The Canadian Film Institute in collaboration with the embassies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania presented its 7th Baltic Film Festival in Ottawa March 15 to March 18, 2007. This year’s Estonian film was the first to be shown and it was named “Kõrini!” or “Fed Up!” As usual the festival took place at the National Library and Archives of Canada auditorium.

The film is about a German truck driver and three other persons that follow him from Germany to Estonia for various reasons. The CFI describes it on their website as an “upbeat comedy that begins as a drama and turns into a quirky, screwball road movie”. Almost all the dialogue is in German and it would be more correct to call it a German film with an Estonian angle. The film was directed by Peeter Simm and running time was 97 minutes. I found the time went more quickly than I expected.

The acting and photography leave nothing to be desired and the scenes of Tallinn harbour from the Rostock ferry are memorable. In particular the view of the old sinister Patarei prison is chilling. The casting of the pallbearers in the funeral scene is so true to life that even though nobody says a word, it is obvious from the deadpan facial expressions that they are Estonians. The language may be German throughout most of the film but the humour is definitely Estonian.

Afterwards, the Estonian Embassy had arranged an informal reception for everyone. Among the guests were their Excellencies the ambassadors of Finland and Latvia as well as the German military attaché. What was noticeable was the sizeable group of university aged people that had attended.

Pictured are some of the audience that stayed for the reception. There certainly was no evidence to corroborate the view of some that Canadian Estonian society is in process of “lagunemine” (disintegration) because of age and assimilation.

Märkmed: