Tallinnfilm

Tallinnfilm is the name of an Estonian film company. In the period of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, almost all Estonian feature films were produced by Tallinnfilm. The company is located in the Estonian capital Tallinn.

The later Tallinnfilm was founded in 1931 under the name Eesti Kultuurfilm by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Estonia. It was a private company, but was strong financially supported by the Estonian state. The focus was on news stories and documentaries for the newsreels in Estonian cinemas. Much of the equipment was purchased in Germany. Many Estonian directors were based on German models.

In 1936 the company was transferred to the Estonian Ministry of the Interior. In this phase of the authoritarian government of Konstantin Pats opinion, art and freedom of the press was severely restricted. Eesti Kultuurifilm was placed at the service of the Conservative government and turned into a propaganda tool of the Estonian government.

Soviet occupation

With the Soviet occupation of Estonia, the film companies were nationalized and instrumentalized as a means of propaganda of the new communist government in September 1940. The first Soviet occupation of Estonia (1940-1941), the company was renamed Kinokroonika Eesti Stuudio. During the German occupation of Estonia (1941-1944) it was called Kinokroonika Tallinna Stuudio. After re- occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union, the government production company from 1947 Tallinna Kinostuudio and from 1954 Kunstiliste said yes Kroonikafilmide Tallinna Kinostuudio. Mainly documentaries and newsreels were produced. 1947 an Estonian feature film was produced. With the beginning of the 1950s, the first continuous production of feature films in Estonia began.

Since 1963 Tallinnfilm bears its present name. In the Khrushchev thaw under Nikita Khrushchev, a free work of the Estonian film producers was possible. However, the funding was still running exclusively on the Soviet authorities and the Soviet state film company Lenfilm. There are also all scripts had to be approved.

During the Soviet occupation of Estonia (until 1991 ) Tallinnfilm was responsible for the vast majority of Estonian film productions. Only a small part was manufactured by the founded in 1965 with his own studio film company of the Estonian television, Eesti Telefilm. From 1972, animation movies were filmed in Estonia increased. The two by far the biggest blockbuster of Tallinnfilm during the Soviet era were the movies Viimne reliikvia ( "The Last Relic ", 1969) and Kevade ( "Spring", 1969).

Despite its small population, Estonia has an impressive film production through the work of Tallinnfilm. Between 1941 and 1997 Tallinnfilm has a total of 115 feature-length films and 28 short films produced. There are also 194 animated films (128 puppet animation films and 66 cartoons) and 504 documentaries, 415 popular science films and news items in 1578.

After 1991

After the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991, largely Tallinnfilm pulled back from the production business. Tallinnfilm began focusing on film distribution and film restoration. Since 1994 she has Arthouse Cinema operator. Today's owners of Tallinnfilm is founded in 1997, Estonian Film Foundation ( Eesti Filmi Sihtasutus ).