Culture

The Estonian Film Institute has selected Marko Raat’s feature film “8 Views of Lake Biwa” as its submission for the Best International Film category at the 97th Academy Awards. The movie, filmed near a Russian Old Believers’ village on the shores of Lake Peipus in Estonia, is framed through the Japanese artistic tradition of depicting […]

In a world where music often speaks louder than words, Arvo Pärt’s compositions resonate with profound, almost spiritual clarity, and his minimalist approach, characterised by hauntingly beautiful harmonies and meditative silence, redefines the classical genre and invites listeners into an intimate dialogue of love and transcendence; here is a visual retrospective of Pärt through the

“The Singing Revolution”, a musical about Estonia’s peaceful independence movement, will be presented in a West End showcase at London’s prestigious Savoy Theatre on 5 September. “The Singing Revolution” is a love story inspired by the incredible events of the peaceful Estonian independence movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when a nation sang

In a truly remarkable turn of events, Japan and Estonia have found an unlikely friendship, despite being separated by nearly 8,000 kilometres and seven time zones – the two vastly different nations have become sources of inspiration for artists, curators and cultural organisers in their respective countries, with their unique cultures and creative spirit shining

Estonian hip-hop band 5miinust and folk duo Puuluup will represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Sweden with their Estonian-language song “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi” (“we don’t know anything about (these) drugs”). 5miinust and Puuluup won the Eesti Laul – Estonia’s song contest to determine the country’s representative at the

The second FinEst Funk music festival will take place from 14-16 March, bringing both established funk musicians and rising stars to Estonia and Finland. For the first time, Grammy-nominated and European big band flagship Norbotten Big Band will come to Estonia in collaboration with instrumental funk exponents Nine Sparks Riots. Norrbotten Big Band is a

A Baltic film festival featuring movies from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will be held in Boston, MA, in March 2024. The Boston Baltic Film Festival returns to the City on a Hill for its sixth annual celebration of Baltic cinema. The festival will take place at the Arts Emerson Paramount Center from 1-3 March, followed

Anyone who wants to practise Estonian can sign up for the Estonian Integration Foundation’s Keelesõber programme from 9 February. The Keelesõber (“language lover”) programme offers 900 people who are willing to chat with language learners the opportunity to help them learn Estonian. Estonian learners interested in such an opportunity can register on the programme’s website

The Estonian American National Council has selected literary scholar Tiina Kirss as the recipient of the council’s 2024 Henrik Visnapuu Literary and Culture Award, a prize named after an Estonian author. The award was formally presented by the council and its Estonian partners the Estonian Writers’ Union and the local government of Luunja (Henrik Visnapuu’s