Tarmo Teder

Peppered with elegiac undertones, this farewell story takes us to the world of old men getting ready to say their goodbyes to the world. Each in their own bizarre way. Nothing tragic, but the crossing of the threshold of eternity is still an enigma for all of them, just as is life itself.

Why do we care for writers who don't care for anything or anybody, even not for themselves? Still we need them and feed them, we love them and give shelter. Can it be that at certain moments we would like to be writers and also have this love-hate relationship with the world that writers expose. So when we keep our poets in a special house and observe them like we watch animals in the zoo, listen how they shout and howl their poetry, we are partly freed from our everyday identity and become romantic poetry desperadoes too. Take a closer look at Estonian writers in their private zoo. Their revolts and vanity, philosophy and drinking life style. Cheap accommodation is a way to escape, but it can be a trap too.

Year 1208. The first Eastward enlargement of Europe is under way. Brutal forces of the Teutonic Order are steadily marching on. In their path live a simple and peaceful people, whose main pastimes include cultivating the earth, singing and, if possible, doing both at the same time. They are the Estonians. Ignorant in the ways of war, they find an unlikely leader in a young boy with Catholic upbringing. In their fight for freedom, the Estonians encounter numerous obstacles, including the Germans, French, Russians and, worst of all, the Latvians. Will they succeed in defeating their enemies or will they experience a cultural awakening?