Manfred Vainokivi

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

After being whacked on the head with a shovel, Valdis no longer shows interest in the things that used to make his life worthwhile: alcohol, techno, cars and fights. His friends desperately try to help him regain his memory, but nothing works.

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.

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.

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.

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 jolly documentary that tells a story of Soviet time life style when stealing from the state was an act of honour for common people. Stealing from corrupted state helped to get by and held moral high. The common man felt that the state was stealing from him all the time – so one had to get something back from the real robber – the state. When all bits and pieces of rubble were stolen from the state – the Soviet Union colossus fell apart.

A wide range of relatives and acquaintances have traveled to a funeral, and as is typical of Estonians, the sad event turns into a comical one as the evening develops. The primordial disputes that arise among the Estonians take on hyperbolic dimensions as events unfold, creating misunderstandings.

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.