Estonian film did not appear in an empty place. Figuratively speaking, every Estonian filmmaker has Johannes Pääsuke and his camera standing behind him or her. If it weren’t for him, we would have no reason to speak of the 100th anniversary of Estonian film. He created the path that all future filmmakers took after him.
World cinema was born in 1985 with the help of the Lumière brothers in France. Besides those two, Thomas Alva Edison had something to do with it as well. Their work was preceded by many kinds of optical toys and the development of photography. Many were amazed by moving pictures.
The first film screened in Estonia, in Tallinn, in 1896 in the Great Guild building on Pikk Street. The birth of Estonian film has been marked at 1912. The first feature film, “Karujaht Pärnumaal” (“Bear Hunt in Pärnumaa”), was completed in 1914. And thus it began... the birth pains during the independence era, the work of Konstantin Märska and Theodor Luts, and “Kutsu-Juku” (“Juku the Doggy”) marking the birth of Estonian animation.
A long Soviet period followed where numerous films were made, but they all carried the severe seal of ideological repression. Independence came once more and filmmaking found itself with a new economic base, which barely allowed for survival.
We often discuss what Estonian film is like today. We want it to be better, more famous, more powerful. This is natural, but we also shouldn’t forget that the issue is much larger than that – if we only support the production of new films without finding the time and money to restore old films, to investigate and maintain our film history, to develop our film and cinema culture as a whole, then our new films will be made on an empty ground. Culture only flourishes when its memory is preserved and its consistent development is assured.
For more on the centenary visit http://www.ef100.ee/index.php?...