Helari Saaremäe

Nostalgia in Red

Two former lovers revisit their past in the vibrant lights and music of Tallinn’s bars. As night slowly turns into dawn, they try to figure out whether something new can be born out of nostalgia.

Mehe tegu

As Karl learns about his girlfriend's serious diagnosis, he finds himself in a situation where the fear of being blamed for what happened triggers a cycle of lies. While seeking a way out of his tangled web of dishonesty, Karl is no longer confident in standing by his girlfriend.

8 Views of Lake Biwa

On the shimmering shores of Europe’s otherworldly edge, two teenage girls, Hanake and her best friend are discussing their first love interest while gazing out at yachts sailing to Kyoto. They whisper prayers and poems, the language of their longings. But the magic is fading in their isolated fishing village as they’re dealing with a recent disaster, with some indulging in erotic art, some in spiritual spells. It becomes clear that intimacy alone won’t help them process their loss.

Life & Love

In 1933, a young woman leaves her rural home to chase her dream of becoming a writer in the city. She takes a job as a maid for a middle-aged printing house owner, who quickly starts pursuing her romantically. They marry, but his passionate declarations of love soon turn cold. As political tensions rise in the country, their love story unfolds in a divided society, revealing toxic behaviours and power games that start innocently but lead to dire consequences.

Nightingale

Autumn 1944 in Tallinn, Estonia. German forces retreat as the Russian army settles in. Young soldier Aleksei is sent from the frontline to work in a prison filled with Estonian political prisoners.

Buttered Cards, Shattered Hearts

After the death of the world's last cow, a young couple finds themselves on a hunt for butter through the labyrinth of their apartment building. When they finally reach the basement, a dangerous game for life and butter awaits them.

Smalltown Miss

Miina has grown up in a safe home environment. That can’t be said about her best friend, Liidia. Besides having a beautiful friendship and doing normal teenage things in the Soviet smalltown, there is some darkness to be faced. Everything begins to change when Liidia becomes influenced with a new arrival to town, a woman portraying what she aspires to be. A new, better and more confident version of herself, so that she could find a way out of her unsafe environment.

The Prayer

Jakop has been living by Peipsi for several generations. He is not the best fisherman and doesn't have much money. One day, Jakop's nephew arrives at the yard. Jakop has a chance get a thousand rubles if he agrees to make one small trip over the lake and back. Namely, the nephew has a fugitive in the car who thinks that he is on the north coast. But Jakop refuses the offer. However, he allows his nephew and the refugee to stay with him for the night. In the morning, however, the nephew leaves and leaves the speechless fugitive to Jakop's conscience. Jakop has to make a decision - whether he takes refugees across lake Peipus? In the whirlwind of events, memories come to life in Jakop's dreams about his brother and his suicide. Jakop begins to see similarities between the lost brother and the fugitive.

Not Too Hard and Not in the Face

The 30-year-old protagonist Slava wakes up in a strange place with missing memories from last night. He’s taken to a hospital where Slava learns that in this odd, even dystopian world he has awakened, all the men have gone extinct long ago, leaving him the only man left in the world. Experimental fever-dream-like voyage through the mind and emotional turmoil of a young man trying to make sense of life as well as accepting the end of his relationship.

Five Minutes

The short film talks about Aet, who finds herself in a position where she is left with unknown luggage. Her sense of duty and justice wont leave the luggage.

Circus

We all carry hell with us. The filmmaker’s hell exists on a canvas, which he studied carefully in childhood. The mystical picture has many names: Circus, Hell, Game at the Arena. Decades later he finds the painting again. The film unravels as loose ponderings about the plight of being an artist and touches upon the filmmaker’s personal demons. Can he see the painting in a new light?