Every fall the Danish Film Institute holds a festival East by Southeast to screen selected Central and Eastern European movies. This year they have chosen among others The Little Comrade (2018), director Moonika Siimets. Awarded Movie of the Year in Estonia.
Synopses. It is 1950 in the Soviet Estonia and the Stalinist terror machine works at full steam – 6-year-old Leelo’s school principal mother is arrested before her very eyes. “If you’re a good kid, I’ll be back soon,” are her mother’s last words as she is taken away at gunpoint. So Leelo is on her very best behaviour, but yet her mother does not return. A fear creeps into the child’s soul that it is her fault her mother was taken. The confusion only grows as “good” and “bad” no longer seem to hold any meaning in these troubled times. Why is the Estonian flag suddenly forbidden? Who is the people’s enemy and why is the scary NKVD lurking around their home? Is it an honour or a shame to be a pioneer? In this odd two-faced world, Leelo tries her best to be good, but is instead embroiled in one scrape after another and becomes ever more confused as to what it even means to be a good kid.
The film will be screened twice: on Saturday, November 16 at 19:00 and on Wednesday, November 27 at 17:15. On November 27th we will be joined by an Estonian actor Juhan Ulfsak who is the antagonist of the film. There will be a Q&A session followed by open reception. Welcome!