Estonian cinema for Ukrainians: screening of Hardi Volmer's film

"What is happening in Ukraine now is incomprehensible to many Europeans because they do not know the country's history," – director Hardi Volmer

This weekend, as part of the Ukrainian Film Club in Estonia / Ukraina kinoklubi Eestis special project dedicated to iconic Estonian cinema, audiences saw "Elavad pildid / Living Images" by director Hardi Volmer, which concluded our "Estonian screenings"!

Throughout the past year we watched contemporary and time-tested Estonian films with Ukrainian subtitles, made possible by the Association's cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Culture /Kultuuriministeerium and the city governments of Tallinn and Tartu.

The renowned director and production designer Hardi Volmer attended the screening of his film in person and shared interesting facts about making it before the film began.

In particular, he noted that such films make it possible to reflect on what happened in this part of Europe over the past century and to understand the real history of countries such as Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland.

"In 2 hours you will have the chance to see the whole history of Estonia over the last 100 years. What is happening in Ukraine now is incomprehensible to many Europeans because they do not know history. Many viewers applaud when they watch my film and then ask: why did Estonians greet the German forces with flowers – that doesn't match the historical facts we know? I have to explain that at that time Germany was the force opposing the Red Terror and the communists who were mercilessly destroying Estonians. And a great many people died. So this scene shows that our country's history is much more complex than it is understood in the West," he stressed.

At the end of his talk, Hardi Volmer noted that although the film was released in 2013, it is still very much alive and has recently been screened in Ireland, France and Lithuania.

"Various festivals include the film in their programmes, and I am immensely pleased that the film has now got another life and Ukrainians will be able to see it, because it has Ukrainian subtitles"!

The Association's PR director Inna Hordiienko thanked the audience for their interest in Estonian cinema and the team that worked on the "Estonian Cinema for Ukrainians" project.

"Our whole team found it immensely interesting to work on this project and discover the world of Estonian cinema! This world opened up for us a great layer of Estonia's history, culture, ethnicity and traditions! I want to thank Yevheniia Ohu, Denis Priimagi and Dariia Shevchenko, who put a lot of effort into every film and cheered for every screening! Thanks to them we saw 7 films: SELTSIMEES LAPS, NIMED MARMORTAHVLIL, 1944, SAVVUSANNA SÕSARAD, NOVEMBER, KRATT, and today we will watch ELAVAD PILDID," she said.

In her view, this number of films does not give a complete picture of Estonia's history, culture and way of life, so the discovery will not end here and the team is already working on a new selection of films!

Our heartfelt thanks to all the film club's regulars, to journalist and friend of Ukraine Petr Suškov for interpreting the speeches into Estonian and Ukrainian, and to Kino Sõprus for the fruitful cooperation throughout the project!

We look forward to seeing everyone at our next screenings, including the anniversary screening for the Film Club's 2nd birthday on 25 February at 19:00 at Kino Sõprus!