Nr. 44
EESTI ELU reedel, 1. novembril 2019 — Friday, November 1, 2019
EstDocs short films night offers tasty morsels to film fans The appetizer that is the EstDocs short film competi tion screening – the prequel to the main festival – offered some tasty and creative film bites to a full house at Tartu College on Thursday, October 24. Organizers were delighted that the 11th annual competi tion drew a record number of entries this year, said Keltie Thomas, EstDocs’ short films competition director. There was a total of 21 submissions; nine from amateur filmmakers and the rest from professionals. While the overall competi tion will be judged by a profes sional jury, the screening event allowed audience members to vote on what they liked best and the results are presented as an “audience favorite” award at the gala opening of the 15th annual EstDocs on Friday, November 8.
Each short film must be un der ten minutes in length, and the competition was rich and flavourful in the range of topics and creativity on the part of the filmmakers. Jaak Visnap of Estonia sub mitted “Freedom in the 21st Century,” a collection of films based on an exhibit by the Estonian Lithographic Centre, assembled in Tallinn to mark Estonia’s 100th anniversary celebrations this year. Each film featured an artist who provided a glimpse into their creative process as well as some musings on freedom, and what this means. We heard that for many of them, freedom is an intrinsic but sometimes elusive concept in the cre
EstDocs head Maimu Mölder and digital design expert Sashank Tripathi. Photo: Jaak Järve
ation of art. For some of them, the time of the Soviet occupation cur tailed and shaped their view and depictions of the world. Others travel the world for inspiration, and return with a newfound appreciation for their homeland. Toronto photographer Elias Gates-Kass submitted a beauti ful, minimalist study of the wind-sculpted topography of Iceland in the “Iceland Land
The countdown is on!
Latitude44 will throw open the doors to Estonian innovations in technology A rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the brightest and most ingenious minds in Estonian technology is set to be launched in Toron to on November 14 and 15. Latitude 44, a conference aimed at bringing together key players in the technology world from Estonia and Canada is being combined with Estonian Music Week in Toronto this year – a double-bill of creativity and innovation. The conference will take place at the WE Global Learning Centre in downtown Toronto and Estonian Music Week is November 14–17 at various venues throughout the city. Co-founder and director of Latitude 44 Eric Morrison, for mer vice-president of CTV News and past president of Canadian Press, has been work ing non-stop with a team of other volunteers – and a net work of presenters from Estonia and beyond – to bring these singular minds to Toronto. Eric is excited about how the conference is unfolding, and offers a glimpse into what will be happening, and what makes these presenters tick: What can delegates expect to see at the conference? There are some amazing
things going on in Estonia, and the products and services that have been developed reflect remar kable ingenuity. For ex ample, we’ll be seeing some fascinating Estonian inventions in robotics: robotic delivery devices, robotic printing through a service called Spray Printer that allows you to spray paint the side of a building via your smart phone – even a robot snow plow! Another interesting invention is a hydroponic kitchen garden designed for restaurants, where they can literally grow food on the wall. And there is a personal recognition system that identi fies users by the way they type on their keyboard. We’ll also be seeing a lot of AI-related ser vices and a virtual marketplace that enables tutors to work with students. Why does Estonia produce so many smart technological entrepreneurs? As probably everyone knows by now, Estonia is the world’s truly digital society. Govern ment services and information are online and 44% of people vote online and can do so from anywhere in the world. People in this country grow up this way, it is very natural for them. It’s also very easy for anyone to set up a business in Estonia
and the government encourages this. So many start-ups have set up shop here, and moved way beyond the start-up phase to become full-fledged, successful businesses. It results in a very thriving technology culture. How do you make a dent in this scattered, fast and furious marketplace? There are two vital things: you have to fulfill a real need that will make a person’s life simpler, easier and cheaper. It has to be valuable and important to them. You can’t have a product in search of a market. And as an entrepreneur you have to be very determined and dedicated. What do these presenters have to offer delegates? In one word, opportunity. Delegates could find a lucrative partnership arrangement, a good business to invest in or perhaps provide a service to a company for someone wanting to expand. Meeting Estonian business people may also enable a busi ness here to enter the sizable EU market, or find some valu able tech talent. What can Canada and Estonia learn from each other? Estonia has had to create trust in e-services, and that is a huge accomplishment. We don’t have that trust here and we need to build it. Estonia has also learned to build the infra structure to do so very econo mically through public-private partnerships. Canada offers Estonians a like-minded, civilized and multicultural society and a soft entry point into the North American market. We have a good start-up environment here as well, great tech talent and a strong and interested Estonian community with good skill sets. What do you hope will
9
scape Project”, nailing the much-loved Estonian Nordic aesthetic. “Greta Eesti kett üle maail ma/Greta’s song chain around the world,” submitted by Raivo Hansen, featured a child’s origi nal composition about her love for her country that she galva nized into a global sing-a-long. Yet another child wonder de scribed how she invented a “pill fairy” made out of a music box (the kind with the spinning ballerina) that reminded her grandmother to take her medi cation. The invention included a wrist band that would light up when it was time to take a pill. If these charming films are any indication, I think we are in very good hands with the future generation of filmmakers, and inventors. The best part of this appetizer course is that we still have all of the main dish – the EstDocs festival – to look forward to. The festival starts on Friday, Nov. 8 with the first screening at the Estonian House and there
are films throughout the week end with the final showings on Sunday, Nov. 10. On Sunday, filmgoers can also come early at 6 p.m. to enjoy dinner, pre pared by well-known Estonian caterer Ülle Veltmann. (The arrangement is to pay for dinner on-site directly to the caterer.)
Estonia’s Tallinn Airport voted sixth best in Europe
innovative, with the aim of making the airport a destination in itself.” Tallinn Airport came sixth in the 2019 survey – three places lower than in 2017. Helsinki Airport in Finland, Estonia’s northern neighbour, took the top spot in Europe and Singapore’s Changi Inter national was crowned the over all winner globally. Top 10 best airports in Europe, based on overall airport experience as determined by voters on Sleeping in Airports 2019 airport survey: Helsinki (HEL) Munich (MUC) Amsterdam (AMS) Zurich (ZRH) Prague (PRG) Tallinn (TLL) Porto (OPO) Shannon (SNN) Oslo Gardermoen (OSL) Athens (ATH) Vienna (VIE) Copenhagen (CPH) Warsaw Chopin (WAW) Madrid Barajas (MAD) Istanbul (opened 2019) (IST) Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is the largest airport in Estonia and serves as a hub for the national airline Nordica, as well as the secondary hub for the Latvian airline, AirBaltic, and LOT Polish Airlines. It currently serves almost three million passengers per year.
Silver Tambur, Estonian World, October 2019 According to the airport guide, Sleeping in Airports, Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is the sixth best airport in Europe, based on the overall experience determined by travellers who had taken the site’s 2019 airport survey. In the annual survey, the guide asked travellers to rate airports worldwide based on their overall airport experience. People ranked their experiences on comfort; services, facilities and things to do; food options; immigration and security; cus tomer service; cleanliness; navi gation and ease of transit; and sleepability. “Top airports have a lot in common: plenty of seating, rest areas, a good number of food options, helpful staff and effi cient check-in, and security pro cedures. Some airports go above-and-beyond with perks like in-terminal movie theatres and gardens,” the guide said. “The best thing about each of these airports is their willing ness to improve on already topnotch facilities. Many airports are renovating their terminals, and some are getting more
happen at this conference? We want to strengthen the two-way bridge that we have started to build here. I hope this becomes an annual event, a sister conference to Latitude59 that takes place in Tallinn, Estonia every year. We are creating as well a virtual social community so the connections and momentum can be made. We have been successful already with creating a strong
And, as is a sweet EstDocs tradition, coffee and kringel will be available at all film events. Artur Talvik, a well-known filmmaker from Estonia, will be moderator this year. Having a moderator from the industry always provides an interesting component to the viewing of the films as he will offer his perspective and facilitate a question and answer period as well. Come out for this annual gift of culture and be prepared to be touched, amazed, inspired and, above all, utterly entertained. Go to www.estdocs.com for the full schedule.
digital effect – as we’ve been organizing, hundreds of thou sands of connections have been made via social media. It’s been an incredible experience so far. For more information on Latitude44 and Estonian Music Week, please go to: https://www.latitude44to.ca/ https://www.estonianmusicweek. ca/ Twitter: @latitude44TO Facebook/LinkedIn/Instagram: Latitude44Toronto
