Directed by Marko Raat • 2024 • Estonia

Marko Raat’s mysterious, mesmerising film poem transports us to the spiritual heart of Estonia by way of Japan. Inspired by the “eight views” landscape painting tradition of East Asia, Raat’s film unfolds on the seemingly idyllic shores of Lake Peipsi on the border between Estonia and Russia, where the descendants of a dissident Orthodox Christian sect have settled as a close-knit fishing village. Across eight chapters, we follow this community as it grapples with tragedy, nascent passions, and spiritual unrest. Rich with symbolism and magical realist bravado that recalls the best of Terence Malick, 8 Views of Lake Biwa reveals Raat to be one of the most singular filmmakers working in the Baltic states today.

8 VIEWS OF LAKE BIWA • BIWA JÄRVE 8 NÄGU
Written and directed by Marko Raat
From the novel by Max Dauthenday
Cinematography by Sten-Johan Lill
Music by Jakob Juhkam
Starring: Elina Masing, Tiina Tauraite, Hendrik Toompere

In Estonian with English subtitles