Tere tere kino huvilised! The next screening for kino! comes around this Sunday 7th July with doors open at 5:00pm at Sydney Eesti Maja for a special showing of some local movie magic. This will be the last Kino I (Lachlan) host as the organiser (I’m off to Eesti, tšau!) and if anyone is interested in helping organising nights, please contact me at kino.sydney@eesti.org.au
In July, kino! is screening the short film Emadepäev / Mother’s Day (2016) and Kannikas kannika vastu / Bread vs. Bread (1978). These two films explore rivalries, in-fighting and the age-old debate, which is the superior bread, white or black? And a double-feature of Juhan Lübek!
Lachlan Bell’s (it feels strange writing in the third person) short film Emadepäev / Mother’s Day (2016) makes it’s world-premiere made by the then-18-year-old student straight out of Ryde Secondary College! The 8-minute film, limited in length by the HSC graders, is a one-room chamber piece bringing together Jüri (Juhan Lübek), Alvar (Kieran Scott) and Ema (Malle Lehtsalu) around the külmlaud.
The work was birthed as an Extension 2 English Major Work for the HSC and has never been shown to a public audience before, so be prepared for some teenage anxiety and ‘deep’ commentary on the politics of family. Bring your ema (and vanaema) along and share in some family trauma bonding.
Our feature film is Kannikas kannika vastu / Bread vs. Bread (1978), making it’s remastered debut 46 years from its premiere on the on the 27 December 1978 at the ‘KASEPLANKA’ Noorteõhtu at Paddington Town Hall as part of the 10th Estonian Festival.
Directed by Olev Salasoo and conceptualised by Olev Muska, Lembit Suur, Juhan Lübek, Olev Salasoo, Lembit Salasoo, Sulev Kalamäe and Harald Mirlieb in the sauna (naturally), it features an exhaustive list of familiar fresh-faced pillars of our community here in Sydney.
For those out of the loop, Kannikas kannika vastu was originally damaged at it’s debut screening by a certain squirrel a few hours prior in 1978. With the best intentions possible of making the film as clear and crisp as possible, and having already having tested the metho on another film reel as a precaution – all 600ft of Super8 film – a year and a half’s work – was wiped with methylated spirits hours beforehand and was packed away for the 9:30pm screening.
Only then would the damage be seen. The spirits had seeped into the film and warped it and the cotton wool had rubbed off the top layer of the magnetic audio track. The horror! Thankfully, in 2020, Olev Muska had 11 reels of past Super8 film – experiments, documentation and productions created during our youth escapades between the years 1974 to 1980 – digitised in Estonia including lesser-known short films such as Esto oli aus saunapoika (1976) and Kolm rootslast Austraalias (1979-80).
Of those, Kannikas Kannika Vastu (Bread v. Bread) was salvaged and represents the peak of the groups achievement in filmmaking. Now remastered, translated with subtitles for new audiences, this rare piece of extant media remains as a snapshot of the Sydney-Estonian youth’s antics and tomfoolery.
A film about the most infamous bakery rivalry never known to the Estonian diaspora, the 50min comedy drama examines the politics of identity, affiliation and taste and the tale of an Estonian population torn asunder. The two big pigs of the baking scene, Anton Sähk Tõrv and Peeter Andrus Piig, settle their disputes through petty gang warfare and tit for tats. A tale of revenge, plotting, love and an equal amount of both violence and vulgarity, this film is definitely not for children. Please note that there are some graphic scenes depicting both physical and sexual violence.
On the film, past reviews have notes: “How ugly! Phooie!”, “All the drinking and swearing, we’re not like that!”, “Don’t our young people have any sense of aesthetics?”, “We expected something better for so much work and money!” and best of all “There is so much beauty in life, why didn’t our young people make a movie about that?!”.
As part of this special screening, there is a mandatory dress code for atendees! The theme is ’Black vs. White’. The rules are simple, no other colours are allowed, only white or black dress. Anyone not to dress code must pay $5 to enter. Show your inventiveness, allegiance and affiliation – Bonegilla vs. Bathurst, the ultimate showdown. There will be a prize for best dressed, judged by myself, Mai Bell and a surprise guest judge.
Warm dress is highly recommended!
Same as always, doors open at 5pm, films start at 5:30
Mai in the kitchen will be serving up our world-famous and hot classic ‘estoasties’ in black and white bread of course!
Jätku leiba, Lachlan!
EVENT DETAILS
Date: 7th July, 2024
Admission: Free
Doors open: 5:00pm
Film starts: 5:30 pm
10-minute intermission: from 5:45 pm
Language: Estonian with English subtitles
Address: 141 Campbell St, Surry Hills, NSW, 2010
Parking: Free on Sundays along Reservoir St, Samuel St and Goodchap St
Kino! is kindly supported by Sydney Eesti Selts and a grant from the Estonian Cultural Foundation in Estonia (ECFA)
