Directed by Arvo Kruusement • 1969 • USSR/Estonia

Widely considered their nation’s greatest ever film by Estonian audiences, Spring is a touching and invigorating period drama. Based on the popular novel of the same name by Oskar Luts, it tells the story of a group of rural schoolchildren at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: melancholic Arno, choleric Toots, practical-minded and industrious Teele, flegmatic Tõnisson, spoiled and resentful Kiir. It is a story of firsts: when first romantic feelings start to arise and first serious challenges and disappointments are faced. Kruusement captures the pangs of childhood innocence and the first shoots of adult disappointment with a deft eye for emotional detail.

SPRING • KEVADE
Directed by Arvo Kruusement
Written by Kaljo Kiisk and Voldemar Panso
Cinematography by Harry Rehe
Music by Veljo Tormis
Starring: Arno Liiver, Riina Hein, Aare Laanemets

In Estonian with English and Russian subtitles