Kino at Sydney Estonian House

19/08/2024

Join us in September for Kino! with a special screening of the Estonian film ‘1944’ on September 22nd to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Great Escape / Mass Flight of 1944. This Kino is being run by guest host Ave, with the screening starting at 5pm with doors at 4pm.

‘1944’ tells the story of Estonia trapped in the crossfire of two opposing forces. As the Battle of Tannenberg Line rages, the Red Army are on the offensive and severely outnumbered SS dig in to repel the Soviet advance on the Third Reich. Half of their infantry are back to their homeland wearing enemy uniforms. Forced to fight against their brothers, these desperate young men now must find a way to survive one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War II.

“1944” is written by Leo Kunnas and directed by Elmo Nüganen, is about the events that occurred in Estonia in 1944, from the Battle of Tannenberg Line (25 July – 10 August 1944) to the Battle of Tehumardi in Sõrve Peninsula (October – November 1944) and is shown through the eyes of Estonian soldiers who had to pick sides and fight against their fellow countrymen with the film taking the perspective of soldiers on both sides.

September 2024 marks 80 years since the Suurpõgenemine (mass flight to the West in 1944), when 80,000 Estonian citizens were forced to flee ahead of the 2nd Russian occupation with about 10,000 of the 80,000 refugees fled through Pärnu.

Free entry, and doors open at 4pm with the film starting at 5:00pm! The bar will be open for drinks and snacks.

11/07/2024

Tere kõigile! Thank you to all who could make it to our Kino screening on Sunday, 7th July for 'Emadepäev (Mother’s Day)' and 'Kannikas kannika vastu (Bread vs. Bread)', we had a fantastic turnout and even got some of the original 1978 cast together. It was a very special night allowing for the film to be appreciated by all with new subtitles, intro and rolling credits added as well.

As part of our dedication to making kino! more accessible to our community both interstate and overseas, Olev Muska and I have decided to make the film freely viewable online via Dropbox with the link below. This link will remain accessible and we just ask that it is only distributed for non-commercial purposes.

You can view the film here by clicking the link below:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ndzsf1zp8g4skj2orpw78/AGxEAPLStqfw4_5H6NvI8Sw?rlkey=rl7ljeq7ifzbe0e6vpiju54pw&st=outhxhae&dl=0

Included are some film notes with reviews and a post-mortem compiled by Olev

Without the attempts at digitising and salvaging the film by Olev Muska, this would not be possible to share online and perhaps be lost to time, so again thank you for your efforts and dedication to preserving a snapshot in time. You can see the large amount of work that went into this film, from it’s cast, costumes, set design, visual effects and more. I hope this inspires more young people to pick up the camera and start creating, our community has so many stories and tall tales that deserve to be on the screen.

Perhaps one day a short film competition could be arranged coinciding with a Sydney Eesti Päevad perhaps? I would love to see the Estonian Film Festival (EFFA) from December 2012 brought back as an ongoing event! We need more ambitious planning and programming across our communities and new stories that speak to who we are here in the Australian diaspora.

I want to personally thank minu ema, Mai Bell, who has tirelessly turned up and helped support me run the nights both with bump in, cooking and bump out/cleanup. Thank you for always being there! Also big ups to all the Kino fans who turned up regardless of the weather and those that would stick around to move chairs and pack up tables. Your help did not go unnoticed and made running the nights all the worthwhile. I also want to thank Leen and Siimon who started the nights back in October 2010 – which previously ran it on the last Friday of every month. Siimon generously passed on the collection of DVDs they had amassed to assist with screenings!

If you are interested in helping run movie nights at Sydney Eesti Maja, please contact me via [email protected] or [email protected] and get in touch! We have a few interested parties and a committee may be the most logical step in making the nights easier to run.

Head isu eesti rahvas ja jätku leiba, Lachlan

Shared with Dropbox

08/07/2024

Suur aitäh to those who could make it to the (second) world-premiere of “Kannikas kannika vastu” and Emadepäev! It was a wonderful turnout with some great creative outfits too! We had some wonderful insight into the making and restoration of the 1978 film and also got some of the original cast on stage.

Unfortunately many of the other stars in the cast are overseas travelling the world thanks to their new found fame.

We will be uploading the two films for viewing via Dropbox, with links sent across social media so so stay tuned and share to your interstate and international friends! More to come 🖤

06/07/2024

Tomorrow is the night! Remember the dress code theme is ‘Black vs. White’ - get creative, bleach your hair, pick your side or embrace both equally! Are you Bonegilla or Bathurst? Are you a must leib lover, valge sai suitor - or neither! Where are the karask and peenleib penchants!

We have special Estonian prizes for best dressed provided by the Bell/Lehtsalu family - judging will be by Lachlan, Mai and a special guest judge.

$5 entry for those not in dress code!

14/06/2024

Join us on July 7th at Sydney Eesti Maja for a cozy movie night featuring two special Sydney-made films exploring rivalries, in-fighting and the age old debate, which is the superior bread, white or black? And a double-feature of Juhan Lübek!

💐Our first short makes it’s world-premiere made by 18-year old me! Titled “Emadepäev / Mother’s Day” (2016), the one-room chamber piece bringing together Jüri (Juhan Lübek), Alvar (Kieran Scott) and iconic Ema (Malle Lehtsalu) around the külmlaud. Bring your mother and share in some family trauma bonding.

🍞 Our second film “Kannikas kannika vastu / Bread vs. Bread” (1978), makes it’s remastered debut 46 years from it’s first screening on the 27th December 1978 at Paddington Town Hall. Directed by Olev Salasoo and conceptualised by Olev Muska, Lembit Suur, Juhan Lübek, Olev Salasoo, Lembit Salasoo, Sulev Kalamäe and Harald Mirlieb in the sauna.

Remastered, translated and subtitled for new audiences, this rare piece of extant media is a snapshot of the Sydney-Estonian youth antics and tomfoolery. Imagine ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘The Godfather’ meets ‘Spy vs. Spy’.
A film about the breadwinners and loaf losers, the 50min film examines the politics of identity, affiliation and taste (literally). Featuring a stellar cast of familiar names too long to list, the story tells the tale of an Estonian population divided and torn asunder. The two big pigs of the baking scene, Anton Sähk Tõrv and Peeter Andrus Piig, settle their disputes through petty gang warfare and tit for tats à la ‘Spy vs. Spy’. A tale of revenge, plotting, love and an equal amount of both violence and vulgarity, this film is definitely not for children.
Please note that there are some graphic scenes depicting both physical and s*xual violence.

As part of this special screening, there is a mandatory dress code for atendees! The theme is ’Black vs. White’. The rules are simple, no other colours are allowed, only white or black dress. Anyone not to dress code must pay $5 to enter. Show your inventiveness, allegiance and affiliation - Bonegilla vs. Bathurst, the ultimate showdown. There will be a prize for best dressed! Same as always, films start at 5:30 🎞️

21/05/2024

Join us at Sydney Estonian House on the 2nd June from 5:30pm for Kino! We are screening the short film “Salme saladus / Another Dimension” (2018) and “Vee peal / On The Water” (2020). This will be the penultimate Kino screening, with the next one planned on the 7th July.

Moonika Siimets’ short documentary “Salme saladus / Another Dimension” (2018) takes viewers to the small coastal borough of Salme in Saaremaa where modernity meets the past. Superstition and traditions are as common everyday phenomena as fishing and harvesting crops in Salme. We then follow the lives of the Sõnajalg family, an infamous 90s singing Christian quartet-turned business empire who fly helicopters and build wind farms. In a town where UFOs and spirits can be seen amongst Viking skeletons and the Sõnajalg dynasty’s wind turbines - there are two realities here that do not fit together. What on earth is going on there?

Our feature film for the night is “Vee peal / On The Water” (2020) directed by Peeter Simm. Selected as the Estonian entry for the Best International Feasture Film at the 94th Academy Awards, the coming-of-age film takes us to the sleepy village set in the small southern Estonian city of Võru in the 1980s where Andres is raised by his strict grandparents. Escaping the constant bullying at school through fishing and he takes to the lake to work out his ambitions and life goals meeting colourful characters along convicted criminal Valter and the simpleminded fisherman Kolla. A dramedy full of sometimes risqué humour comes as an adaptation of Olavi Ruitlane’s autobiographical novel of the same name “Vii pääl” released in 2015.

26/09/2023

Join us this October for Kino is screening 'Asjad, millet me ei räägi' on the 8th from 5:30pm. You may be thinking we showed this already last October - unfortunately that screening was unable to go ahead so we are trying again, one year later!

Asjad millest me ei räägi (2020) is an adaptation of the Australian film "The Little Death" (2014) and is a black comedy about s*x, love, relationships and taboo. Five couples, five problems, five ways to solve those problems ... not all of these ways are correct. The film is about the taboo things we don’t talk about behind closed doors - on the big screen. Focusing on the problems and secret intimate dreams of five couples, it asks us whether its still worth telling our partner what we like best in the bedroom? From role-playing, getting aroused at the sight of tears, phone s*x, or simply watching your sweetly sleeping partner, the film asks whether sharing all your intimate thoughts leads to the s*x of your dreams or an embarrassing disaster, you'll find out in this comedy.

Please note this film is not suitable for viewers under 18!

10/09/2023

After a brief hiatus, we'll be screening next Sunday Veiko Õunpuu's film "Püha Tõnu Kiusamine (The Temptation of St. Tony)" from 2009.

The movie tells the story of Tõnu, a mid-level manager who develops an aversion to being "good" and finds himself confronting the mysteries of middle-age and morality as he loses grasp of what was once his quiet life. Tõnu Ploomipuu, a seemingly typical Estonian man who has a beautiful wife, lovely daughter, new suburban house, expensive car and nice clothes, is an emotionally strained, somewhat naive person with evidently materialistic values. The events start to unfold after the funeral of Tõnu’s father. What follows, is a series of fragments from Tõnu’s life – an accidental murder of a dog while driving home from the funeral, a visit to a local police station, discovery of his wife’s betrayal with another man, meeting with a depressed clergyman in a deserted church and a night at a luxurious brothel Das Goldene Zeitalter.

Veiko's film is a dreamlike, magical surrealist Post-Soviet pastiche laden with angst and occasional horror, paired with stunning black and white cinematography and a haunting original soundscape and score.
Please be advised, the film depicts some graphic scenes of cannibalism and dismemberment and dead dogs in one scene - which has garnered the film some controversy from animals rights communities.

Õunpuu received the European Talent Award at the Cannes International Film Festval in 2008, while Estonian Film Critique’s Association awarded it as the best Estonian feature film of 2009. It was selected in the Sundance Film Festival (USA) and was screened in Rotterdam’s (The Netherlands) and Gothenburg’s (Sweden) festivals. His previous work including “Sügisball (Autumn Ball) in 2007 has been considered as Õunpuu’s break-through in local (Estonian) as well as international scene. Since then he has directed 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero (2011), Free Range (2013), Roukli (2015) and Viimased "The Last Ones" (2020) which we will try and screen sometime next year if possible!

17/07/2023

Quick update: no Kino movie night for August, having a little break to plan for future events! 🎞️ If you have any suggestions for future films you’d like to see let us know! See you in September!