The Holy Trinity of Estonian Animation

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2020
Programme
Shorts Panorama

The role of this year’s jubilees – The Holy Trinity of Estonian Animation – Elbert Tuganov (1920–2007), Heino Pars (1925–2014) and Rein Raamat (1931) in the present day has been foresightfully expressed in 1985 by Heino Pars at the end of his life’s work, having seen himself as a creator of something important: “We have created the field for a new art form and it was our job to plough that field until it could be truly harvested one day!”

Estonian Animation Union has an honor to present the creations of the founders of Estonian animation that belong to the world classics to an eager audience, hungry for inspiration and defining the present day. This programme starts off with little Johnny’s mysterious journey to explore the temporal dimension of the world and the processes that help us find the essence of being human and the source of our power. The punch-line of the unique collection that forms the pillars of Estonian animation is the present day with the mechanised hell of civilization and a ray of hope for peace, the pursuit of it being the utmost creative mission for every generation.

The social and slightly nerve-racking works created in a unique movie language by Tuganov, Pars and Raamat concerned the society back then and are still relevant today. The audience of our movie festival will have the opportunity to experience the worldview of the exceptional creators and animators of the world and their relation to the society. In other words – what is the purpose of a creator as an indvidual of the society.

Mait Laas

Q&A with the filmmaker

Films

Johnny's Seven Friends

Local title
Jussikese seitse sõpra
Original title
Jussikese seitse sõpra
Director
Heino Pars
Country
Estonia
Year
1967

Johnny likes Sundays most of all. The whole family is at home, everybody can rest and do whatever they like the best. Johnny does not care much for the other days, because then he has to go to kindergarten and his parents have to work. Johnny decides to search for Sunday and ask it to come visit him more often. His journey to meet Sunday will be quite long, but unexpectedly fun and interesting. On his way, he will meet and befriend the other days as well.

Director
Heino Pars
Runtime
Language
Estonian

An Almost Unbelievable Story

Local title
Peaaegu uskumatu lugu
Original title
Peaaegu uskumatu lugu
Director
Elbert Tuganov
Country
Estonia
Year
1962

The workers organise a strike. The factory owner hires monkeys instead. But the greedy owner will not get his hands on the expected profit.

Director
Elbert Tuganov
Runtime

Athomic and Stouts

Local title
Aatomik ja jõmmid
Original title
Aatomik ja jõmmid
Director
Elbert Tuganov
Country
Estonia
Year
1970

The Stouts kidnap Athomic to use him for triggering a war. Athomic and The Scientist will be helped by the robotic dog. The evil intentions of the Stouts will be counteracted and they will perish through their own wickedness.

Director
Elbert Tuganov
Runtime

Flight

Local title
Lend
Original title
Lend
Director
Rein Raamat
Country
Estonia
Year
1973

Abstract film with a great extrapolating power about a person’s dream of flying and the fulfillment of this dream. The animation brought the first international recognition to the young animation team of Tallinnfilm in 1974. Director Rein Raamat included writer Paul-Eerik Rummo as the screenwriter, painter Aili Vint as the background artist and Rein Rannap, the founder of the Estonian band Ruja, as the composer.

Director
Rein Raamat
Runtime

Inspiration

Local title
Inspiratsioon
Original title
Inspiratsioon
Director
Elbert Tuganov
Country
Estonia
Year
1975

The XVIII Estonian Song Festival held at Tallinn Song Festival Grounds on the 35th anniversary of Estonian SSR is depicted as an inspirational source for the birth of a painting which takes place under the eyes of the viewers. Documented frames and animation are combined in this film.

Director
Elbert Tuganov
Runtime

Nail I

Local title
Nael I
Original title
Nael I
Director
Heino Pars
Country
Estonia
Year
1972

A satiric stop motion animation about nails by Heino Pars that addresses society in an experimetal form consists of four short novels: "Love“, "Bootlicker“, "Hooligan“ and "Circus“. The interpersonal relationships between anthropomorphic nails are dead-on and humorous, whether it is a love affair between a groom and his lady, the endeavours of a brown-nosing bootlicker, quarreling of a drunken hooligan, or the interaction between a vain animal handler and a circus lion.

Director
Heino Pars
Screenwriter
Heino Pars
DoP
Arvo Nuut
Music
Ülo Vinter
Production
Tallinnfilm
Runtime

Colour Bird

Local title
Värvilind
Original title
Värvilind
Director
Rein Raamat
Country
Estonia
Year
1974

In a black-and-white world colourful birds are born – red, yellow, blue, green, violet. Each of them brings a new colour to the world. The birds are attacked by a cat who wants to destroy them. The birds defeat the cat. They merge into a beautiful colour bird. A bleak and inexpressive world becomes multicoloured.

Director
Rein Raamat
Runtime

Hell

Local title
Põrgu (1983)
Original title
Põrgu
Director
Rein Raamat
Country
Estonia
Year
1983

The graphic pieces "Preacher“, "Cabaret“ and "Hell“ by Eduard Viiralt are blended into an original screenwork through an active antimilitarist view of the author.

Director
Rein Raamat
Runtime
Language
Estonian