13.06.19 ... Estonian film production company Allfilm announced on its Facebook page on Thursday that the City of Tallinn had reached an agreement with British director Christopher Nolan's team regarding the use of Lasnamäe District's Laagna Road for filming for his new movie "Tenet."
13.06.19 ... Estonian singer Ivo Linna celebrated his 70th birthday Wednesday.
13.06.19 ... British musician Sting was in concert at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn on Wednesday, part of his latest "My Songs" tour.
11.06.19 ... British director Christopher Nolan arrived in Tallinn on Tuesday afternoon, on a Boeing 777-200LR VIP Crystal Skye direct from Los Angeles. Nolan will be filming parts of his upcoming movie "Tenet" in Estonia's capital city.
07.06.19 ... Show hosts and team members from ETV, ETV2 and ETV+ got together at the Television Building's Studio 1 to take their first tentative steps into the art world, the results of which will be auctioned for the benefit of a charity helping children.
07.06.19 ... Chef Artur Kazaritski, who works at Copenhagen's three-star Michelin restaurant "Geranium", is to represent Estonia in the prestigious European Bocuse d'Or culinary final next year.
05.06.19 ... University of Tartu student Maris Mägi defended her master's thesis on Monday, in the framework of which she created a mobile app titled "Literary Hike on Vilsandi" ("Kirjanduslik matk Vilsandil").
05.06.19 ... Printmaker Mare Vint and architect-photographer Arne Maasik are both well-known Estonian artists belonging to two consecutive generations. 'Geometry and Metaphysics,' a new exhibition opening at the Museum of Estonian Architecture in Tallinn on Thursday afternoon, marks the first time that the two will be presenting their work together — in a unique dialogue in which Maasik's works were created in direct response to those of Vint.
04.06.19 ... A total of 720 drawings depicting the Song Festival of the Future were submitted to the "Laulupidu 2069" drawing contest organized by ERR children's portal Lastejaam, from which a jury selected the best three in a total of four age groups. As of Monday, the best entries are now also on display at Solaris Shopping Centre in Central Tallinn.
30.05.19 ... Wednesday marked the opening of a nationwide festival of "väliseesti" — or diaspora Estonian — exhibitions that will continue through the end of 2019. The festival features exhibitions curated by or in cooperation with diaspora Estonian communities.
22.05.19 ... Baltimore-based hip-hop artist Wordsmith is one day and one last public concert away from wrapping up a month-long tour of Belarus and the Baltics. Following his show at Vaba Lava Theatre Centre in Narva on Tuesday night, Wordsmith took some time to speak with ERR News' Aili Vahtla about working with children in Estonia, what his purpose is as an artist and why his positive, anti-bullying message is relevant internationally.
21.05.19 ... Tallinn's HeadRead Literary Festival is kicking off this year with Spores and Sparks, an Estonian-English poetry evening, at the National Library of Estonia on Tuesday.
17.05.19 ... Currently on a tour of Belarus and the Baltics, Baltimore-based American hip-hop artist Wordsmith will be giving a series of free, family-friendly concerts in Valga, Narva, Kiviõli, and Tallinn from May 20-24.
16.05.19 ... In commentary on ERR's Vikerraadio earlier this week, journalist Rein Sikk reflected on those who officially did not make the cut to perform in the XX Dance Festival this summer, and whether the road to Estonia's world-famous festival must be lined with tears at all. One solution that could see everyone included was already demonstrated by youth dancers in a public square in 2017.
16.05.19 ... "Ott Tänak: The Movie" has been viewed over 80,000 times in Estonian movie theaters, nearly doubling the documentary box office record set just last year, but it will soon be wrapping up its domestic big-screen run. Stereotek Film, however, is set to start courting potential distributors for the film abroad, beginning with meetings during Cannes Film Festival, which began Tuesday.
15.05.19 ... The first semi-final of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest took place in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, May 14, where Estonian entry "Storm," performed by Swedish singer Victor Crone, was among those selected to advance to the finals this Saturday.
14.05.19 ... Drawings submitted to the "Laulupidu 2069" drawing contest organized by ERR children's portal Lastejaam include all kinds of creative takes on Tallinn's iconic Song Festival Arch, among other details. A three-member jury preselected entries to advance in the contest on Tuesday.
03.05.19 ... Earlier this week, "My Song Festival Story," a new exhibition that provides visitors with an overview of Estonia's 150-year-long song festival tradition, was opened at the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum (TMM) in the heart of Tallinn's medieval Old Town.
02.05.19 ... This year, the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) has teamed up with Estonian Music Days to present World Music Days 2019, which will take place in Tallinn, Tartu and Laulasmaa from Thursday, May 2 through Friday, May 10. For those who can't attend the events live, ERR's Klassikaraadio will be broadcasting several concerts on the radio as well.
02.05.19 ... An exhibition titled "Time Travelling. Life in Soviet Estonia" is now open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the waiting hall inside Tallinn's Baltic Station. A three-room apartment was built specifically for the exhibition, where visitors can dive into the Soviet atmosphere by trying common Soviet foods and drinks, watching vintage television, and listening to old vinyl records selected by the government archives.
29.04.19 ... A selection of cultural events taking place in Estonia this week as curated by culture.ee: "This week, we recommend walking on the landscapes of sound, music, improvisation, comedy and art, getting acquainted with Hungarian cinema, (re)visiting 'Space Odyssey,' dancing polkas and waltzes, taking a musical night hike, and enjoying poetry and different rhythms."
26.04.19 ... Noted writer, critic, artist, poet and cultural commentator Linnar Priimägi has noted, in his Protocol cultural diary on ERR's Estonian online culture portal, the significance of President Kersti Kaljulaid's meeting with Vladimir Putin last week. He also looks at the dangers of over-complicating concepts, in violation of Ockham's razor, and of the need for mediocre literature.
24.04.19 ... This Friday, authors Maarja Merivoo-Parro and Sander Jürisson will be hosting a book launch at the Museum of Occupations and Freedom (Vabamu) in Tallinn for "Eestlased Ameerikates: Estonians in the Americas," a new photo-rich tome focussing not just on diaspora Estonians in the Americas — but specifically those who arrived and lived there before World War II.
23.04.19 ... Tarvo Mölder's documentary "Ott Tänak: The Movie" has been seen by over 50,000 cinemagoers since its debut a week and a half ago, crushing the record 43,140 viewings only recently set by Joosep Matjus' "The Wind Sculpted Land" (2018) to become the most-watched Estonian documentary of all time.
22.04.19 ... Renowned political analysts David Patrikarakos (UK) and Anton Shekhovtsov (Ukraine) are set to join the roster of international authors appearing at the HeadRead literary festival in late May.
17.04.19 ... Seven nominees have been shortlisted from a total of 41 candidates for the LHV New Music Award, which aims to spotlight contemporary works by Estonian classical composers. This year's award, the fourth presented by the Estonian Composers' Union and LHV, will recognise one work that premiered in 2018.
16.04.19 ... To thousands of Estonians, the fire that destroyed much of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral on Monday night has special significance thanks to writer Victor Hugo's novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, having been required reading in secondary school for decades. The story was among the few works of Western literature that was officially sanctioned and even promoted in the USSR.
15.04.19 ... The Kõigi Eesti initiative, which got its start on social media encouraging a more tolerant Estonia shared by everyone, organised a concert at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds on Sunday in support of its message, and more than 10,000 people turned up to support it as well.
15.04.19 ... ERR's quest to determine the "most Estonian word" concluded on Sunday, when sõnajalaõis, or "fern blossom," was announced the winner of the final vote. Öö, or "night," and kullakallis, or "precious," came in second and third place, respectively.
13.04.19 ... EstDocs Film Festival Toronto, the annual Estonian documentary film festival organised by the largest active diaspora community outside of Estonia, is coming to the homeland this summer with "Cut by Estdocs," a film festival to take place within the framework of ESTO 2019.
12.04.19 ... An interactive poetry map takes readers on a journey around Estonia, but in the language of its neighbour to the north, Finland.
11.04.19 ... ERR's quest to find the ''most Estonian word'' garnered close to 8,000 nominations from members of the public. Of these, 30 were shortlisted, after the survey ended on 9 April.
11.04.19 ... Friday sees the inaugural Estonian film festival of food, with the opening movie, ''Michelin Stars: Tales from the Kitchen'' playing at Sõpruse Cinema in Tallinn's old town.
10.04.19 ... This Sunday sees a free concert, organised by social movement Kõigi Eesti and featuring several top Estonian acts, including Ivo and Robert Linna, Tanel Padar and Ewert and the Two Dragons.
04.04.19 ... Later this spring, the Film Vargamäe Visitors' Centre will open in Vastse-Roosa, Võru County, offering fans the opportunity to personally visit the buildings and locations where Tanel Toom's "Truth and Justice" was filmed in 2017 and 2018.
03.04.19 ... The opening of the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF) will be extra special this year, as it will feature the premiere of the Estonian horror short "Bad Hair."
02.04.19 ... The Estonian Film and Television Awards (EFTA) were presented at a gala event on Monday, 1 April. ETV earned a total of eight awards for various programmes, and "The Little Comrade" was crowned Best Film.
01.04.19 ... A selection of cultural events taking place in Estonia this week as curated by culture.ee: "New recommendations for the coming week!"
01.04.19 ... For many diaspora Estonians in North America, making it to the Laulu- ja Tantsupidu in Tallinn is a nearly religious pilgrimage — a must at least once in their lifetimes, whether singing, dancing, or simply spectating. For significant numbers of more recent Estonian emigrants, however, the Estonian Song and Dance Festival is still eagerly anticipated, despite the homeland being a relatively short plane-, train- or ferry-ride away. Ahead of the double-jubilee event, nearly three dozen choirs and folk dance troupes from Europe but also Turkey and even Australia are hoping to earn coveted spots in the festivals.
31.03.19 ... While I am currently studying at a vocational school, that is the least of who I am, or what I do. Officially, I don't have a job. But in reality, I am a singer, a songwriter, a musician, and a performer. And since 1993, I have been responsible for organising a singer-songwriter and poetry event known as "Narvski Pri4al." My name is Lena Sabinina and I am a festival organiser in Narva.
28.03.19 ... For nearly half a century, New York City has played host to an annual festival of Estonian culture in the heart of Manhattan. The 49th edition of the Estonian Cultural Days in New York will take place from 3-7 April and feature a range of events, from film screenings and theatre performances to lectures, a startup showcase and even a performance by popular artist Nublu.
18.03.19 ... "Truth and Justice," a new film based on the eponymous series of novels by Estonian author Anton Hansen Tammsaare, racked up a total cinema attendance of 205,595 over four weeks of screening, making it Estonia's most-watched film since Estonia regained its independence in 1991.
14.03.19 ... In honour of Native Language Day, Vikerraadio on Thursday hosted the 12th nationwide e-dictation contest, which was Song Festival-themed this year to mark the 150th anniversary of the Estonian Song Festival. In just half an hour, 7,969 submissions were received, smashing last year's record participation by more than 1,500.
13.03.19 ... "Language is flowers on the manure pile of understanding, if one may wax so poetic," writes author and journalist Mikk Pärnits ahead of Native Language Day, stressing the importance of slang and foreign influences to language in noting the fact that, when free to do so, a language develops to benefit its speaker, enhancing speakers' ability to understand one another.
13.03.19 ... Last Thursday, the Estonian Maritime Museum held a festive opening at the Seaplane Harbour in Tallinn for Dutch multimedia artist Saskia Boddeke's exhibit "Sex and the Sea," which focusses on sailors' lust and longing.
12.03.19 ... In honour of Native Language Day, Vikerraadio on Thursday morning is hosting the 12th nationwide e-dictation contest, which will be Song Festival-themed this year to mark the 150th anniversary of the Estonian Song Festival. The text of this year's e-dictation exercise will be read live on air on Vikerraadio at 10:30 EET, and those interested in joining in abroad can listen live online as well.
11.03.19 ... The youth drawing contest "Laulupidu 2069," or "Song Festival 2069," is seeking children's drawings of what the Song Festival of the Future may look like.
02.03.19 ... The Ministry of Justice and the state's real estate management company, RKAS, have signed an agreement with the aim to build the planned International Museum for the Victims of Communism (working title, also referred to as the Red Terror Museum) into Tallinn's Patarei sea fortress.
25.02.19 ... "Truth and Justice," a new film based on the eponymous series of novels by Estonian author Anton Hansen Tammsaare, has set a new box office opening weekend record with a total cinema attendance of nearly 52,000.
24.02.19 ... Over 6,000km and the Atlantic Ocean stand between North America and the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, but until 1990, it was the Iron Curtain that rendered the Estonian Song and Dance Festival completely unreachable to diaspora singers and dancers. This year, more than a dozen diaspora Estonian choirs and folk dance troupes from the US and Canada alone are trying out for a chance to perform in the double-jubilee festival, and even those who don't speak the language know at least three words: Laulu- ja Tantsupidu.
