“Jüri Rumm” is a satiric adventure film about a legendary Estonian thief from the second half of the 19th century, who became an archetypal folk hero, a sort of local Robin Hood – an outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor. In the early 20th century, his colourful character inspired an entire series of stage plays and stories. Based mainly on Hans Varessoo’s (pseudonym) 1908 novel and the first volume of Jaan Metua’s trilogy of plays, which appeared in 1921, the film’s screenplay was allegedly written by Mikhail Lepper, the first Estonian to study with Georg Wilhelm Pabst and work with Fritz Lang in the early 1920s, who later emigrated to Sweden to work as a photojournalist. The premise of the film draws on Jüri Rumm’s biography: as a nobleman’s servant, Jüri is punished for stealing food from the baron for his sick father. Vowing revenge, he leaves the manor on a stolen horse, slipping away from his pursuers again and again, wearing ever-new disguises. Jüri’s love affair with Madli, who also serves at the manor, adds spice to the adventurous storyline and ultimately proves fatal for the clever fugitive.

“Jüri Rumm” was digitised in 6K and restored in 4K in 2023 in the Film Archive of the National Archives of Estonia, using the original nitrate negative, three surviving reels of a nitrate print and a reel of a safety print.

The live music accompanying the film will be composed and performed by Stephen Horne (UK, piano) and Frank Bockius (Germany, drums). Horne and Bockius are internationally acclaimed silent film musicians who regularly perform at film heritage festivals around the world.

Eva Näripea