Elen Lotman

Camera

Elen Lotman

Born September 25, 1981 · Tartu, Tartu District, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Tartu County, Estonia] (age 44)

No biography available.

Known For

The Sleeping BeastThe Sleeping Beast · 2022
The Sleeping Beast
6.02022
MovieDramaThriller
A gang of five children spend their summer in an abandoned factory complex. When they are forbidden to go there by the factory owner for safety reasons, the children decide to ignore the ban. This decision changes their lives forever and the friends face a grim confrontation.
OlgaOlga · 2013
Olga
2013
MovieDocumentaryDrama
Olga is believed to be a mentally disabled, orphan girl who is following reindeer herder along the hiking trails in Russia. But she is a very smart teenager and an excellent storyteller.
Not Made for PoliticsNot Made for Politics · 2025
Not Made for Politics
2025
MovieDocumentary
For Estonian-based filmmaker Volia Chaikouskaya, the 2020 Belarus uprising was not just news – it was personal. While thousands in Minsk rose up against the brutal regime of Alexander Lukashenko and rallied behind opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Volia felt the same pulse across borders. Unable to return home, she became both observer and participant, organising solidarity actions in Tallinn and gradually stepping into her own film as a subject. At the heart of the story are three women – Sviatlana, Nadzeya, and Masha – whose husbands were jailed as political prisoners and who themselves emerged as central figures of the movement. Their fearless defiance against dictatorship mirrored Volia’s own struggle to break free from the inherited fear of silencing, repression, and exile.
VseviovVseviov · 2020
Vseviov
2020
MovieDocumentary
Documentary about Estonian media personality David Vseviov. He is one of the most well-known Estonian radio voices whose fascinating stories about cultural history have captivated radio listeners for generations. The film opens up the person behind the mythical radio voice and it does it through the protagonist's big seventieth birthday party.
Goodbye Soviet UnionGoodbye Soviet Union · 2020
Goodbye Soviet Union
5.52020
MovieComedyDrama
Johannes, a young Ingrian Finn, grows up in Soviet Estonia with his liberal student mother and pro-Soviet grandmother. The boy's life is revolutionized when he experiences first love and his mother decides to leave for Finland.
GeorgGeorg · 2007
Georg
5.72007
MovieDramaMusic
Unforgettable melodies, unique timbre and a memorable, soul-stirring voice. A mystery for women and authority for men, his talent was revered by the highest ranks of the Soviet Union and millions of ordinary people. Georg Ots took the stage when a huge country was recovering from the horrors of war, and his voice returned them faith in a bright future. Few people know what his life was really like.
Kelly: Someone Else's DreamKelly: Someone Else's Dream · 2024
Kelly: Someone Else's Dream
2024
MovieDocumentary
Kelly Sildaru, the freestyle prodigy, tells the story of her decade of suffering in order to recover and give a voice to those who are still victimized.
FränkFränk · 2025
Fränk
7.52025
MovieDrama
Following a serious domestic violence incident, 13 year old Paul arrives in an unfamiliar town where in his pursuit of happiness he makes one bad decision after another. His seemingly inevitable downfall is thwarted, however, by a strange disabled man.

Filmography

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Not Made for PoliticsNot Made for Politics · 2025
Not Made for Politics
2025
MovieDocumentary
For Estonian-based filmmaker Volia Chaikouskaya, the 2020 Belarus uprising was not just news – it was personal. While thousands in Minsk rose up against the brutal regime of Alexander Lukashenko and rallied behind opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Volia felt the same pulse across borders. Unable to return home, she became both observer and participant, organising solidarity actions in Tallinn and gradually stepping into her own film as a subject. At the heart of the story are three women – Sviatlana, Nadzeya, and Masha – whose husbands were jailed as political prisoners and who themselves emerged as central figures of the movement. Their fearless defiance against dictatorship mirrored Volia’s own struggle to break free from the inherited fear of silencing, repression, and exile.

Director of Photography

Art and the Cold War. Esthetic ResistanceArt and the Cold War. Esthetic Resistance · 2024
Art and the Cold War. Esthetic Resistance
2024
MovieDocumentary
A story about the relationship between independent Soviet art and the West. It recalls a time when art was larger and more important than life itself. On one side, there are independent Soviet artists who lack not only the output but also the finances to complete their works. On the other side, there is the tempting West whose ambassadors (in the literal sense) take active interest in the Soviet underground art market. Selling one’s works to the West is a tricky business since the almighty KGB stands between the two mutually interested parties. Nevertheless, an incredible quantity of mainly Estonian and Moscovian visual art is sold and taken across the border. This is facilitated mainly by Western diplomats, behind whose coordinated actions stands none other than the CIA.

Director of Photography

TaarkaTaarka · 2008
Taarka
5.72008
MovieDrama
The first film in the Seto language in the world speaks about the brightest heroine of a small people, the folk singer Hilana Taarka, a woman who lived her whole life as an outcast in a small chimney-less hut; as an unmarried mother of children in poverty, begging her bread, doing odd jobs and singing. She always sang the truth, sometimes bitter, sometimes funny, sometimes cruel. She was feared, despised and coveted. Taarka sang throughout her remarkable life, throughout her fate, from a small Seto village to international fame. And she sang well. Really well. Taarka became the Mother of the Song, a legend. But as a woman, as a member of the community, the Seto people never really accepted her. Taarka - a despised woman and a worshiped singer.

Director of Photography