Snowfall in a birch grove, a woman toying with the ribbon of her dress, and wild apple blossoms radiant in the sunlight. The beautiful imagery belies a sinister history in which tens of thousands of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians were forcibly removed from their homes, separated from loved ones, starved and abused at the hands of the Soviet Union and Stalin. Many were exterminated. The world rarely notes those whose suffering endured long after World War II ended. In black and white tableaux vivants that are at once beautiful as they are tragic, and with passages from actual letters, audiences may begin to understand what happened here. "I promise I won't ever be mad at you again," a woman writes to her husband who, unknown to her, is among those put to death. "Just tell me how to find you," she pleads. The brutal ethnic cleansing is presented in such a way, through the personal experience of Erna and her little daughter Eliide, that is as spellbinding as it is sobering and sorrowful. The history lesson comes not in the form of a harangue, but is one of haunting beauty in requiem for the innocent tears and blood. "I see how you looked at me when we first met," a woman writes of a dream "and I hear your voice telling me that we will be together forever." In this brilliant piece by a new director, these enthralling voices will finally be heard and remembered. One of my favorite films, also known as Risttuules, at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

For non-Balts who intend to see this film or have seen it by chance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_deportation could be a useful background, otherwise many events or action could remain incomprehensible, or one might think they are exaggerated. Alas, everything depicted is realistic, but Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union has never essentially apologized or amended injustice - on the contrary, respective attempts by the restored Republics have been labelled nationalistic or rewriting history...

The film in question has found a distinct angle for depicting the mood: using black-and-white and tableau vivant, also appropriate music. Of course, due to limited amount of feature film characteristics, it is not "easy" to watch and follow, not to the taste of those fond of fast shots and twists, thus not expected to attract wider audiences. But, in my opinion, it is definitely more distinct than the Academy Award winner Ida from Poland... And the director has not reached 30 yet! So, if you are prepared how and what to see, then you will have a good watching experience. Otherwise, watch e.g. Purge (2012).

If ever a movie deserved to be called an art film, this 2014 Estonian film is it (trailer). Director Martti Heide's full-length debut chronicles Stalin's 1941 sudden overnight deportation of 40,000 citizens of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to forced labor camps in Siberia. Families were separated, people worked in slave-labor conditions, food was minimal, and many starved. No food was provided for children. The story, based on a real-life diary, follows the experiences of Erna, a young wife and mother (played by Laura Peterson) desperate to reunite with her husband Heldur (Tarmo Song) and return home. While the story is perhaps typical for people in such brutal circumstances, the way of filming it is not. Heide took months sometimes to set up his shots, which are filmed in long, unedited, silent takes (with a soundtrack of gunshots, trains, creaking cartwheels, and so on added later). But the people do not move. Nor is there dialog. Peterson narrates in voice-over the entries from Erna's diary, as a series of letters to Heldur. Instead of action, the camera weaves among the actors, as they stand frozen in position. In an early scene, it circles Erna and Heldur embracing among the passengers waiting to be herded aboard a train, then moves on through the crowd. Then it finds Erna again, leaning out of the cattle car door, looking for Heldur, who stands in the distance. Watching this movie is like examining a series of richly detailed still photographs. Remarkable. The technique symbolically mimics the way life stood still for the refugees. While it results in a slowly unfolding story, for me, the film was very powerful. Only when Erna is at home, in the beginning scenes and in reverie, do people move in a conventional way. To paraphrase what one refugee said, the Soviet Union might have my body, but my heart (what animates me) is still in Estonia.