Sunday is all about big names and true stories. The programme features Hollywood stars, a world premiere about Jüri Järvet and a documentary about concrete that takes on the tone of a comedy.
As a storyteller, director John Wilson has a talent for exploring existential themes through the ordinary and the absurd moments. Driven by empathetic curiosity, the programme How To with John Wilson has found a passionate following via HBO.
The time has come for the filmmaker’s first feature-length documentary. The History of Concrete is a film about a stone that unexpectedly turns into a witty and thought-provoking piece about the creation of art and the search for meaning. It begins at 15:00 at Kino Sõprus.
The day continues on a strange note, in the best possible sense. The Incomer (16:30 at Apollo Solaris) brings viewers the story of two native inhabitants of a Scottish island, who are forced to move to the mainland. An official arrives on the island to deliver the news while one of them sees him as a harbinger of war and the other as an intriguing visitor. This is a comedy with a touch of unease which stars Domhnall Gleeson in one of the leading roles. Director Louis Paxton will be at the screening.
Documentary by Taavi Arus JJ: Every Inch a King premieres at Apollo Plaza at 19.30. It is a captivating look at Estonia’s most internationally renowned actor, who played the name role in Kozintsev’s King Lear and Dr Snaut in Tarkovsky’s Solaris.
Thirty years after his death, the film tells his story in his own voice. The voice, reconstructed using artificial intelligence, is based on home recordings, letters, interviews and memories. The result is a warm and dreamlike portrait of a workaholic and an eternal sceptic. Following the screening, director Taavi Arus, screenwriter Marta Pulk and producer Madis Lige will be present.
Elephants in the Mist (15:15, Apollo Plaza 9th Hall). Pirati leads a house of Kinnar women, an ancient third-gender community both revered and feared for their believed power to bless or curse. When she falls in love with a man from a neighbouring village — a breach of the rules — and her closest companion disappears without a trace, everything she holds dear is at stake. Receiving a seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes, the film is the first Nepali feature ever selected for the festival’s Un Certain Regard section, where it won the Jury Prize. It has also been selected as Nepal’s entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
La Pietà (18:30, Apollo Plaza At the beginning of the last century, seven siblings – three women and four men – settled in a remote farmstead at the foot of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and became among the first to witness the glacier’s retreat. This poetic documentary interweaves their diaries with images of the glacier's current state. The film is part of the Doc@PÖFF Baltic competition programme. Following the screening, directors Pepe Andreu and Rafa Molés, along with co-producer Arūnas Matelis, will be present.
No Paradise If You Are Killed By a Woman (Apollo Tasku, Tartu at 18:30). Vyan, a Kurdish female sniper fighting ISIS near Mosul, hears that her missing sister may still be alive. Director Halkawt Mustafa worked as a war photographer on the front line, which inspired him to create the film. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won a special mention of the jury. It has been selected as Iraq’s entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.