Estonia's Largest Open-Air Cinema to Open
The nights are becoming darker, and the sixth festival of films on love-related themes is set to light up central Tartu.
A total of 12 features and documentaries of the 25th tARTuFF festival entries will be shown on six evenings and nights on Town Hall Square in the university city, in what will be Estonia's largest open-air cinema.
Lars Von Trier's "Melancholy" starring Kirsten Dunst, overshadowed by the controversy over the director's glib comments at Cannes, will usher in a program that includes Zhang Yimou's modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet, "The Love of the Hawthorn Tree," Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan's stylish retro film "Les amours imaginaires", and the German director Werner Herzog's lyrical documentary, "Encounters at the End of the World."
Classics include Luchino Visconti's 1971 "Death in Venice" and a newly restored version of a fairly little-known Estonian film about a young artist's internship in the fishing village in Käsmu, "A Summer's Watercolors."
The festival guest this year is Irish film-maker Juanita Wilson, who made the war drama "As If I'm Not There."
The love-themed festival's main focus lies on green ethos and connections to the environment. The documentary program at the Athena Center also features environment-themed films.
All festival activities besides the galas are free of charge. The 25 films are either in Estonian or furnished with Estonian subtitles .
Kristopher Rikken