TIFS: Daisy Petal Game

On May 17th at 11.30, the Film Museum's international film club (TIFS) will screen the film anthology "Daisy Petal Game" (1977), which consists of debut feature films by Peeter Urbla, Toomas Tahvel, and Peeter Simm.

Tristan Priimägi, the curator of TIFS program, award-winning film critic., and author of the book "101 Estonian Films" has written about the film the following way:
"Loves, doesn't love? That's the real question. In the three short films of the cassette Daisy Petal Game ("Karikakramäng"), this question and the relationships and emotions connected to it are put to the test in a new way. It's new for its time, because in 1977, this short film collection marked the arrival of a new generation of filmmakers. Of the three authors here—Peeter Urbla, Toomas Tahvel, and Peeter Simm—two of the Peeters remained actively involved in filmmaking, becoming the voice of their generation’s filmmakers.

After the stagnation of the seventies, Daisy Petal Game felt like a liberation. For the young filmmakers, none other than Andrei Tarkovsky himself came to advise them via Tallinnfilm from Moscow, helping Urbla and Simm with the ideas for their sketches. Among other things, Tarkovsky wrote the final dialogue for Simm’s film Tätoveering ("Tattoo"), where Tarkovsky’s text can be heard in a manner that is particularly uncharacteristic for him, in a comic tone.

Urbla’s film Promenaad ("Promenade") reunites the lover couple Lembit Ulfsak and Elle Kull from the earlier film Ukuaru. Tahvel's Salakütt ("Poacher") juxtaposes adultery with poaching in the Soviet-era forestry industry, and Simm’s Tätoveering offers a rare and extraordinary perspective on Estonia's place in the world: first, the action takes place in the Republic of Estonia, and secondly, it depicts the Romani culture in Estonia with exceptional empathy and understanding. Third, it features the debut of 18-year-old Arvo Kukumägi, who would later become one of the most cinematic Estonian film actors. The three sketches are united by the shared cinematographer Arvo Iho and a daisy flower with gradually diminishing petals, depicted across the films."

With TIFS cinema tickets, attendees can gain FREE access to the exhibition "My Free Country" at the Estonian History Museum's Maarjamäe Castle, providing a deeper exploration of the themes depicted in the films.

The film will be screened with English subtitles.

Tickets 8/6€ - are available HERE