Joonisfilm, founded at the Tallinnfilm studio in 1971, is a large part of the reason
why the high quality of Estonia’s animated films is seen, both at home and abroad,
almost as self-evident. If we were to compare the contemporary Estonian culture to
a flowerbed, the films of Joonisfilm, which literally means “drawn film”, would be one
of the few sturdy perennials blooming year after year without fail. Phrases like “of
well-known quality” tend to be mentioned whenever the topic comes up. Joonisfilm’s
productions usually pop up in the local film-making industry’s annual “best of” rankings
and also appear in the retrospectives of the all-time greatest films made in Estonia.
News headlines about Joonisfilm’s animations winning international awards already
became routine decades ago.
In this light, it is perhaps useful to remind oneselves from time to time that the nature
of this seemingly self-evident situation is in fact close to miraculous. Take for instance
the fact that Joonisfilm, under the hand of its founder Rein Raamat, held high artistic
ambitions from the very start, and the studio actually proved able to establish itself as
an exception within the rigid, children’s cartoon-centric Soviet animation industry. Or
the fact that the studio not only survived the radical transition to market economy, but
held on to its distinctive character, and furthermore, that it has been able to come up
with the commercially successful Lotte franchise while maintaining and developing its
tradition of creating playful, experimental auteur animation. Or the fact that despite
the fairly provincial view of culture prevalent among the general Estonian public, there
doesn’t seem to be anyone questioning whether such a marginal art field deserves
public support, no matter what kind of unbridled idiosyncrasies these wizards of
animation come up with. (Perhaps the fact that these films aren’t very widely screened
in contributes to this?) All in all, there is plenty here worth celebrating.
What makes this celebration especially welcome is the fact that the works chosen for
the studio’s special 40th anniversary screening present Joonisfilm not as a studio that
is resting on its laurels, but striving ahead: screening not a retrospective but a careful
selection of the best works by relevant, currently active film-makers.
JOONISFILM 40: LOVE IS IN THE AIR!
Joonisfilm 40: Õhus on armastust
L
Genre
Animation
Run time
1h 23min
Genre
Animation
Run time
1h 23min
Joonisfilm, founded at the Tallinnfilm studio in 1971, is a large part of the reason
why the high quality of Estonia’s animated films is seen, both at home and abroad,
almost as self-evident. If we were to compare the contemporary Estonian culture to
a flowerbed, the films of Joonisfilm, which literally means “drawn film”, would be one
of the few sturdy perennials blooming year after year without fail. Phrases like “of
well-known quality” tend to be mentioned whenever the topic comes up. Joonisfilm’s
productions usually pop up in the local film-making industry’s annual “best of” rankings
and also appear in the retrospectives of the all-time greatest films made in Estonia.
News headlines about Joonisfilm’s animations winning international awards already
became routine decades ago.
In this light, it is perhaps useful to remind oneselves from time to time that the nature
of this seemingly self-evident situation is in fact close to miraculous. Take for instance
the fact that Joonisfilm, under the hand of its founder Rein Raamat, held high artistic
ambitions from the very start, and the studio actually proved able to establish itself as
an exception within the rigid, children’s cartoon-centric Soviet animation industry. Or
the fact that the studio not only survived the radical transition to market economy, but
held on to its distinctive character, and furthermore, that it has been able to come up
with the commercially successful Lotte franchise while maintaining and developing its
tradition of creating playful, experimental auteur animation. Or the fact that despite
the fairly provincial view of culture prevalent among the general Estonian public, there
doesn’t seem to be anyone questioning whether such a marginal art field deserves
public support, no matter what kind of unbridled idiosyncrasies these wizards of
animation come up with. (Perhaps the fact that these films aren’t very widely screened
in contributes to this?) All in all, there is plenty here worth celebrating.
What makes this celebration especially welcome is the fact that the works chosen for
the studio’s special 40th anniversary screening present Joonisfilm not as a studio that
is resting on its laurels, but striving ahead: screening not a retrospective but a careful
selection of the best works by relevant, currently active film-makers.
why the high quality of Estonia’s animated films is seen, both at home and abroad,
almost as self-evident. If we were to compare the contemporary Estonian culture to
a flowerbed, the films of Joonisfilm, which literally means “drawn film”, would be one
of the few sturdy perennials blooming year after year without fail. Phrases like “of
well-known quality” tend to be mentioned whenever the topic comes up. Joonisfilm’s
productions usually pop up in the local film-making industry’s annual “best of” rankings
and also appear in the retrospectives of the all-time greatest films made in Estonia.
News headlines about Joonisfilm’s animations winning international awards already
became routine decades ago.
In this light, it is perhaps useful to remind oneselves from time to time that the nature
of this seemingly self-evident situation is in fact close to miraculous. Take for instance
the fact that Joonisfilm, under the hand of its founder Rein Raamat, held high artistic
ambitions from the very start, and the studio actually proved able to establish itself as
an exception within the rigid, children’s cartoon-centric Soviet animation industry. Or
the fact that the studio not only survived the radical transition to market economy, but
held on to its distinctive character, and furthermore, that it has been able to come up
with the commercially successful Lotte franchise while maintaining and developing its
tradition of creating playful, experimental auteur animation. Or the fact that despite
the fairly provincial view of culture prevalent among the general Estonian public, there
doesn’t seem to be anyone questioning whether such a marginal art field deserves
public support, no matter what kind of unbridled idiosyncrasies these wizards of
animation come up with. (Perhaps the fact that these films aren’t very widely screened
in contributes to this?) All in all, there is plenty here worth celebrating.
What makes this celebration especially welcome is the fact that the works chosen for
the studio’s special 40th anniversary screening present Joonisfilm not as a studio that
is resting on its laurels, but striving ahead: screening not a retrospective but a careful
selection of the best works by relevant, currently active film-makers.
Info
Rating
For All Audiences
Production year
2011
Global distributor
Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival MTÜ
Local distributor
Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival MTÜ
In cinema
11/19/2011