Freedom?
Rewind: On August 20, 1991, Estonia became an independent country again. But while freedom arrived, Moscow money departed. When Tallinnfilm (the state film production studio, which produced everything from features to shorts to documentaries) stopped receiving funding in 1994, the Nukufilm and Joonisfilm (a sister department under the Tallinnfilm umbrella that concentrated on cel animation, as opposed to puppet animations) divisions were re-established as independent studios under the control of their animators and producers. Nukufilm re-opened under the charge of producer Arvo Nuut and animators Rao Heidmets, Kalju Kivi, Hardi Volmer and Riho Unt.

Unt made Back to Europe in 1997, which is part of his "Samuel" Trilogy.

“We began to wonder what would happen to Nukufilm and what we should do,” says Arvo Nuut. “I had a lot of energy and started to suggest that we should get some money and continue to work as a private company. I had made over seventy films and maybe I’d gotten to the point where I was a bit bored with it." In 1994, Nuut's new challenge would be taking over as the producer and administrator of the ‘new’ Nukufilm, in partnership with Heidmets, Kivi, Volmer and Unt.

Led by this team, Nukufilm made out just fine during the 1990s, continuing to produce a wide-range of personal films (including the brilliant Mati Kütt films Smoked Sprat Baked in the Sun, 1992, and Underground, 1997) and even co-producing a few children’s productions. During this time, the studio also added some new faces in Mait Laas and Mikk Rand, who along with made the acclaimed film The Crow and Mice in 1998. Laas in particular has proven to be a valuable addition to Nukufilm.

In 1997, Laas was given the opportunity to make his first professional film, Daylight. From a technical standpoint, Daylight (a story about a group of kids in a neighbourhood block) stands out immediately. Its mixed-media technique with photocopied heads (which in close-ups look like the dirty, grainy expressionist faces of Eisenstein’s staircase victims in Battleship Potempkin) on 3D wire bodies is eye-catching and innovative. Conceptually, Daylight is almost an anomaly for a young artist. It’s actually a positive film. There is no loud rebellious scream against society, just an innocent, hippie induced call for love, light and peace.

Laas’ most recent film, Way To Nirvana (2000), is another visually striking film, this time about a young man riding what appears to be a death train with many elderly passengers. The film is filled with a wealth of symbols as the young man seemingly strives to find what he has been missing in his life. Nirvana was awarded the prestigious short film award at the 2000 Oberhausen Festival (which primarily caters to live-action films).

Beyond filmmaking, Laas has also become an important part of Nukufilm’s future. He is a constant fixture in the studio and has been working on TV pilots with the hope of landing Nukufilm a regular series. In December 2001, Laas was made a partner in Nukufilm.

A New World, New Challenges
Given the collapse in production and/or quality in other ex-Soviet occupied countries, the Nukufilm story is an unqualified success. Not only has their independent animation production continued, but it’s also maintained the same high level of quality (as evidenced by the numerous awards and prizes presented to the work over the last decade) of Soviet times. Furthermore, given the total lack of business experience, the studio has shown a remarkable flexibility in adapting to the capitalist system.

However, life at Nukufilm hasn’t been all roses. “I have to say that the beginning of independence was a really hard time economically for everyone,” says Hardi Volmer. "It’s complicated still because this period of changing systems is still going on and that’s hard and mostly it’s nasty in a political and economical way.”

“In Soviet time,” adds Arvo Nuut, “the topic always had to be hidden and this was fascinating because when someone asked you about your works you could give another answer. Today we can talk about anything and some artists didn’t know what to say anymore. But later on after some years things have somehow settled down. Artists are once again looking at human relations and general themes, so life is developing again.”