Rain Tolk
It's the summer of 1990. The Soviet Union is teetering on the verge of collapse, while the little Baltic nations struggle to take back their lost independence. The Soviet Union's basketball championship is set to begin on the backdrop of a deeply divided society. The Estonian team Kalev faces a momentous decision. With Estonian independence seemingly within reach, a rising tide of public opinion opposes the Estonian national team's participation in the USSR's championship. That would contradict the people's aspirations for liberation. As professional athletes, the team makes the unpopular choice. The championship games start.
Anna, a high-tech pick-up artist who helps awkward men to seduce lonely women in high-class bars on cold evenings in Tallinn. She can play the game of sex and love like a professional, she knows just what to say to manipulate anyone into doing what she wants (or consenting to what she wants). But Anna's own love life is far from perfect and she cannot see that she is being manipulated, too.
Unexpectedly evicted from his house, Erki faces a rather difficult task to take care of his lonely mother. He’s forced to agree to become a corpse carrier.
Divorced, middle-aged Matti picks up Maša near the Finnish-Russian border. Maša was waiting for a different man called Jukka, but agrees to go with Matti when he claims he is a friend of Jukka's.
"A Bad Scene" is a film compilation, which speaks about the darker currents hiding in human relationships, situations, which are practically inescapable, in five different ways. Harassment, mental violence, manipulation, cornering – these topics are current in both politics as well as private sphere. In these nightmarish confrontations, dramatics, mysticism as well as twisted comedy can be found. The third short film “Agreement” by Andres Maimik and Rain Tolk takes the viewer to the middle of the chaos of a film set. What can a director do when a small pretty girl turns into the most capricious diva? The chains of manipulation reach far and wide.
A music critic Hugo, suffering from post-divorce depression, is just about to rebuild his life when his jazz musician father Raivo arrives at his door unexpectedly. Spiteful old man announces that he will soon come to his end and expects his only son to take care of him. When an attractive psychotherapist enters the men’s lives, the father and son duo begin to compete for her attention. The old prankster manages to create a number of embarrassing moments in an effort to ruin Hugo’s romantic plans. Andres Maimik’s and Katrin Maimik’s tragicomedy is an exploration of forced closeness, a pursuit of happiness and a road to forgiving through laughter, suspense and tears.
"A Bad Scene" is a film compilation, which speaks about the darker currents hiding in human relationships, situations, which are practically inescapable, in five different ways. The second short film "Early Spring" is not a cool youth movie about frolicking teenagers. It's a sociopsychological challenge to incite a discussion about group dynamics, conformism, and social roles that are largely shaped and confirmed in teenage years. Hopefully there is a moment of self-reflection here for everyone who has witnessed the blind acceptance of the group leader's whims, even when they clash with the observer's principles and conscience. Later it's almost impossible to analyse what happened, and why. Sander is not the only victim here. You could even speak about Alo in those terms, not to mention Laura. In another world, Sander and Laura might have been a young couple in love, but it is impossible in given social structure.
Lonely secret service officer Gustav meets a mysterious gypsy woman. It soon comes clear that it is a trap set by the Russian intelligence. Gustav is ordered to continue the relationship to get a better understanding of the enemy's plans. Unfortunately, Gustav finds himself struggling with the task, as he is falling in love with the enemy. Is there a way out of this situation?
Kaiser, the lead singer of a former rock group won't put up with approaching old age and decides to call his old band members together. Kaiser's ambition is to return to the big stage with his buddies. Despite the initial resistance of other fellows, Kaiser will be successful, at least partly so. It is a fast-paced comedy full of humor and consolation, telling the story about people who despite all obstacles strive for their goal.
It is 1595. Brutal wars have just ended in an uneasy peace between Protestant Sweden and Orthodox Russia. We focus on the spiritual defeats of two conquered Finnish brothers, one a hardened near-psychopathic war hero, the other a gentle scientist in an age with no use for such men. They find themselves in the swampy interior, demarcating the new border with a unit of sadistic Russians.
A mid-level manager who develops an aversion to being "good" finds himself confronting the mysteries of middle-age and morality as he loses grasp of what was once his quiet life.
The well-known but out-of-luck actor Jan Uuspõld sets out to hitchhike from Tallinn through Estonia to Tartu.
A young writer called Mati is stalking his ex-wife, while also trying to make unsuccessful passes at other women. Augusti is a barber living a dreary bachelor life who forms a bond with little girl, but his approaches are misconstrued as pedophilia. Laura, a single mom, tears up over sappy soap operas, but refuses real-life advances from clueless men, because her ability to trust has been ruined by her violent drunk of an ex-husband. Maurer, the architect, worries about the wellbeing of humanity, but ignores his own wife Ulvi, who in turn looks for solace in the arms of a coatroom attendant named Theo. Women have always liked Theo, but due to his low social status, they don't take him seriously. All of these people might inhabit identical tower blocks, but they couldn't feel more alienated from each other if they tried.
A young intellectual, Mati, engineers himself into a situation where he has to spend a weekend with his wife Helina and her lover Eduard. The trio goes to Eduard's summer house, surrounded by the majestic scenery of big forests and an empty beach. Mati, either out of jealousy or pride, has decided to win back his wife and will do anything his introverted and inert mind can come up with. What is love? Who can believe in such a thing? Is there anything at all to believe in? It can in its own minimalist way be a very funny experience and also a sad one to be dragged into this world. This film depicts with great accuracy how it is to feel love being an Estonian, someone who is used to low temperatures and repressed emotions.
Scandalous TV journalists Rain Tolk and Ken Saan of Esto TV disguise as nationalists and infiltrate the conservative party Res Publica to expose xenophobia, racism and intolerance.
