The official ceremony attended by Tiina Tarkus from the Estonian Embassy in Warsaw inaugurated the special section of this year’s edition of the Krakow Film Festival “Focus on Estonia”. Kaarel Kuurmaa from the Estonian Film Institute was also present at the opening.
“Estonian cinema is not well known in Poland and it made us want to invite this country as a special guest. We will present fascinating stories told by Estonian filmmakers. Some of them are very close to us as they speak of a similar recent past; other discover for us completely new image of the Estonian people. Apart from excellent documentaries a real treat for the cinemagoers will be the screening of Estonian animation, which many times before has been presented in festival cinemas and has many admirers” – says Barbara Orlicz-Szczypuła, the Head of Programme Department of the Krakow Film Festival.
Tiina Tarkus mentioned that the invitation to participate in the making of the Krakow Film Festival programme was a great gift for the 100th anniversary of the Estonian independence, which is celebrated this year, and will definitely contribute to the rich cultural exchange and film cooperation between our countries.
Each year Krakow Film Festival prepares a special section presenting the latest documentary, short and animated films from a chosen country. So far the section was devoted to the cinema from various countries including Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Lithuania, UK, Sweden and Germany. The “Focus on Estonia” section will show the latest documentary and short movies. The screenings will take place during the whole festival week in Kino Pod Baranami and ARS theatre. Film industry representatives from Estonia and Poland will meet at the joint conference as well as many other special events.
In the main programme of the “Focus on Estonia” section you can find 6 feature documentaries presenting mostly Estonian protagonists. They also show largely unknown story of the country and its people. Considering the film stories it is worth mentioning that Estonia celebrates this year the 100th anniversary of its independence.
Estonian programme opened with the Polish premiere of the film “Rodeo. Taming a Wild Country” (dir. Raimo Jõerand, Kiur Aarma) attended by the directos on May 28th, 2018 in Kijów.Centrum theatre. It is a fascinating story of the first free election since the Second World War and Estonian journey towards capitalism, away from the Soviet past. The film, which feels like a thriller, shows the complicated fortunes of the young idealists who unexpectedly took over the Baltic state and adopted the least conventional methods to manage the country plunged in chaos.
The partners of the “Focus on Estonia” section are Estonian Film Institute and Estonian Embassy in Warsaw.
The 58th Krakow Film Festival takes place May 27th – June 3rd, 2018.