Directed by Leida Laius • 1985 • USSR/Estonia

16-year-old Mari (Monika Järv) is sent by her alcoholic, widowed father to a state orphanage in rural Estonia. There, she must contend with the social cruelty of her peers and the competing attentions of upstanding Tauri (Tauri Tallermaa) and his rebellious cousin Robi (Hendrick Toompere Jr). In a world where adult authority is on the wane, can a sensitive girl like Mari find her own way? In her penultimate film, the great Leida Laius captured the thrill and angst of the last Soviet generation, training her empathetic eye on those who had slipped through the cracks in a failing system. Shot in a real children’s home using amateur actors, with a visceral, lyrical visual language courtesy of co-director Arvo Iho, Smile at Last is one of the Laius’s finest achievements and a cult classic of late Soviet cinema ripe for rediscovery.

SMILE AT LAST • NAERATA OMETI
Directed by Leida Laius and Arvo Iho
Written by Marina Šeptunova
Cinematography by Arvo Iho
Music by Lepo Sumera
Starring: Monika Järv, Hendrik Toompere Jr, Tauri Tallermaa

In Estonian with English subtitles

Winner of the UNICEF Prize at the Berlin Film Festival 1987