Estonian Oscar Contender “1944”. Thursday, January 14, 7:00 PM at Scandinavia House 58 Park Avenue @ 38th Street, New York, NY 10016 scandinaviahouse.org

1944 addresses a national trauma that Estonia continues to process to this day. Director of the movie, Elmo Nüganen, has said that more than anything else, his film aims at atonement.

The last year of WWII on Estonian turf. Men are fighting on the border of Europe and Russia.

Some have been drafted to the Red Army, some to Waffen SS.

Today 70 years on, the filmmakers, try to show the hopes, aims and drama of these men and their loved ones as objectively as possible.

Finnish Oscar Contender The Fencer. Thursday, January 20, 7:00 PM at Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue @ 38th Street, New York, NY 10016
scandinaviahouse.org

The film is based on the true story of Endel Nelis, an Estonian fencer and coach – played by Märt Avandi.

A young man, Endel Nelis, arrives in Haapsalu, Estonia, in the early 1950s. Having left Leningrad to escape the secret police, he finds work as a teacher and founds a sports club for his students.

Endel becomes a father figure to his students and starts teaching them his great passion – fencing, which causes a conflict with the school’s principal. Envious, the principal starts investigating Endel’s background…Endel learns to love the children and looks after them; most are orphans as a result of the Russian occupation.

Fencing becomes a form of self-expression for the children and Endel becomes a role model. The children want to participate in a national fencing tournament in Leningrad, and Endel must make a choice: risk everything to take the children to Leningrad or put his safety first and disappoint them.