Focus Estonia at TIFF.24: Provocative Sci-Fi, Irreverent Comedies, and Nordic Angst

The Black Hole (2024) is a dark sci-fi comedy in which director Moonika Siimets seems unafraid to push boundaries. Structured in three parts and inspired by short stories from Estonian writers, the film follows a cast of eccentric characters whose mundane lives are thrown into chaos by aliens or a giant spider.

Martial arts, punk monks, black metal music, and pitch-black humor — these are the ingredients of The Invisible Fight (2023), a must-see screening at Bonțida Castle as part of the Weekend at the Castle event. The film premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. Director Rainer Sarnet, also honored in the 3x3 section, will be in attendance at TIFF to present two additional titles: The Idiot (2011) and November (2017).

Alien or: Valdis' Escape in 11 Chapters (2006), Rasmus Merivoo’s student short about a deadbeat who forgets all the things he loved — alcohol, brawls, and women, among others — after a crowbar to the head, quickly gained cult status. Its long-awaited sequel arrives nearly two decades later: Alien 2 or: The Return of Valdis in 17 Chapters (2024), where the protagonist discovers that his hometown is no longer what it once was. Both irreverent parodies will be shown as a double feature — an ultra-concentrated blast of raucous humor and abrasive satire.

A landmark in Estonian cinema, Smile at Last (dir. Leida Laius, Arvo Iho, 1985) tells the story of a 16-year-old girl forced to survive in a harsh orphanage after the death of her mother and her father’s abandonment. Starkly naturalistic and featuring mostly non-professional actors, the film premiered at the 1985 Berlin Film Festival, where it won the UNICEF Award. At TIFF, it will be screened in a restored version.

Another unmissable classic is A Woman Heats the Sauna (dir. Arvo Kruusement, 1979), a quietly intense drama about a woman who must confront her past when she’s tasked by her bosses with preparing the company sauna — located in the village where her ex-husband’s family still lives. The screening is part of a double bill exploring sauna culture in Estonia, alongside the short Sauna Day (dir. Anna Hints, Tushar Prakash, 2024), a kind of masculine sequel to the multi-awarded documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, previously shown at TIFF.22.

In Aurora (dir. Rain Tolk and Andres Maimik, 2025), the titular character — daughter of a religious leader — begins an extramarital affair that threatens her relationship. The crisis peaks during the celebration of her wedding anniversary.

Six characters overwhelmed by loneliness inhabit the world of Autumn Ball (2007), a film steeped in angst but not devoid of humor. Veiko Õunpuu’s debut won the Orizzonti award at the Venice Film Festival — the most prestigious accolade ever received by an Estonian film — and also a cinematography award at TIFF in 2008.

The action of Life and Love (dir. Helen Takkin), another remarkable debut, unfolds in 1933 during the Great Depression. At its heart is a young woman who leaves her village to pursue her dream of becoming a writer in the city — a path complicated by a strange and toxic relationship with a charming but destructive man.

The Coming Up Next section, dedicated to series lovers, features the first two episodes of My Dear Mother (dir. Doris Tääker, 2025), a Nordic noir-style thriller about a woman whose life spirals out of control after her mother’s death.