(working title)
On a small Estonian island on the very border of Estonia and Russia a Russian world exists harmoniously. Like any harmony, it is on the brink of extinction. Once people fled there to escape religious reforms and to avoid military mobilization. They hid on the island and disappeared from the sight of authorities. Why haven’t they become Estonians after 300 years on Estonian land, but instead still sympathize with their historic homeland and how does an almost isolated community of old-believers live at a time when their nation of origin has caused a bloody war in Ukraine?
Director: Viesturs Kairišs
Producers: Esko Rips, Olga Hartšuk and Guntis Trekteris
Production companies: Nafta Films OÜ, Ego Media (Latvia)
Countries: Estonia, Latvia
Shots from the field (fotographer: Nele Tammeaid)
Viesturs Kairišs about the film…
What is this film about?
The film is about the Russian world hidden on a small Estonian island in Lake Peipus. How does an almost isolated community of old-believers live at a time when their nation of origin has caused a bloody war in Ukraine?
Where did you get the inspiration for this topic?
The film is inspired by the particular time and space in which ancient customs and communities mirror the reality of our modern world. Cultural conflicts, embodied in a symbolic environment, create important associations and make us reflect on the sense of the contemporary conflict and its unchanging nature as well as the possibility of harmony and coexistence.
What does the concept of “Arts of Survival” mean for you?
Today, more than ever, “Art of Survival” is to be taken literally. Hence, it is important to look for its spiritual meaning, or else, if the events of the contemporary world are taken too seriously, survival itself can be put in jeopardy. For this reason, in the modern world, the search for various concepts of survival is existential.
