titled 2001 play penned by Urmas Lennuk. In 2013, she appeared as Roosi in the Hardi Volmer directed historical melodrama feature film Elavad pildid, which follows two Estonians, a girl and a boy, born at the beginning of the 20th-century in a Baltic German manor, through the coming decades and all of the revolutions, wars, military occupations, regime collapses, and new beginnings. In 2018, she appeared alongside her husband Robert in the Anu Aun directed family-Christmas film Eia jõulud Tondikakul.
Known For
A comedy-series depicting an Estonian family in 1980s that consists of a rebel-minded grandpa, two siblings, a mother, who is a member of the Soviet Socialist Party, and her lover, who is there, because the real husband is a captain on a foreign-going ship. Aand they have to share their apartment with a true communist and her son, who is an exemplary militiaman.
ENSV
The main character, Helmi, is born into the house of Baron von Strandmann in Old-Town Tallinn, in 1908. The only thing that she knows for sure about her past is that her mother was an Estonian servant girl. Everything else is a discovery during a life that runs the course of a century - a life that has quite a lot of surprises in store for Helmi. In this house she finds happiness and suffering, passion and disappointment. She grows up alongside young Erik and waits for her big love to blossom. But one floor down lives projectionist Julius - a man who is far from indifferent when it comes to Helmi. All of the biggest historical events of the century leave their mark on the house. Its hardwood floors have born soldiers' gruff boots and gentleman's shiny oxfords. Its walls have held the fates of people from far and near, foreigners and locals. Helmi's home becomes a German salon, a revolution museum, and a working class commune. And as freedom comes, real estate crooks start sniffing ...
Living Images
A 10-year old girl's Christmas plans take an unexpected turn after she is brought to a mysterious Estonian farm.
Phantom Owl Forest
Born from the fairytale of Alexei Tolstoy, a lively story about a curious tree boy Burattino who gets into an unexpected adventure.
Burattino
Tim plans revenge on the judge who sentenced his innocent brother for murder. Waiting for a suitable opportunity, the young man hides in an abandoned church on the judge's land. One day, Tim's hiding place is discovered by a strange girl, Good. The two young people thirsting for love find a partner in each other.