Documentaries set in the Baltic States
A list of documentaries selected by the Baltic journalism production agency fixers.press. Balanced for foreign correspondents expanding their comprehension of the past and present everyday life in the Baltics. Dedicated to everyone in love with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
List activity
1.1K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
91 titles
- DirectorÓlafur RögnvaldssonStarsMikhail GorbachevJón Baldvin HannibalssonMarju LauristinA personal tale of political courageLangauge: Islandic. Subtitles: English.
- DirectorStéphane GhezStarsMicky SébastianLangauge: French or German. Subtitles: English, German.
- DirectorKiur AarmaRaimo JõerandStarsMart LaarTiit PruuliJüri LuikIt's 1992 and the first free elections held in Estonia since World War II have to the surprise of all brought to power young and idealistic political forces. They are led by 32-year-old Mart Laar, Europe's youngest prime minister, who is charged with crafting a country out of chaos. This is a story about gaining and losing trust, about the widening conflict between idealists and a rising economic elite, when a prime minister's good options grow fewer by the day. A story of idealists and friends becoming politicians and opponents.Language: Estonian, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, English.
- DirectorDavis Simanis Jr.An archive photo from 1940 forms the starting point for an exploratory journey along the border between Latvia and the USSR, or today between the European Union and Russia. Navigating from one side of this line to the other, two opposing visions of the world are revealed.Language: Latvian, English, Russian.
- DirectorLaurence TurnbullStarsDavid BaddielInvestigating the history and modern face of Holocaust denial.
- DirectorJaak KilmiStarsKiur AarmaJaak KilmiAlo KõrveA story about growing up in the Soviet Union. The film tells the story of a strange kind of information war, where a totalitarian regime stands face to face with the heroes of popular culture. And loses. It was a time when it was possible for erotic film star Emmanuelle to bring down the Red Army and MacGyver to outdo an entire school administration. It is a film about our generation, who were unknowingly brought to the front line of the Cold War. Western popular culture had an incomparable role shaping Soviet children's world views in those days. Finnish television was a window to a world of dreams that the authorities could not block in any way. Though Finnish channels were banned, many households found some way to access the forbidden fruit.Language: Estonian, Finnish, Russian, English. Subtiltes: English. Partly available on Youtube as 'Disko ja tuumasoda'.
- DirectorYael ReuvenyStarsYael ReuvenyEtty ReuvenyShaul ReuvenyA documentary about the outcome of a decision made by a brother and sister in 1945. One missed meeting, two families, and three generations.Langauge: German.
- DirectorGints GrubeJaak KilmiStarsNatalija KnipseIeva LesinskaImants LesinskisAs a young Soviet student in 1978, Ieva could not have predicted that a holiday visit to her father, Imants Lesinskis, then working in the Soviet mission at the United Nations in New York City, would irreversibly split her life in two. Entangled in a dark spy game, Ieva is forced to leave her former life behind, never to see her mother or her homeland of Latvia again. Pulling back the curtain on the shady behind-the-scenes world of the Cold War, this film tells a daughter's dramatic story of her double-agent father, exploring their relationship against the backdrop of events which have their roots over four decades ago. In order to find herself and understand the game she was part of, Ieva sets out on a journey to the past, confronting family secrets, lies and betrayal.
- DirectorFrançois MessageNathalie SibilleA documentary about the Lithuanian Gay League and the 2013 Lithuanian LGBT rights parade, which was the first open march for equality in this 20 years-old country.Langauge: Lithuanian, English, Subtitles: English.
- DirectorIeva OzolinaStarsIeva OzolinaZenta KruminaIlgaA detective story about the reappearance of a millionaire lost in Latvia in the 1990s.Language: Latvian.
- DirectorRosa von PraunheimStarsGertrud MischwitzkyRosa von PraunheimAstrid RuschlauFilmmaker Rosa von Praunheim searches for his biological mother after discovering late in life that he was adopted.Language: German.
- DirectorIlze RamaneStarsIlga BerzinaMaiga KruminaIlga RamaneThree elderly ladies - Maiga, Velta and Mrs.Tone - meet every Tuesday at a Culture House in a suburb of Riga to take part in rehearsals with 40-odd other ladies of the "Granny Choir". Some of them might be living more in the past than in the present, but there is one extraordinary feature common to all. Despite their age, low income and health issues, they appear to know how to grow old with dignity, a sense of humour and, as it seems, even joy.Langauge: Latvian.
- DirectorMaximilien DejoieVirginija VareikyteThese are the personal stories that were left in shadow of grief for Soviet crimes and euphoria for the fight for freedom. In these testimonies everything counts, not only words, but also silences. Can we recognize it as our common memory?Language: Lithuanian.
- DirectorUna CelmaA film about five Latvian women who were all born the year 1960 and brought up under the Soviet Union regime. When the film starts the Soviet Union has fallen and Latvia is now an independent state. They describe their lives as divorced and single mothers in a time of social, political and economic crisis. It is a film about broken relationships and a society in shambles.Langauge: Latvian.
- DirectorOlga CernovaiteThe portrayal of a city that refuses to die along with its defunct Soviet-era nuclear power plant. The mainly Russian speaking citizens there face identity issues in modern Lithuania. This portrayal inevitably raises questions of democracy, inclusion, citizenship, and freedom of expression.Language: Russian. Available on Vimeo on Demand.
- DirectorJoosep MatjusStarsHannes KaljujärvA visually enchanting documentary that takes the audience on a thoughtful journey in Estonia's unique, vast and wondrous nature.Language: Estonian.
- DirectorRic Esther BienstockYaron NiskiStarsNeil BennettIt tells the story of Major Karl Plagge, a Nazi officer who, during the Holocaust, was commandant of a forced labor camp called "HKP" in Vilnius, Lithuania. In reality, he was sheltering hundreds of Jewish families. By the end, many were saved in hiding places dug into the ground and carved into the walls. Many more were executed by the SS and buried in a mass grave. Today, the former "HKP" is unchanged. A group of scientists arrive to locate the hiding places of those that were saved and identify the mass grave of those who were murdered. A child survivor of the camp and an American physician, whose mother was saved by Major Plagge, join them. The film tracks their three stories and, ultimately, brings to light the unknown tale of a Schindler-type German who listened to his conscience, instead of his superiors.Langauge: English.
- DirectorYaron KaftoriLimor PinhasovFrom 1941 to 1944 tens of thousands of people, most of them Jewish, were shot in the killing pits in the Ponary Forest. The murders were documented in the diary of Kazimierz Sakowicz, a journalist from Vilnius who moved to the village of Ponary during the war.Langauge: Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Hebrew, English.
- DirectorVolker KoeppDirector Volker Koepp travels the Lithuanian shore on the border to the Russian enclave. Germans and Lithuanians have always lived here.Language: German.
- DirectorAnatolijs PjatkinsSilent movie. Available on Youtube as 'The wall in Riga'
- DirectorInara KolmaneStarsMarija Steimane RuchNorie TsurutaDocumentary "Ruch and Norie" is a human interest story about two contrasting people striking up a surprising spiritual relationship. Japanese student Norie Tsuruta travels to Latvia to study Suiti community where she meets one of the oldest Suiti women nicknamed Ruch. That changes her life forever and the close bond between them doesn't break even after the return to Japan. Norie wishes she had two bodies to be in both places at the same time. She thinks she has found her deceased grandma in Ruch while Ruch worries about Norie being "far out there" and trembles at every earthquake in Japan. Ruch and Norie prove us all there are no borders to a genuine human relationship filled with laughter, caring and love.Language: Latvian.
- DirectorAndris GaujaThe only thing we can be sure of in this world is that one day we shall die. In spite of that, we tend to live our lives as if it was never going to happen. Yet there are many among us who are deprived of the right to think that way. Victor (31) has a rare form of cancer in an advanced stage, and his wife is about to divorce him. Trapped in the antechamber of death and with his family falling to pieces, he knows that perhaps the most important decisions of his life must be taken here and now.Langauge: Latvian.
- DirectorArturs LapinskisStarsEdijs VitolinsBiographical story about a 23 year old guy who is a heroin addict, and how it's ruining his life.Langauge: Latvian, Subtitles: Russian. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorInese KlavaIvars ZviedrisInta is a brusque, crusty woman who lives alone on the edge of a picturesque marsh. One day her solitude is intruded upon by the arrival of a documentary filmmaker. In his eyes Inta is an outstanding would-be film protagonist but the wild woman would rather put a curse on the importunate intruder than let herself be filmed. But the filmmaker's persistence finally succeeds in melting the ice of Inta's heart... just in order to break it soon afterwards.Language: Latvian, Russian.
- DirectorJonas MekasStarsJonas MekasAdolfas MekasPola ChapelleFilmmaker Jonas Mekas creates an elegiac diary of a trip to his home country of Lithuania.Language: English. Partly available on Youtube.
- DirectorMascha NovikovaThis film is a triptych with three stories, involving three characters. They live in different parts of Europe: Western Europe -Catalonia (Spain); Eastern Europe -Lithuania; and in the new Europe -Georgia (Akhazia). They have experienced, in different parts of the 20Th century, civil wars and dictatorships. They share the same fate: they stayed where they were born. This film is about people who decide to do nothing in times of war, oppression and occupation. They choose a life amidst the ruins of their past. Even when this choice leads to loneliness: living a dream, not a reality. Alone, between the graves of their loved ones, they spend their last days. They have frozen their lives by protecting themselves from the outside world.Language: English.
- DirectorMarc RadomskyDanny Ben-MosheAgainst the backdrop of rising ultra-nationalism, Rewriting History is about taking action in the face of insurmountable odds, when two eccentric Jewish proffessors stand in the way of the Lithuanian government's campaign to delegitimise the Holocaust as a unique case of genocide.Language: English.
- DirectorJonas OhmanStarsGiedre AleksandraviciuteVytenis AlmonaitisAgne Budriunaite"The Green Musketeers" is about a group of young people in Lithuania, who started a hiking club "Atgaja" in the mid eighties. They exited the reality formed by the Soviet society, into the realm of nature, history and national heritage and formed personal bonds that in turn provided a formidable informal infrastructure for any type of action. The club rapidly evolved into a vanguard for a national revival movement.Language: Lithuanian. Subtitles: English. Available on Vimeo.
- DirectorAgne NelkThe world is in every person. Microcosms have no boundaries. They are exactly as big as the imagination of their owner. Juri Lotman's imagination was clearly very big. The entire universe fit into it - a large portion of Russian literature, the semiosphere the size of the galaxy, and detailed knowledge of wartime lines of communication. As a cosmopolitan, he traveled about various orbits, gathering and recording different kinds of information. The time came when ideas that came about as the result of processing of information started to look for a means of expression. Some of them found their way out through picture drawings, others by way of written words. In Lotman's world, Hitler and Stalin meet, and images of St. Petersburg and Tartu intertwine. The round table of semioticians as Eco, Uspenski, Toporov, Jegorov, Ivanov, Pjatigorski and others is given the floor, the battlefield alternates with domestic idyll, signs alternate with meanings. Shrove buns, herring and a moustache are also undoubtedly an inseparable part of Lotman's inner and outer cosmos. There are as many worlds as there are people. But there is only one Lotman's World.Language: English, Russian, Estonian.
- DirectorIan HartLt Col Eduards Graudins was one of the group of army officers who founded independent Latvia in 1920. He died in a German concentration camp in 1945. This movie shows the presentation of his documents to the Latvian War Museum by his children in 2007 and cover some of the events of World War 2 in Latvia that led to his death.Langauge: English, Latvian.
- DirectorGeorg LiigandTaavi-Martin EnnoRagnar RostokStarsTaavi-Martin EnnoKarel HüttIgor IljinAir traffic controllers are the leading figures in making worldwide air traffic flow safely and efficiently. They describe the most interesting elements of their job and show what they do behind the scenes to make air travel a pleasure.Language: Estonian.
- DirectorVladimir LoginovA portrait of a giant garage complex, located in the largest blockhouse area of Tallinn. Here 700 garage box owners form an extraordinary men's club, and vary from those who just keep their cars and those who adapt their boxes for living. The complex becomes even more unique with the existence of private saunas, a restaurant, an animal clinic and other artifacts of life stuck in time 20 years back.Language: Estonian, Russian.
- DirectorMindaugas SurvilaThe movie journeys through an old-growth Lithuanian forest, depicting wolves, black storks, underwater life, and humans living on its outskirts, showcasing the sights and sounds of this primeval environment.Silent movie.
- DirectorAiste ZegulyteA taxidermist, a deer farmer and a museum worker live in the environment in which the line between reality and artificiality has become imperceptible. It's a world where not only deer and boars but also plastic alligator mannequins are being hunted, while stuffed animals compete for the most alive-looking posture and legitimate gaze. The most important exhibits are set up in fabricated nature's glass-case, sitting between aerosol-free trees and fake snow. Animals are looking from all the sides - dead or alive - they won't stop observing you.Langauge: Lithuanian.
- DirectorKen GumbertLithuanian survivors of Soviet occupation post WWII tell how they survived and struggled against this formidable foe.Language: English.
- DirectorJonas MekasLangauge: English. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorKristine BriedeAudrius StonysStarsHerz FrankUldis BraunsIvars SeleckisKristine Briede and Audrius Stonys's meditative documentary essay portrays the less-remembered generation of cinema poets of the Baltic New Wave. With finesse, they push beyond the barriers of the common historiographic investigation in order to achieve a consummate poetic treatment of the ontology of documentary creation.Language: Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hebrew.
- DirectorSandra JõgevaStarsFred HarjaksIvo LindPriit PikkasLanguage: Estonian.
- DirectorAlexander BelinskiThe film contrasts present-day Lithuania with extracts from a peasant's diary from 1984/85.Language: Lithuanian.
- DirectorAudrius MickeviciusOld farmer Jonas and his horse live together. Jonas works hard. Time passes and Jonas stoicaly continues to live his lifestyle and keep his farm. "Man-Horse" is an intimate story about man's solitude and survival and gives a hypnotic glimpse into Lithuanian countryside life. The director of the film and Jonas are neighbors, they have known each other for 20 years.Language: Lithuanian.
- DirectorMindaugas SurvilaThe "Field of Magic" is a docu-poem about people living for over two decades in the Buda forest, near the closed down Kariotiskes dump in Lithuania. After four years of work, this film captures the perspective of the dump dwellers. It tells the story about the dissolving community, its uniqueness, daily routine, specific way of life, every-day joys and sorrows.Language: Lithuanian, Polish, Russian.
- DirectorJames TustyMaureen Castle TustyStarsHeiki AhonenGustav ErnesaksLinda HuntMost people don't think about singing when they think about revolutions. But song was the weapon of choice when, between 1986 and 1991, Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation. During those years, hundreds of thousands gathered in public to sing forbidden patriotic songs and to rally for independence. "The young people, without any political party, and without any politicians, just came together ... not only tens of thousands but hundreds of thousands ... to gather and to sing and to give this nation a new spirit," remarks Mart Laar, a Singing Revolution leader featured in the film and the first post-Soviet Prime Minister of Estonia. "This was the idea of the Singing Revolution." James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty's "The Singing Revolution" tells the moving story of how the Estonian people peacefully regained their freedom--and helped topple an empire along the way.Langauge: Lithuanian.
- DirectorGiedre ZickyteIt was the year 1984 when a group of architects decided to organize a one night music band as a New Year's party joke in Kaunas, Lithuania. The joke proved to be so good that rumors about the new exciting rock band spread from lips to lips and soon their intellectual circus grew into the Rock Marches - massive events involving thousands of people - that transformed into the big meetings for Lithuanian Independence later named the Singing Revolution. This is the story about the people who raised their independence with the smiles and songs regardless of the danger of the situation.Langauge: Lithuanian.
- DirectorTerje ToomistuStarsValya HitchhikerAksel LampmannAlexander LipnitskyThe hippie movement that captivated hundreds of thousands of young people in the West had a profound impact on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
- DirectorKristjan Paul Esperk VirveStarsJanek JoostHele KõrveMait MalmstenStory of prince Hamlet touched deepest and most painful spots in the soul of my grandfather, actor Ants Eskola. To him Hamlet's monologue "To be or not to be" did not simply express the will to die or the concept of suicide, rather than the fact that other people are those who force you to ask yourself - are you capable to fulfill your dreams in life. His best years passed in Gulag camps. When he returned to Estonia, freedom had been replaced with foreign dictatorship. Life as a public enemy began, a fight for survival in a totalitarian system. Film about the life of a well-known Estonian actor and his work. Estonian theatre and statehood history as background. Birth and ruination of different ages.Language: Estonian.
- DirectorValdis AbolsUldis CekulisStarsKasimieras MizgirisLangauge: German. Available on Youtube.
- StarsAarre NojonenValter KlausonLangauge: Finnish.
- DirectorTarmo RajaleidA humanistic story about two women who like Eve and Dawn are total opposites but still share something in common. Riina Vändre is a single mother and a successful head of the PR department of the Estonian Ministry of Finance, who has dedicated herself to helping the homeless by organizing a social campaign "Human Christmas for the Homeless". Mother of seven Galina Jegorova is one of the 3000 homeless in Tallinn. She has been living on the Pääsküla garbage dump for the last decade, just hoping to survive the next winter.Langauge: Estonian.
- DirectorVolker KoeppLangauge: German, Latvian, Russian, Estonian.
- DirectorMitchell LieberThe filmmaker's genealogy search for his newborn's namesake brings him to the early 20th century lives and terrible mid-century fate of Latvian Jews. Nearly all trapped in the country during WWII are killed. The filmmaker's relatives are among the 25,000 murdered in two days by firing squads at Rumbula Forest in Riga, one of the Holocaust's largest massacres. Viewers see what occurred at Rumbula and throughout the country as survivors, escapees, perpetrators and bystanders describe the massacres. Stories of rescue, reunion and survival emerge along with how the vast majority were killed and what we all lost with their murder.Language: English, Russian, Latvian, Yiddish. Subtitles: English. Partly available on http://rumbulasecho.org.
- DirectorVolker KoeppThe 'Kurische Nehrung' is a promontory between the Baltic Sea and the Kaff, whose northern part belongs to Lithuania, while the south is Russian territory. This documentary feature depicts the landscape, the differences between the two countries, the opinions of the people and the German roots some of the inhabitants have.Language: German.
- DirectorMarcus KolgaA documentary film about the Soviet Gulag. An 89 year old Estonian Canadian returns to his former home to retrace a terrifying journey that began in 1941. Traveling by car from Tallinn Estonia, to the northern Russian town of Kotlas, where his Gulag forced labour camp was located, the film follows Eduard as he remembers how he escaped death and reconciles dark memories.Langauge: English, Estonian. Subtitles: English. Available on Vimeo.
- DirectorErnestas SamsonasStarsDiana BagdonieneMikelis BalciusEdvardas BrigmanasCreative documentary telling the story about nearly extinct Curonian-Latvian community history of a small Lithuanian seaside town named Sventoji, highlighting its multi-cultural dimensions, connections with the Latvian culture and Baltic heritage.Language: Latvian, Lithuanian.
- DirectorAlgirdas TarvydasA movie about used car dealers in the post-Soviet Lithuania.Language: Lithuanian. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorPekka ParikkaStarsOke JokinenLennart MeriA documentary about the town of Tallinn in Estonia, its past and its future. The sights include the Tallinn Old Town and the Saia käik street, Toompea castle on Toompea hill, and Pirita convent.Language: Finnish.
- DirectorAriel MessasStarsRav ElkiesRav GuggenheimRav LumbrosoLanguage: French.
- DirectorAudrius StonysThe story of a grave under the roots a big oak. Three unknown soldiers rest in it- two Russians and a German. After more than 70 years, a group of archaeologists decided to go on a quest to explore this.
- DirectorKaspars GobaStarsPeter TatchellIn the summer of 2005, two guys came up with the idea to organize an unprecedented event - a festive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people's parade through the streets of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Following the example of similar LGBT parades in Western cities, they decided to call it 'Pride'. Little did they know that their good intent would spiral into a chain of inconceivable events lasting several years. The great emotion stirred up would dramatically divide Latvian Society; the persons involved would be showered, in turn, with human excrement and holy water. Families would be torn apart, jobs lost, and a pastor expelled from the church for free thinking. They could not have imagined that crowds of Western 'reinforcements' would flock to support both sides or that Jesus, the Devil, patriotism and human rights would all be used in the rhetoric surrounding the topic, and that the media would eagerly report it all. In the end, could it be that the victims of this hostility were all those involved, because for someone, somewhere it was beneficial to set us against one another? Kaspars Goba worked on this film for five years. The extensive footage collected over the years enables the spectator to get an extraordinarily deep insight into the opinions and life stories of the individuals on both the Pride and NoPride fronts. The astonishing unearthing of Pride in Riga as shown in Kaspars Goba's work, from its inception in 2005 through to the announcement that Pride would not be held in Riga in 2010, enables the viewer to consider these events from a different perspective. One can contemplate the role politicians play in manipulating people's ideals, and also ask: what is the price of democracy in Latvia?
- DirectorJuozas JavaitisStarsAlgirdas AvizienisMark DannerAndrzej FranaszekA documentary dedicated to a Nobel prize for literature receiver Czeslaw Milosz - Polish poet with Lithuanian roots. The film is trying to reveal the layers of life and creation of this historical figure known for a truly unique mind. The viewer is invited to travel through almost one hundred years of history starting at the early days of poet's life in native Seteniai, gymnasium and university years in Vilnius, later a period of journeys, an era penetrated by historical shocks, and finally, a complicated return to Lithuania after decades of exodus. A number of well known intellectuals that were connected with Czeslaw Milosz in one way or another are interviewed for the movie.Language: Lithuanian, Polish, English, Russian, French. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorGisa SchleeleinLangauge: Latvian, Estonian. Subtitles: German. Partially available on Vimeo.
- DirectorPål HollenderStarsAndrejsDianaAndris GrinbergsThe filmmaker attempts to prove that some 50% of women aged 18-30 in Riga, Latvia, are exploited in prostitution by tourists.Languages: English, Latvian, Russian.
- DirectorTarvo MölderStarsUrmas AlenderYoko AlenderTiit HaagmaDocumentary about Estonia's most legendary rock band Ruja and their reunion concert on 20 Aug 2017.Language: Estonian.
- DirectorPeter GrimmStarsJuris BergmanisAntonija BraslaLeon GarkalnsThe Second World War is over. However, the partisans in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, soon forgotten by the world, were still fighting a hopeless battle for their freedom. 4 surviving members tell their story.Language: Latvian.
- DirectorLaima ZurginaLanguage: Latvian.
- DirectorZoe DirseMark WrightA Canadian University Professor becomes President of a foreign country. A film crew follows her for the first 2 years in office.Language: English.
- DirectorVaidotas DigimasStarsDavid EllisBritish artist and cultural historian David Ellis first came to Lithuania almost twenty years ago. Driven by a curiosity about post-Soviet culture, he has continued to visit frequently over the years. In this film, Ellis travels through Lithuania's towns, meeting people and discussing how twenty years of independence reflect on their lives. This journey documents Ellis' encounters with present-day Lithuania and compares it to his early experiences, providing a capture of the tempo and level of success of the transition.Language: English, Lithuanian.
- DirectorAstrid BscherStarsDaniel BarenboimAlexander BeyerAndris NelsonsLangauge: German.
- DirectorMaris OzolinsStarsEgons DombrovskisMartins FreimanisAndris GrutupsA documentary about Ansis Kaupens, one of the most notable robbers in the history of Latvia, occasionally considered the Latvian Robin Hood. In 1927 he was sentenced to death.Language: Latvian.
- DirectorViesturs KairissLanguage: Latvian. Partially available on Youtube.
- DirectorMarianna Kaat14 CASES is a character driven story and it focuses on personal stories of born in Estonia young people who are the descendants of migrants from the Soviet era, representing almost the third generation. Although they lived their whole life surrounded by Estonian national symbols and colours, lifestyle and cuisine, they still speak Russian as their mother tongue, got secondary education in Russian language, listen and watch Russian radio and television, and gravitate towards Russian culture. Some of Estonian Russians face an identity crisis: a conflict of national identity with civil identity.Language: Estonian, Russian. Subtitles: Estonian, Russian.
- DirectorArunas MatelisA short documentary about a hospital ward for children with leukemia in Lithuania.Language: Russian, Lithuanian.
- DirectorDaniel DiSilvaStarsJim GaffiganHarry Connick Jr.Christoph SchönbornLangauge: English.
- DirectorAiste PtakauskeStarsAlicia GianKeisha IngramBozena KarvelieneETHNIC KITCHEN is a documentary feature about five women who moved to Lithuania from different countries (Uruguay, Chechnya, Jamaica, the USA, a Roma settlement), at different times, and for different reasons. At first glance, the life stories of these women seem unbelievable, but a closer look reveals that it is something that could happen to any of us. What makes up our world which we call home? Does it stem from our place in society based on our gender, skin color, age, or nationality? Or is it something simpler than that? Could it be that home is any place where we find compassion, inspiration, talent, love, and a shared humanity? Ethnic Kitchen is not just a movie, it's an invitation to reflect on the things that make us feel like outsiders. Ethnic Kitchen is a reminder and encouragement to extend a helping hand to those around us having trouble fitting in. The project is made possible by the European Economic Area Grants NGO Program Lithuania.Language: English, Lithuanian, Russian. Subtitles: English. Available on Youtube as 'Ethnic Kitchen: Documentary about Immigrant Women in Lithuania'
- DirectorJaanus SillaStarsJaanus SillaThe joy of recognizing our home, our roots, our historical identity through the participation of the united people present at the Song- and Dance festival is like a storm in our hearts. It swells with the pleasure of singing and dancing in to resonant motion of the soul. It expresses our nation's character, the Estonian spirit. Our pledge of our sovereignty is painted of singing and dancing together in our national traditionally patterned dress. That is an image of the soul of men and women, showing how people can be a good and calm force in the world. This is a picture of the Estonian soul, a special force or a phenomenon which is cut out to us from the scars of the nation, and without them this image can not be forged by any other nation.Langauge: Estonian. Subtitles: English. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorPirjo HonkasaloMarja PensalaStarsTiiu SilvesDocumentary about Estonia's most rich woman.Language: Estonian.
- DirectorSibylle TiedemannSibylle explores Estonia searching for answers about her brother's death.Langauge: German, Estonian, English.
- DirectorJohn WebsterIn the freer climate of the 1990s, some young women from Estonia are enticed into Finland to work as dancers and entertainers. Many, like 18 years old Irma, find themselves doing striptease.Language: Finnish.
- DirectorSulev KeedusThe small town locals of Mustjala are the Indians of Estonia - they are ravaged by alcoholism and depression, because they've been ignored by the shiny capitalist dream. But then a German tourist ship boards in Mustjala. Could it be the realization of an old Estonian legend about a white ship coming from another land and bringing joy and prosperity for the local people?Language: Estonian, German. Available on Vimeo.
- DirectorHardi VolmerStarsPriit PärnA documentary about Priit Pärn, an animator of international renown, graphic artist, caricaturist and book illustrator. Pärns works are utterly grotesque, absurd and funny. Additionally, they are critical about the society, piercing the deepest levels of human consciousness.Langauge: Estonian.
- DirectorRaimo JõerandStarsMait MalmstenTaavi TeplenkovA documentary on the volunteer Estonian Army's defense against the Soviet Army in 1944 with an emphasis on its last stand in the region known as the Blue Hills of Estonia.Langauge: Estonian. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorAleksandras MatonisStarsAlfredas BumblauskasSven EkdahlAleksiejus LuchtianasOne of the most important battles of Middle-ages.Language: English.
- DirectorAleksandras MatonisStarsJonas BaltakisLinas BusauskasGrete EitmantyteInterviews with survivors/participants/witnesses and recreational scenes of 1945 Kalniskes battle, scientific research on dead partisans and occupants, graphic schemes of a battle, historical meaning and aftermath explained by experts and historians.Language: Lithuanian.
- DirectorAudrius StonysAccording to the old stories, written about 300 years ago, during the Lithuanian - Swedish war, the bell from the bell tower of Plateliai Church has been removed and taken off. It was carried away across the frozen lake, but the ice cracked near the Kastel island and the bell sank. One hundred years later a snorkeling expedition went on a search for the bell. It has been told that they found it, but for inexplicable reasons, they let it sink again.
- DirectorKristina InciuraiteStarsRosita CivilyteIn the film, seven sports women who live in seven Lithuanian cities speak about their opinions on the 'seven deadly sins' from a contemporary perspective. The duality in a battle, is a constant in both art and life. The film explores and portrays a contemporary heroine, and heroism, pitched against the interior legend of persistent work and practice.Language: Lithuanian.
- DirectorVytautas V. LandsbergisAgne MarcinkeviciuteVytautas V. Landsbergis' new film "Tricolour" tells the tale of Lithuanian post-war history, which the director is so fond of, only in this instance it doesn't dwell on any particular person or event, but tries to create a general portrait of the post-war freedom fighter - unadulterated and authentic, as portrayed by twelve witnesses of the battles of the time, ex-partisans and their signalers. It is difficult to define the film's genre, because aside from compelling documentary footage it also has enacted scenes, filmed by the skillful hand of cameraman Saulius Lukosevicius. The film is enriched by musical episodes of songs performed by Ieva Narkute and Martynas Levickis. The calm-paced film will send the viewer on a journey into the colorful vortexes of Lithuanian history - some happy, some moving and sorrowful. The film uses simple, unpretentious language to speak to both the young and old who love this beautiful land.Language: Lithuanian. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorAditya J. PatwardhanA detailed research of the neo-pagan communities of the Baltic and Balkan countries, exploring their ancient roots.Language: English. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorSulev KeedusIn a Christian culture, suicide is a taboo, and a soldier's suicide is a double taboo. Rivo, who has been on a military mission to Afghanistan twice, suffers from a post-traumatic disorder, which ends in suicide. For four years, Rivo's girlfriend Hanna tries to battle his psychological disorder, but then gives up and moves from Estonia to Australia. Six months later Rivo steps in front of a train. His last message to those who know him is to forgive him. In Dino Buzzati's novel The Tartar Steppe nameless soldiers, who serve a nameless emperor in a nameless country, are waiting for a nameless enemy. ESTCOY soldiers in Afghanistan had a clearer idea of both who the enemy was and of their location. Nevertheless, some soldiers are mentally deeply wounded when they come back from war. Rivo's diagnosis was that he was a psychopath. Who is a (professional) soldier in today's world? How does he cross the Bridge of Death? Does he have to sacrifice himself for the chain of command in order to participate in situations where none of what he was taught in childhood applies anymore? Where do you draw the line between justified and unjustified suffering? Euphemisms may not work on a personal level. The glorification of war has aggravating, not alleviating effects.Langauge: English, Estonian.
- DirectorJanis ErglisStarsMaris BrancisDace LambergaStella PelseLanguage: Latvian. Available on Youtube.
- DirectorTarmo RajaleidA humanistic story about two women who like Eve and Dawn are total opposites but still share something in common. Riina Vändre is a single mother and a successful head of the PR department of the Estonian Ministry of Finance, who has dedicated herself to helping the homeless by organizing a social campaign "Human Christmas for the Homeless". Mother of seven Galina Jegorova is one of the 3000 homeless in Tallinn. She has been living on the Pääsküla garbage dump for the last decade, just hoping to survive the next winter.Langauge: Estonian.
- DirectorJakob HyldahlLanguage: Danish. Available on www.dr.dk.
- DirectorAudrius StonysStarsStasys BurbaVerute CingaiteThe film springs from at least three ideas connected to each other in an irrational way: the story of a cow being taken to the butcher, the description of simple pleasures, how to ascend to the top of a hill and descend in a wheelbarrow, and the portraiture of a several blind people.