Lintrop Renita

To Shura
A film about an elderly Russian woman who was an industrial worker in Estonia. Despite her hard existence and horrible working conditions she trusts in God and human cordiality. The film is part of a series of portraits by the Lintrups (who also made cogito, ergo sumof elderly and somewhat strange Estonians that relate the history of this small ethnic group.

RENITA LINTROP (born in 11.12.1955 in Tallinn, Estonia). Graduated from Tartu University, Department of Estonian Philology and Journalism. She had worked as an editor and then as a story editor at Estonian TV Film Studio, also as a story editor of animation films. Then she worked as a scriptwriter and director of documentary films at Tallinnfilm Studio. Presently she is working as a scriptwriter and director in the independent film company Filmistuudio SEE and as an associate professor in the Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School. Documentary films written and directed by Renita and Hannes Lintrop: PALACE - Vision about a huge culture hostile establishment. YOUTH - Film narration about a youth choir with it’s interesting traditions. THIS CATCHER... - About problems of teenagers in the criminal world. THE HERO OF OUR TIME - Portrait of Hardi Volmer, the singer and director. COGITO, ERGO SUM – Philosophical portrait of an old man who never joined kolkhozes. TO SHURA - A story about an elderly Russian woman in an industrial region of Estonia. PUNISHMENT - A film about descendants of Finnish and Estonian criminals who were deported to Siberia in the last century. (Co-production with Finnish TV) CIRCLE - 110 years ago Estonians went to the Caucasus Mountains to get their own land. The war had forced them to return back to Estonia now. (Co-production with Finnish TV) ESTONIAN’S LIFE - Film observes the life of an ordinary family during 14 month after the Soviet occupation. (Co-production with Finnish TV) ILLUSION OF SAFETY - A film about “Estonia” catastrophe and safety of ship traffic on big ro-ro ferries. (Co-production with Finnish TV) PALANGI - Portrait of an old captain, who lives in the Kingdom of Tonga. (Co-production with Finnish TV) THROUGH DARKNESS - A film about the present-day Estonia through the story told by a miner. (Co-production with Finnish TV and Zentropa Real – Denmark) ESTONIA - A film about one theatre and one country with the same name. (Co-production with Finnish TV) The documentaries were screened at many international film festivals: Amsterdam, Clermont-Ferrand, Leipzig, Tampere, Krakow, Cinema du Reel etc. “To Shura” was in the TOP 10 of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. “The Punishment” was nominated for FELIX, two films (“The Punishment” and “Estonian’s Life”) were in Prix Italy competition. The documentaries have won several awards: 1.Prize for a Short Film at the Aurillac International Film Festival, Best Documentary at the Tampere International Film Festival, Audience Award for the Best Short Film at the Creteil International Film Festival, Bronze Dragon at the Krakow International Film Festival, Special Commendation at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Grand Prix at the St.-Flour International Film Festival, Jury Award at the Pärnu International Film Festival, SILVER REMI award at the WorldFest Houston, also many awards in Estonia including Estonian Republic’ Cultural Year prize and The Best Documentary of the Year. The feature film “Too Tired to Hate” (made in 1995) was screened in the official selections of 39 different international film festivals all over the world (Edinburgh, Montreal, Brussels, Strassbourg, Hofer Filmtage, Shanghai, Alexandria, Moscow etc.) and also several awards followed (1st Prize for a Fiction Film at Salerno International Film Festival etc). It won also the Film Prize of the Estonian Cultural Endowment.