Gift to Estonia 100 / Eesti Vabariik 100 Estonian Life
Kultuur | 23 Dec 2017  | EL (Estonian Life)EWR
Mae Productions Inc. and the Estonian Studies Centre Toronto are pleased to announce, as their gift to the Republic of Estonia’s100th Anniversary, their co-produced short film ‘Lipu heiskamine / Raising the Flag’. This is the first short film in a project "In Search of Our Fathers: Baltics", the first phase of which focuses on the war years in Estonia and the Baltics. This 15 minute documentary film has been recognized (2017 Canada Shorts Film Festival Award of Distinction, Accolade Global Film Competition 2017 Award of Merit and is a semi-finalist in Los Angeles CineFest). The film is in Estonian with English subtitles.

‘Lipu heiskamine / Raising the Flag’ is told by Fred Ise, who recounts events on the early morning of August 28, 1941, when a group of patriotic youth raise the Estonian flag, as the Soviet army retreats and the German army advances into Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Five hours of "freedom" in the midst of a battle between two competing occupying powers is relived as a story about young people's resilience in the midst of war. An Estonian flag is raised at the tower of Pikk Hermann, symbolically declaring Estonia's independence, if even for a moment.
As a present to Estonia on the 100th anniversary of Independence, Mae Productions Inc and the Estonian Studies Centre, Toronto, are offering Estonia, its consulates, Estonian houses, Estonian schools and Estonian organisations worldwide, a free public screening of the documentary film ‘Lipu heiskamine / Raising the flag’ for screening on Estonian Independence Day, (February 24 2018), or for screening on any event in commemoration of Estonia 100 / Eesti Vabariik 100 taking place during 2018. Organizations are invited to contact Mae Productions through the film website www.insearchofourfathers.com.

Look for an announcement later in the year for a free public viewing of this important short film as an additional gift to the celebration of Estonia 100.
Tom Mae with his sister Reet Mae, have been included as recipients of the 2017 Estonian Citizen's Day certificates of honour awarded to “People's Diplomats” for those who have contributed to introducing the Estonian people, language and culture worldwide. They accept this on behalf of all those who shared their stories for the new men's film project ‘In Search Of Our Fathers: Baltics’ and the previous film ‘Vabaduse mustrid / Patterns of Freedom’ .
Donations are needed to help continue their work of filming/editing and compiling these important pieces of Estonia's living history. The first phase of this project will focus on creating 6 short films of stories from the years of WWII. They are seeking seed funding from the community to form the basis for a larger grant application for the end of January 2018.
Please support this (these) project(s) and the Estonian Studies Centre. A tax receipt will be issued for your donation. For more information contactlinda@tartucollege.ca or call 416-925-9405.
If you wish to make a donation, have stories to share, can connect us to those willing to share their stories, or to volunteer to help in other ways with this project, with printing services, airline tickets, travel accommodations, repairing/replacing our HD video projector, computer upgrades etc., please contact us attmae@maeproductionsinc.com (Tom Mae 647 267-2401). Your contribution will help ensure that this project will succeed and the Estonian / Baltic stories are made known to the world.
Mae Productions Inc is a boutique family-owned company, in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto and has been providing Digital-media services to corporate and private clients for decades. Their innovative iPod touch-based Audience Response System was developed for SNAP® for use with the Youth Justice iPad app program which is in piloting across Ontario. The current film project is a co-production with the Estonian Studies Centre, Toronto whose mission is to preserve the history, language and culture of Estonians, particularly in Canada.
Contact:linda@tartucollege.ca 416-925-9405tmae@maeproductionsinc.com 647 267-2401

 
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