The New York Baltic Film Festival continues with a day of documentary screenings. In this event, the U.S. premiere of Rodeo uses period footage and interviews to show how Estonia assembled a fledgling cabinet in the 1990s amid chaos and uncertainty. Preceding the film will be a screening of the witty animated short film Manivald.

Manivald

In this sly animated short by Chintis Lundgren, Manivald is a thirty-something not-quite-anything fox who has gotten very used to living with his overbearing mother. But when the washing machine breaks down and Toomas the Wolf enters the picture, Manivald soon finds himself with a whole new set of problems to deal with. (13 min. Estonia, 2017)

 

Rodeo (U.S. Premiere Screening)

In this illuminating new documentary, directors Raimo Joerand and Kur Aarma follow Estonia’s road to establishing a new government following Russian occupation in all of its chaos and uncertainty. Through period footage and exclusive interviews and with a humor as frantic as the often absurd situations it covers, the filmmakers follow how Estonia was able to put together a fledgling cabinet in the 1990s, with the help of infinitely more goodwill than money. As some of its closest neighbors refused to extend loans for diplomatic reasons, the government resorted to raising survival money through an unorthodox (and ironically vengeful) means. (77 min. Estonia, 2018. In Estonian and English with English subtitles)

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

Chintis Lundgren (Mandivald)

Chintis Lundgren is an Estonian-born animator currently living in Croatia. She studied fine arts at an alternative art school in Estonia called Academia Non Grata before pursuing a career as a painter. Lundgren later taught herself animation and quickly gained attention in the animation world for her quirky music videos, PSAs, and short films featuring a light, absurdist tone and distinctive anthropomorphic characters. In 2011, Lundgren created her own animation studio, Chintis Lundgreni Animatsioonistuudio, and later co-founded Adriatic Animation, an animation studio based in Croatia.

Raimo Jõerand and Kiur Aarma (Rodeo)

Raimo Jõerand was born in July 15, 1972 in Tallinn and is a freelance scriptwriter and film director, as well as a lecturer of several courses about documentary, film editing and scriptwriting in Estonian universities. From 2006-2012, Raimo worked at Estonian Film Institute as a Documentary and Development Consultant, and from 2013-2015 was President of Estonian Cultural Endowment Audio-Video Department.

Kiur Aarma was born on 25 June, 1975 in Tallinn, Estonia. A film producer and screenwriter, Kiur has studied semiotics and cultural theory in Tartu University and script-writing at Baltic Film and Media School master class, and worked as a host for several talk-shows from 1997 – 2007. He is one of the founders of production company RUUT, in which he has produced numerous TV programs and several documentaries.

2018 New York Baltic Film Festival

The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have been producing motion pictures since 1910. While not as well-known as those in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, their industries have met challenges in one era or another that ultimately only galvanized their creative ambitions for features, documentaries, and animation shorts. Through the screening of both the latest productions and selected classics, the inaugural 2018 New York Baltic Film Festival offers an unprecedented opportunity to see the best in northern European film making.

The New York Baltic Film Festival is presented by Scandinavia House and organized by the Consulate General of Estonia, Consulate General of Lithuania and Consulate of Latvia in New York. Programming support is from the Estonian Film Institute, National Film Center of Latvia, and Lithuanian Film Center. Funding for the festival is courtesy of governments of the Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and by the generous donations of members of the Baltic community in New York. Additional support to the festival is from the Lithuanian Cultural Institute, the Consulate General of Finland in New York, and the American Scandinavian Foundation.

 

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SATOctober 20—4 PM

$12 ($7 ASF Members)
Series Pass $90 ($55 ASF Members)