Manfred Vainokivi

Everyone has their own Sulev Nõmmik. To whom the director Sulev Nõmmik, to whom Kärna Ärni alias Ernst Kern, some remember him as a ballet dancer, others as a satirist. What these parts mean together and whether the whole can be divided, the film tries to answer.

The inspiring journey of Estonian track bicycle racer Erika Salumäe, as she navigates the pressures of fame, personal sacrifice, and national pride, redefining resilience in the pursuit of her Olympic dreams.

Two estranged sisters, a fateful tragedy, and a secret that changes everything.

A different history of the Cold War: how Estonians under Soviet tyranny began to feel the breeze of freedom when a group of anonymous dreamers successfully used improbable methods to capture the Finnish television signal, a window into Western popular culture, brave but harmless warriors who helped change the fate of an entire nation.

As a five-year-old prodigy, he became a circus attraction. At the age of eight, the young virtuoso entertained Tsar Nicholas II and his Court. By the age of 17, he was an eagerly anticipated performer on the best stages of Europe. A year later, he conquered America as a xylophone virtuoso. He has been referred to as the world’s best jazz imitator. A tap-dancer and superb violinist. Audiences in Soviet Russia gave him standing ovations… in Soviet Georgia, he was the object of mass adulation. His stage career lasted for 80 years. So, who was this amazing artist?... The answer awaits you in the film Child of the Circus

A documentary exploring the difficulties the newly-independent Estonia faced in the early 1990s after emerging from decades of Soviet rule. The film focuses especially on then-32-year-old and inexperienced Mart Laar, who became country's prime minister while there still were tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers in the country.

Mother Karin and daughter Mari are facing the demise of Mamma, Karin's mother and Mari's grandmother. They both release their pain on each other, but in unconditional love, everything is allowed.

September is a film about the complicated choices of simple people. The internationally renowned Estonian author, Jaan Kross (1920-2007) was arrested in 1944 by the Nazis. A year after the Soviet forces entered Tallinn and he was arrested again. The accusation was the same both times: conspiracy with the underground independence revolutionaries. Based on the author's journal, pieces from his oeuvre and interviews, the film creates a story about a few monumental weeks in Tallinn, in September 1944.

Cabaret has always been place for courageous and passionate people. Passion on stage will take audience along. Some will get turned on, some will despise. Cabaret in Soviet times was against all rules. But it happened. And cabaret was hugely successful. Today only legends have remained. In documentary film “Red Cabaret” one time professionals will tell you those legends and intrigues. Take a trip to Soviet Cabaret!

The story of a businessman who wanted to make a big business in a small town, for whom money was only a means to hide his inner loneliness and his desire to find love.

From time to time, Mephistopheles manifests himself to the Estonian people through Linnar Priimägi. The released energy gives birth to chaos. Manfred Vainokivi tries his hardest to portray the one who causes it. Unsuccessfully, of course. Because even the largest letters are unreadable in twilight, as Goethe said. And there is a lot of twilight now. At least according to Linnar.

A portrait of the writer Peeter Sauter, who has reached a low point after a divorce and thus also lost his desire to write. To get over this crisis, the writer embarks on a curious journey.

Portrait of Eino Baskin, an entertainer who has attracted audience (esp women) for years. His private life has been tragicomic, full of laughter and tears. Baskin has been admired by ones and cursed by others, has been imprisoned after a fabricated porn court case. He has outlived his wife and kid daughter. Eino Baskin has established two theatres from the scratch. After a second haemorrhage he was in coma for 47 days but returned. Rollercoaster is a cheap thrill compared to Baskin´s life.

A documentary about the epic hero Kalevipoeg, a famous sculptor, and a corruption scandal. The idea to put a huge statue of Kalevipoeg in the Gulf of Tallinn dates back ten years. The film records the important events of the large-scale project. By now, no one knows when Kalev will make it home to bring luck to his children and growth to his country. But hope remains...

With his last breath Uu's friend entrusts him with the secret of how to go to the past. Uu is an engineer and doesn't believe in miracles, but the trick works. In the past there is a pleasant, eternal summer, long hair, girls and Jenkki chewing gum. In his real life, it is autumn, his friends are bitter, the girls are married and his father is seriously ill. At the end of the day, however, Uu has to decide in which time to live his life - in the summer of the past or in the autumn of the present.

The film is set in a town that has a professional symphony orchestra, managed by authoritarian and confident Paul Levald, who has conducted both the orchestra and his family affairs for years. Due to dramatic events, Paul’s son-in-law Egon Rei must unexpectedly assume his duties. In addition to the baton, power and responsibility as well as the tensions in the orchestra, Egon inherits his father-in-law’s secrets and obligations from his complicated past. New lies are born out of old ones and, at some point, Egon realises that the revelation of truth might cause a real chaos. "Family Lies" by Valentin Kuik and Manfred Vainokivi is a relationship drama about elephants in the bedroom and skeletons in the closet, about small and big deceptions, half-truths and set-ups that can be found in every family’s secret chronicles.

When a former fistfighter Madis leaves the prison, he feels he will get another chance in life. Nothing can go wrong this time. Madis will be accompanied by his nephew who has something completely opposite in his mind. A game begins where both the weak and the strong get more and more opportunities.

A secluded fast food joint next to an empty parking lot, where it's good to go because nobody recognizes you there. On a rainy autumnal day, people show up one after the other – all of them on the verge of a breakdown – or perhaps a breakthrough? The main character, Waitress, sees and absorbs it all. One by one – through their personal drama – the clients push the Waitress towards her own edge.

This small, personal, honest experiment on a minimalist budget is edited from 12 years of nostalgic archival footage and ironical pranks. Mostly it is Manfred behind the camera. He follows Kristjan’s encounters and drunken conversations with the self-proclaimed cinema pioneer Eedi. Chess master Eedi can barely walk and can’t hear, but bitterly scorns Kristjan for filmmaking. Unstoppable dreamer, Kristjan continues to imagine a long-postponed film about the painter Jüri Arrak with never-ending hope to leave a mark in Estonian culture.

His nickname is Chimney. He is a chimneysweeper and indeed and exceptional one, but also a trained paratrooper and most lately known in Tallinn as a busker at the famous Valli Bar. During the days of Estonian fight for freedom in 1989 Chimney became an undercover leader of locally famous Night Song Festivals. His camouflage has been so intense that even history books of today can't see Chimney's leading role in the fight for free Estonia. Now it is the time to reveal the truth and rewrite Estonian history once again. Come and meet Chimney - the hidden real hero of Estonian Singing Revolution.

Martin a boy with adjustment difficulties, moves with his mother to a new place. Martin has a habit of always getting into all kinds of trouble, and on the last day of school, everything goes wrong. Martin likes the school principal's daughter Marta, but the girl is also liked by the most popular boy in the school, Kevin, who has a fancy scooter. In his last trouble, Nitram, a charming wizard cat, comes to Martin's aid, who brings new adventures.

Why do we care for writers who don't care for anything or anybody, even not for themselves? Still we need them and feed them, we love them and give shelter. Can it be that at certain moments we would like to be writers and also have this love-hate relationship with the world that writers expose. So when we keep our poets in a special house and observe them like we watch animals in the zoo, listen how they shout and howl their poetry, we are partly freed from our everyday identity and become romantic poetry desperadoes too. Take a closer look at Estonian writers in their private zoo. Their revolts and vanity, philosophy and drinking life style. Cheap accommodation is a way to escape, but it can be a trap too.

Andres is a sensitive teenager raised by his strict grandparents in a small bland Soviet Estonian town. He is being bullied at school and his only friends are the drunkards, whores, and thieves living next door.

Leonhard Lapin is the classic and the enfant terrible of Estonian contemporary art, constantly followed by scandals, lewd legends and envious grumbling. Lapin confidently steps on the cornea of mediocrity, enjoying the situation to the fullest. Loved by his muses, the artist is not ashamed of his dalliances. He still has plenty at the grand old age of 70. The new Estonian film opens the doors to a disappearing Bohemianism, in which racy vocabulary reigns instead of political correctness.