A slow and poetic portrait of pastoral Estonia, delicately capturing the natural flow of rural life
In the misty Estonian wilderness, a young man quietly strolls through the marsh and then lights a large bonfire. A horse stands on the snow, hardly moving, as if hoping that winter will soon come to an end. Children ski through the forest. A long-haired man plays a small tuba while his wife helps their daughter with her studies. An elderly, lonely woman sits silently in her house, with the light from the fire falling on her face. It seems that everyone and everything appearing in the frame coexist in pure harmony, and each home that director Liis Nimik enters with her camera is a space filled with warmth and coziness, where people go about their business unhurriedly. In creating this enchanting portrait of the Estonian countryside, Nimik spent seven years with those who chose to build their lives on the outskirts of modernity, far from the chaos of our world. She captured her heroes in all their gentle simplicity on grainy 16mm film and in natural light to convey the nostalgic and romantic feeling of rural tranquility, turning it into a unique cinematic experience.
Original language: Estonian Subtitles: Belarusian | English