Archive of films Midsummer Day / Jaanipäev
Estonia
1978, 20 min
Section:
Reflections of Time: Baltic Poetic Documentary
Year: 2018
Daring, honest, and provocative, Sööt’s camera exposes a traditional midsummer night’s celebration in a Brezhnev era urban setting, when drinking had become a problematic issue. Songs from pagan romantic rituals are almost the only link between the old traditions and contemporary reality.
Synopsis
Daring, honest, and provocative, Sööt’s camera produces an exposé of a traditional midsummer night’s celebration held in an urban setting during the Brezhnev era, when drinking had become a problematic social issue. Songs from pagan romantic rituals are almost the only link between the old traditions and contemporary reality. The film depicts the new rituals of the celebration while also questioning the state of Estonian society at a time when tall prefab apartment buildings, inhabited by people from all over the Soviet Union, were a mark of Soviet Estonia.
Zane Balčus
About the director
Andres Sööt (b. 1934). Selected filmography: Ruhnu (1965), 511 Best Photographs of Mars (511 paremat fotot Marsist, 1968), Conductors (Dirigendid, 1975), Midsummer Day (Jaanipäev, 1978), Year of the Dragon (Draakoni aasta, 1988), Konrad Mägi (2001), Camino (2011)
Contacts
Estonian Film Institute
Uus 3, 10111, Tallinn
Estonia
Tel: +372 627 6060
Fax: +372 627 6061
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.filmi.ee
About the film
Black & white, DCP
Section: | Reflections of Time: Baltic Poetic Documentary |
---|---|
Director: | Andres Sööt |
Screenplay: | Andres Sööt |
Dir. of Photography: | Andres Sööt |
Production: | Tallinnfilm |
Sales: | Estonian Film Institute |
Guests
Eda Koppel
Film Institution Rep.
Andres Sööt
Film Director