Cultural and Sports News

15 February

On Thursday, 21 February, in honour of the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, the Estonian Embassy in Helsinki has organised a formal reception in the embassy and the experimental concert-performance “Diva” at the Alexander Theatre. The project is being supported by Enterprise Estonia and the Estonian Institute in Finland.

The concert-performance “Diva” is a moving but also ridiculous duet-duel between an opera diva blinded by the lights of success and her long-suffering piano player, set to famous operatic arias. Playwright and director Paavo Piik of the Tallinn City Theatre wrote and directed this amusing concert performance with the help of singer Annaliisa Pillak’s observations from the music world. The role of the diva is being played by Annaliisa Pillak (Estonia-Finland) and the piano player is played by Marko Hilpo (Finland). 

The anniversary of the Republic of Estonia will also be celebrated formally in Helsinki on 24 February. Wreaths will be placed on the graves of Finnish volunteers that fell during the Estonian War of Independence in Vanhankirkko Park and in the evening there will be a gathering at the Estonian House and a concert in Alppila Church.

In connection with the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia and to celebrate the Estonian Year of Cultural Heritage, the embassy has organised for candles to be brought to the graves of folklorist and the first Estonian ambassador to Finland Oskar Kallas and his wife author Aino Kallas in Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki on 25 February.

13 July

The Foreign Ministry is supporting a special programme within the framework of the 16th Black Night Film Festival in the fall that will include documentary and feature films that address society in Estonia’s development co-operation partner countries Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. 

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that the countries that will be featured in the special programme are Estonia’s development co-operation partners, whose development has been supported over the years by the Foreign Ministry. “The film festival offers Estonian audiences a good opportunity to become better acquainted with the current issues and societal developments that affect the people and communities in these countries,” Paet said.

The Black Nights Film Festival (Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival, PÖFF) is an international film festival that aims to bring to audiences a selection of films made in the past two years in various countries that boast high artistic value and a notable position in the world’s current film landscape. The film festival’s long-term goal is to continue to introduce foreign films to Estonian audiences, thereby popularising film culture in Estonia.

The Foreign Ministry is supporting the special programme of the Black Nights Film Festival with 15 032 euros allocated from the budget for co-operation development.

19 January (ERR)

The Estonian National Football Team hit 52nd place in this month's FIFA rankings, a new record for the country. The results, announced 18 January, put Estonia five notches up from its December position, which was also a record at the time.

Despite not making it through the Euro 2012 qualifiers in autumn, the team has seen its ranking rise slowly and steadily over the past three months, inching up from 59th to 58th place in November before reaching the 57th spot last month.

In January's list, the top spot continues to be occupied by world football superpower Spain, followed by Holland and Germany.

Prior to last year, the highest Estonia ever climbed on the list was 60th place, which it achieved in December 2002. Its worst showing came in October 2008, when it languished at 137th.
 

20 February

On Sunday, 24 February Estonian cultural days dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia will begin in Poland.

The opening events of the cultural days will take place in Warsaw at the National Museum of Ethnography. Within the framework of the event an exhibit of traditional Estonian clothing will be opened, the band Väikeste Lõõtspillide Ühing will perform, and the documentary “Disco and Atomic War” and animated children’s film “Lotte and the Moonstone Secret” will be screened.

The exhibit “Traditional Estonian Clothing” was compiled from the collections of the Estonian National Museum and examines how traditions in folk clothing and handicrafts have changed. In recent years traditional clothing and accessories with traditional elements have grown in popularity and are once again used as everyday garments. The exhibit will remain open until 24 March. The coordinator of the exhibit is Tiit Sibul, the curator is Reet Piir, and the graphic designer is Jane Liiv.

Within the framework of the Estonian cultural days Estonian cinema will be shown, Estonian Mother Tongue Day will be celebrated, lectures on Estonian language and culture will take place, and themed workshops will be held for children.

The Estonian cultural days in Poland are being supported by the Estonian Embassy in Warsaw, Estonian National Museum, and the Polish National Museum of Ethnography.

27 March

The Estonian Embassy in Denmark in co-operation with Husets Biograf, the cinema at Copenhagen’s biggest culture house Huset KBH, has organised the three-night film series “Estonian Film Nights”.

Estonian Ambassador Katrin Kivi stated that the film nights are dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. “Showing Estonian films in the famous Copenhagen culture house will give us a good opportunity to introduce our cinema and Estonia in general,” noted Ambassador Kivi.

The opening night of the film series will be Wednesday, 17 April. The series will be introduced by Tristan Priimägi of the Estonian Film Institute.

On the first film night, 17 April, guests can watch Grigor Kromanov’s film “Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel”. On the next night, to be held on 8 May, Rasmus Merivoo’s “Buratino” will be shown, and on 5 June audiences will be able to view Mati Kütt’s “Sky Song”, Ülo Pikkov’s “Body Memory”, Rao Heidmets’s “Instinct”, and Riho Unt’s film “Brothers Bearheart”.

For more information on the opening event on 17 April: http://www.huset-kbh.dk/#event-3698.

The culture house Huset KBH is Denmark’s first and biggest culture house, where a multitude of music, theatre, film, and spoken word events take place. More information on Husets KHB and Husets Biograf: http://www.huset-kbh.dk/.
 

1 August (ERR)

The Estonian National Male Choir (RAM) will be taking part in the five-day Festival Europa Cantat XVIII which begins today in Turin, Italy. The group is to perform four a capella concerts in addition to attending a workshop by choir maestro Veljo Tormis.

Besides Tormis' work, RAM will perform the works of Cyrillus Kreek, Pärt Uusberg, Andres Lemba, Arvo Pärt, Märt-Matis Lille and Galina Grigorjeva, said the state concert institute Eesti Kontsert. Conductor Mikk Üleoja will handle the choirmaster and art direction duties.

On 2 August, the Best European Choir Conductor award for 2012 will be given to Belgian musician Maarten van Ingelgem, whose winning work will be performed by RAM. The choir will also perform Fabio Vacchi's “È questo il mare" and another Tormis piece during the festival's closing ceremony.

The Europa Cantat festival takes place every three years and is organised by the European Choral Association. More than 3 000 choir singers from across Europe are expected to attend the event, which comprises concerts, workshops, presentations and conferences for singers, conductors and composers.

4 February (BNS)

"Mushrooming" ("Seenelkäik"), a political satire from Estonian director Toomas Hussar, secured a place at the top of the box office rankings for Estonian films in 2012 with more than twice as many viewers as the next popular production, figures published by the Estonian Film Institute show.

"Mushrooming" was the most popular Estonian film this year."Mushrooming" was watched by an audience of 73 712 by the end of the year, with runner-up "A Lady in Paris" ("Eestlanna Pariisis," "Une Estonienne a Paris") second with 36 621 viewers and "Bad Hair Friday" ("Vasaku jala reede") third with 32 990.

"Purge" ("Puhastus"), a film based on a novel of the same name by Finnish-Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen, came fourth with an audience of 18 137 and "Demons" ("Deemonid") fifth with 17 494.

20 April 2012 (ERR)

On April 18, the Estonian indie folk band Ewert and the Two Dragons kicked off their French tour with a gig in Paris.

A performance on France 3, which is the second largest public television channel in France, two-page articles in the daily newspaper Libération, several write-ups in Le Monde and various webzines, appearances on French radio - these are just a few examples of the kind of attention that the band has been getting in France, reported ERR.

"There are surely several reasons for this interest. First of all, there's the quality of the album itself. Secondly, the fact that we are dealing with an Estonian band might have some bearing here. I think that through Ewert and the Two Dragons, the French media has discovered that there might be Estonians who are making the kind of music that we are already familiar with, for instance, music with British influences,' explained the representative of the record label Talitres, Sean Bouchard, who manages the band in France.

Ewert and the Two Dragons got their big break in France when the album "Good Man Down" was released by the record label Talitres, which focuses on indie music. Sean Bouchard, for instance, has also had a hand in the success of the US band The National.

Requests for interviews were still coming in during the rehearsal that preceded the band's Paris concert. Julien Courbe from the webzine blogotheque.net considers this to be a sign of the band's breakthrough in France. 'It is amazing that a small band that is represented by a small record label has received so much attention in the media,' he noted.

'Of course, it does not mean that they are selling a lot of records. In today's market, it is very difficult to sell a lot of records. But they have had a great start and it will be interesting to follow the concerts that they will be giving in France to see how many people attend and how they manage to persuade the audiences to listen to their music and to follow their career,' added the music critic for Le Monde Stephane Davet.

In the next few months, Ewert and the two Dragons will be giving over ten concerts in France.

17 January (BNS)

Kaia Kanepi (WTA 27) has advanced into the second round of the women's singles event at the Australian Open, taking one hour and 11 minutes to defeat Swede Johanna Larsson.

In the first set the 25th seeded Kanepi broke her opponent's serve twice, winning 6-2. In the second set the Estonian was down 1-4 but then took five games in a row and the set 6-4, the sports portal of the public broadcaster ERR said.

Kanepi hit three aces and made four double faults against the 60th ranked Swede's two and one.

In the second round the Estonian will face Russian Ekaterina Makarova (WTA 56) who is ahead 2-1 in head to head matches. Kanepi won their first encounter in Rimini in 2005 but was defeated in the two subsequent matches including at the French Open last year.
 

16 July (BNS)

The 11th Football European Under-19 Championship finals held in Estonia from 3-15 July were extremely popular with the public, attracting 46 412 spectators or on average 3 094 spectators per match, organisers said. The 15 matches of the finals were played in the capital Tallinn and in the regional capitals Rakvere and Haapsalu.

Compared with the spectator numbers of the earlier UEFA U-19 championship finals, Estonia beat Finland, which had 29 700 spectators, Norway with 28 091, Switzerland with 43 170, the Czech Republic with 45 484, Northern Ireland with 19 464, Romania with 22 000, and Liechtenstein with 20 510 spectators, the Estonian Football Association told BNS.

The director of the competition, Anne Rei, said she had received personal thanks from all teams along with expressions of satisfaction with the quality of the pitches, hotels, organisation of transport, level of volunteers, and the number of spectators.

The tournament ended with Spain defending their title, which resulted in a 1-0 (0-0) victory over Greece at Tallinn's Lilleküla stadium on Sunday night. It took Spain 80 minutes to break down Greece but their victory in Estonia was their sixth in just 11 editions of the competition. The late goal to make Spain champions again was scored by Jese Rodriguez.

Spain was also victorious 2-1 when the two sides met previously in group A of the Tallinn tournament.

20 February (ERR)

Swedes swept the podium at the windy 41st instalment of the Tartu ski marathon.

About 5 800 skiers braved the blustery conditions to compete in the full, 63 km distance in the marathon, the premier long-distance Estonian sporting event. A total of 1 800 skied the shorter 31 km distance. The total fell short of the 10 000 person capacity.

Jörgen Brink finished first with a time of 2:43:21, followed by Daniel Richardsson and Jimmie Johnsson. For almost three whole minutes, it was Sweden vs. Norway, with one Czech and Italian, before Estonian Algo Kärp crossed the line 24th. Kärp stated that he felt well but began to run out of energy after 47 kilometers or so.

On the women's side, compatriot Susanne Nyström crossed the line first. Swede Jenny Hansson was second. Only Seraina Boner of Switzerland slipped in third, breaking the potential Swedish double sweep.
 

21 January (ERR)

Estonians in Luxembourg have decided to open a monthly Sunday-school-style outfit to teach children about the Estonian language and culture.

"The need to establish an Estonian school emerged from the fact that around 30 children currently living in Luxembourg and the surrounding area attend local schools or cannot participate in the Estonian language lessons at the European School," Mari-Liis Kivioja, a parent who is one of the founders and who will direct the new school, told Postimees.

"The majority of these children are from multilingual families, and for that reason their Estonian tends to be passive due to living in another environment and speaking in Estonian with only one parent at home,“ she said.

The aim of the school is to teach the Estonian language, as well as literature, history, nature and holidays and traditional dance. There will be two age groups: those aged four to five, and those aged six to seven. In addition to the new school, Luxembourg has also had a local choir for Estonian children since 2009.

Funding for the school will come from participation fees and the Estonian Institute, an NGO.

There are many similar Sunday schools around the world, usually based out of the respective local Estonian House.

7 January

Today Foreign Minister Urmas Paet presented the Foreign Ministry cultural stipends to this year’s recipients. The stipends are given in recognition of people who have helped to increase international recognition of Estonia through culture.

“We recognise the members of the band Ewert and The Two Dragons Ewert Sundja, Erki Pärnoja, Kristjan Kallas, and Ivo Etti for their successful breakthrough on the international music scene, which also helped introduce Estonian music to the world,” said Foreign Minister Paet. The foreign minister stated that Estonia as a musical country and our representatives of classical music are already well-known abroad. “I am pleased that other genres of music are now joining classical music. Ewert and The Two Dragons is one of the biggest success stories in Estonian music in 2012,” Paet noted. The band gave over 110 concerts abroad in 2012, and their success in Europe is also confirmed by the European Union’s European Border Breakers Award, which the band will receive in January 2013.

Other recipients of this year’s Foreign Ministry cultural stipends are Ilmar Raag, Riina Sildos, and Laine Mägi. The feature film “A Lady in Paris”, which was created through the co-operation of Estonia, France and Belgium, boasts the most international co-operation of any feature film based on an original screenplay this year. “The creation of this film vividly illustrates the great results that can be achieved through this kind of international co-operation in film-making. Therefore we are recognising the creators and actors of the film,” Paet stated.

Paet stated that also deserving of great recognition is professor emeritus Kalle Kasemaa, who has translated over 60 books into Estonian from primarily Hebrew and Greek, but also from Arabic, Yiddish, Latin, German, French, Albanian, and Cymric. “Through translating world literature, Kasemaa has opened doors for us to see different cultures and helped us better understand those that seem far-away and foreign,” said the foreign minister. For example, in 2012 Kasemaa’s translation of the book “Yacoubian Building” by Egyptian author Alaa al-Aswany was published.

While presenting the cultural stipends, the foreign minister also emphasised that the Foreign Ministry very highly values the contribution of today’s recipients and all Estonian cultural figures to introducing Estonia abroad. “I am very pleased that the diverse and high-quality works of our artists and cultural figures provide a wonderful opportunity to introduce Estonia to the world,” stated the foreign minister.

Last year the stipends were presented to Aivar Mäe and the members of the creative team of the 2011 Youth Song and Dance Festival Aet Maatee, Veronika Portsmuth, Märt Agu, and Raul Talmar.  In 2010 the Foreign Ministry cultural stipends were received by Arvo Pärt, Tõnu Kaljuste and Tiina Lokk, and in  2009 they were given to Imbi Paju and Tiit Ojasoo.

15 June (ERR)

From 15-17 June, venues in many parts of the country will host concerts by Nordic and Baltic choirs in part of what may be the largest men's choral festival in the world. The Nordic-Baltic Male Choir Festival will see a total of 4 500 singers in men's and boys' choirs assembling in Tartu, the city where Estonia's legendary tradition of national song festivals every five years got started.

The idea to hold an all-male festival in an interim year harks back to independence movement figure J. V. Jannsen's original vision for the main festival. It actually wasn't until the fourth festival in 1891 that mixed choirs were invited.

The numbers for the weekend's event are impressive: of the participants, 1 800 singers will be from choirs from the Nordic region, 1 000 from Estonian choirs, and 1 700 from boys' choirs. The singers represent 89 men's choirs and 50 boys' choirs.

The headline event will take place at 18:00 Saturday at the Song Festival Grounds in Tartu's Tähtvere district. The massed choir will be composed of men's choirs from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands, with a number of elite performing organisations represented, including Estonia's own National Male Choir. Highlights will include unprecedented renditions of the "Slave Chorus" from Verdi's "Nabucco" and Sibelius's "Finlandia," by the 3 000-strong combined group.

The Vanemuine Theater Symphony Orchestra will provide musical backing, along with the Defence Forces Orchestra and the Police and Border Guard Orchestra. Closing numbers will include seminal choral songs by Gustav Ernesaks and Raimund Kull.

Three of the top choirs - Sweden's Orphei Drängar, Finland's Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat, and the Estonian National Male Choir - will perform Friday evening at the Vanemuine Concert Hall in Tartu and on Sunday at the Estonia Theater in Tallinn. The National Male Choir will also perform late Friday night at the St. John's Church in Tartu. The festival also includes 15 free concerts in regional venues in south and central Estonia as well as in Tallinn.
 

6 July (BNS)

The ballet company of the National Opera and Ballet House Estonia today started a two-week tour of guest performances in China.

Starting from Friday the Estonia troupe will perform on the great stage of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and starting from next Friday on the great stage of the Macao Cultural Centre. The Estonia is scheduled to give nine performances of the ballet "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and attract an audience of up to 13 000, spokespeople for Estonia said.

In Hong Kong the performances of the Estonian National Ballet will kick off the 15th International Arts Carnival. Parallel with the performances, the Estonian National Ballet will organise workshops for children, teach the basics of ballet to students, and give pre-performance info sessions to introduce Estonia.

The leading roles will be performed by Luana Georg, Heidi Kopti, Sergei Upkin, Aleksandr Kanapljov, Anatoli Arhangelski, Aleksandr Prigorovski, Jonathan Hanks and Michele Pellegrini. Risto Joost will be conducting the local orchestra in Macao.

7 February

The Estonian Film Institute completed its free app for iPad and Android called Estonian Film just in time for the start of the European Film Market in Berlin on 7 February.

The cover of the first issue of the new digital magazine Estonian Film. Estonian Film is an English-language digital magazine meant first and foremost for film professionals, but any film fans in Estonia or abroad can download and enjoy the magazine. The digital magazine can be found in the iTunes store or be downloaded from the Estonian Film Institute's website www.efsa.ee/apps.

The cover story of the first issue of the magazine is about the world's first full-length 3D puppet opera, "Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange: An Odd Love Story", which hits Estonian cinemas on 8 March, and its director Mait Laas. The issue also includes interviews with directors Ilmar Raag, Hardi Volmer, and Kadri Kõusaar and producer Anneli Ahven, all of whose newest films will be shown during the European Film Market taking place in Berlin from 7-15 February.

In addition, the issue includes news about Estonian films that are currently in the works, an overview of the Estonian film music website www.filmmusic.ee, and a look at the past year in film, including the events of Estonian film's 100th anniversary and various film-related statistics. All stories in the issue are illustrated with various supplementary materials, film trailers, and a colour photo gallery.

The distributor of the Estonian Film app is the Estonian Film Institute. The magazine was designed by Profimeedia and the technical side was handled by Digira.

The second issue of the magazine will appear in May of this year prior to the Cannes Film Festival and Film Market.

19 October

The winners of the 2013 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), were announced today by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, and the European music festival Eurosonic Noorderslag. The Estonian indie-rock band Ewert and The Two Dragons are among the winners of the 2013 awards.

Ewert and The Two Dragons with a fan at the Positivus Festival in Latvia. Delfi.The EBBA Awards celebrate the top new talents in European pop music and all the award-winners have achieved success beyond their home country with their first international release. Other winners include French Films (Finland) and Of Monsters and Men (Iceland).

To be eligible for the awards, the artists must have enjoyed border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2011 and 31 July 2012. The winners are selected by music market analyst Nielsen Music Control on the basis of record sales and broadcast frequency and according to votes by European Broadcasting Union (EBU) radio stations and festivals participating in the European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP). The winners will receive their awards in a televised ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on 9 January 2013.

Former winners of the EBBA Awards include Adele, The Baseballs, The Dø, KT Tunstall, Tokio Hotel, The Ting Tings, Lykke Li, The Scripts, Milow, Katie Melua, Mumford and Sons, Selah Sue, Swedish House Mafia and Caro Emerald.

Ewert and The Two Dragons released its album "Good Man Down" in 2011. The album received critical acclaim in Estonia, Latvia, Finland, France and Sweden and the band has toured all over Europe as well as in the United States and Canada.

23 February (BNS)

The double world champion and double Olympic winner Andrus Veerpalu is not going to take part in the Holmenkollen world championship competitions that will open on Wednesday and will simultaneously end his long athletic career.

The Estonian Ski Association said that Veerpalu's (40) medical condition did not permit him to come to the start in Holmenkollen and to fight for the best place on the podium. The physician of the team, Tarvo Kiudma, said Veerpalu had been fighting back an acute upper respiratory infection for the past week.

"Preparation and will are big, and the whole team and background forces have been doing a lot of work, but health and apparently also age are giving a signal that even the most ambitious sportsman must heed. We have spoken about possible retirement in a narrower circle, both of us wanted to put a beautiful full stop on the World Championships, but real life is something else, the Ski Association reported Veerpalu as saying.

Veerpalu said that his feelings after making the decision to leave competitive sports were contradictory. "I hope that a step back from competitive sports means a step ahead in life."

Veerpalu is a two-time Olympic winner and double world champion.
 

17 January (ERR)

A London-based classical music review website has, for the second year running, named Arvo Pärt the year's most-performed living composer. Arvo Pärt's music is performed more than that of any other living composer.Bachtrack.com put the 77-year-old Estonian in 54th place overall in its "Concert and Opera League Tables 2012," a list created from a sampling of 12 597 concerts and 4 451 opera performances.

"[The] table contains the composers who featured in the greatest number of concerts during the year: a composer gets an entry if at least one work was performed in a given concert," the article accompanying the rankings said.

Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Brahms and Schubert occupied the top spots on the list, followed by Tchaikovsky, Handel, Haydn, Debussy and Schumann.

The only two other living composers who found their way into the list's top 100 were Eric Whitacre (78th) and John Adams (89th).

Pärt is known for his minimalist style as well as for the compositional technique he invented, tintinnabuli, which takes its influence from spiritual chant.

17 September (BNS)

The London Olympic fourth-place finishers, Estonians Kaspar Taimsoo, Tõnu Endrekson, Allar Raja and Andrei Jamsa, won gold in men's quadruple sculls at the rowing European championships in Varese,  Italy on Sunday. The Estonians scored the fastest qualifying time in Saturday's semifinals and had the early lead in Sunday's race.

Through the middle of the race Estonia cleared a boat length's lead over Slovenia, who remained second with Russia pressing hard to catch up. By the time of the final sprint, Estonia had worked to an open-water lead with Slovenia still clinging on to second over Russia. At the finish line, Ukraine came storming through to snatch the silver, leaving Slovenia with bronze, the portal www.worldrowing.com said.

Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces Brig. Gen. Riho Terras called to offer his congratulations to the gold-winning Estonian men's quadruple sculls team, as three of its members are Defence Forces personnel and one a member of the police force.

Estonia finished their 2012 season with a European Championship gold medal with a time 5.47.91, a sound lead of more than three seconds over Ukraine, whose finishing time was 5.51.18.

Kaisa Pajusalu of Estonia won bronze in women's single sculls, behind Serbia's Iva Obradovic for silver and Lithuania's Donata Vistartaite for gold.

12 December (ERR)

Estonian swimmers Triin Aljand and Martti Aljand both took home medals from the European Short Course Swimming Championships held in Szczecin, Poland, from 8-11 December.

Triin Aljand, photo: sport.err.eeTriin Aljand won a silver medal in the 50-meter butterfly and a bronze in the women's 50-meter freestyle at this year's championships. In the 50-meter butterfly, first place went to Danish competitor Jeanette Ottesen with 24.92 – a new championship record. Ottesen was followed by Aljand (25.51) and Sviatlana Hahlova from Belarus (25.96), sport.err.ee reported. In the women's 50-meter freestyle Aljand had a time of 24.23. Aljand was outperformed by Ottesen (24.11) and Steffen Britta from Germany (24.01).

In the men's 100-meter individual medley swimmer Martti Aljand won bronze with 53.37, with which he set a new Estonian record. First place went to Peter Mankoc from Slovenia (52.70), followed by German Markus Deibler (53.04).
 

17 October (BNS)

Tickets to the first match of the Estonia-Ireland playoff for Euro 2012, to be played in Tallinn on 11 November, were sold out in less than 30 minutes on Monday morning.

According to the information system of the online seller Piletilevi, all tickets to the game were sold before 10.30 a.m. Selling started at 10.00.

The Estonian Football Association said that approximately 3 500 tickets to the game were sold via the Piletilevi system during the 25 minutes. Prior to that fans' associations and clubs had booked 4 500 tickets and the Irish national association 1 400 tickets. "As usual, fans' associations and football clubs had the opportunity to book tickets earlier -- on the one hand so that the people who are supporters of the national team on a permanent basis won't be left behind the gates and on the other hand to reduce the volume of the black market," the president of the Estonian association, Aivar Pohlak, said.

On Monday, more than 2 000 tickets were sold over the internet and 1 222 at Piletilevi sales outlets. Tickets could not be bought from abroad via the internet and the number of tickets that could be bought on any one occasion was limited to four.

The Estonian Football Association said it was checking on reports that some individuals had bought a significantly bigger number of tickets. "Considering that a larger-scale speculation of this kind could only take place with tickets bought at Piletilevi, the total number of which was 1 222, we find that the number of tickets ending up on the so-called black market is not very big and the Estonian Football Association continues to be of the opinion that the low price of the ticket was not only a fair decision but also the right decision," Pohlak said.

The secretary general of the Estonian association, Tõnu Sirel, issued a warning to Irish supporters tempted to buy a black market ticket in Estonia. "The Estonian Football Association holds exclusive rights to selling tickets to the Estonia-Ireland match. The ticket is property of the Estonian Football Association, and if the person who bought it violates the rules, including by re-selling the ticket at a higher price, we have the right to declare the ticket invalid," Sirel said.

Estonia, who beat Northern Ireland twice in their qualifying group, will take on Ireland at home at the Lilleküla stadium in Tallinn in a match starting at 21.45 local time (19.45 GMT) on 11 November. The return leg will take place at the Aviva stadium in Dublin on 15 November.

The other playoffs see Turkey up against Croatia, the Czech Republic playing Montenegro, and Portugal facing Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Estonia finished 10 points behind their qualifying group winners Italy and a point clear of Serbia, whose 1-0 defeat in Slovenia ended their hopes of taking the runners-up spot.

In the latest FIFA rankings Ireland is tied with South Korea in place 29 while Estonia is ranked 58th.
 

23 December

Tallinn’s year as the European Capital of Culture is drawing to a close. On 22 December the closing ceremony of the European Capital of Culture 2011 took place in various parts of Tallinn. At Freedom Square, people gathered to listen to a unique church bell concert, while the cruise ship dock of the Old Town Harbour accommodated a screening of 60 one-minute films made by directors from all over the world. The ceremony ended with a fire show on Harjumägi.

Tallinn and the city of Turku in neighbouring Finland shared the title of European Capital of Culture for the year 2011. Throughout the year a total of about 7 000 cultural events took place in Tallinn, which were visited by two million guests.

The theme of the Capital of Culture year was Stories of the Seashore, and many events were held in and highlighted Tallinn’s waterfront areas. Tallinn's grassroots-oriented programme also encouraged the creation of homegrown cultural startups. Among the largest events were the Tallinn Maritime Days (visited by 100 000 people) and the Song and Dance Festival (which drew 48 000 spectators). Some other highlights of the Capital of Culture programme included the NO99 Straw Theatre, where productions were staged throughout the summer, the Song of Freedom concert that celebrated 20 years of restored independence, and 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero, an open-air cinema event. The European Capital of Culture programme also included co-operation with many other European countries.
 

30 April 2012 (ERR)

It was 100 years ago today that the country's first filmmaker, Johannes Pääsuke, premiered his first short in Tartu, a chronicle of Russian aviator Sergei Utoshkin's stunt flight.

To mark the occasion, movie enthusiasts are holding major events in the city today, ETV reported. Among them is an awards ceremony that will honor top Estonian filmmakers in nine categories. ETV will begin broadcasting the event tonight at 20:00.

Other events celebrating the 100th anniversary of Estonian movie-making are being held throughout the year. Readers can keep up to date on the festival's English-language website.

The first moving pictures shot in Estonia were made by foreign cameramen in 1908, when the King of England met with the Russian tsar.

In 1912, Pääsuke shot the first-ever Estonian documentary, which unfortunately has not been preserved. Although the stunt pilot Utoshkin did fly in Tartu, it has been ascertained that the first film itself was not made in Tartu. Evidence shows, though, that the film was in fact made by Pääsuke (little information about the man, other than his creations, remains).

Two years later, Pääsuke's feature film "Karujaht Pärnumaal" (The Pärnu County Bear Hunt) was completed. Also a photographer, Pääsuke took thousands of photos of towns across the nation, depicting the diversity of the various regions of Estonia.

Read more about the anniversary of the Estonian film

25 July (ERR)

Rein Taaramäe finished 12th overall in the Tour de France, the best-ever result for an Estonian rider. The 24-year-old came in second in the youth standings, 46 seconds behind Pierre Rolland from France.

Taarmaäe, who was on the Cofidis team, was 11 minutes, 29 seconds off the pace of the winner of the grueling two-week bicycle race, Australian Cadel Evans.

"Rolland and Taaramäe, amongst others, are the great hopes of cycling," Cofidis team manager Eric Boyer was quoted as saying on cyclingnews.com.

Postimees reported that after the finish on Sunday 24 July, Rolland credited Taaramäe. Rolland said that the team's sports director had told him, "[The race] would be very hard as powerful contenders such Robert Gesink and Rein Taaramäe were on the course."

Veteran cyclist Jaan Kirsipuu, probably the best known Estonian cyclist internationally, has ridden in 10 Tours but has never finished. He has worn the yellow jersey four times, however.

The late Jaanus Kuum, who was active mainly during the Soviet era, finished 24th one year, which was previously the best finish by an Estonian.

10 January (BNS)

The winners of the 2013 European Border Breakers Awards, which highlight the best new music acts in Europe that have achieved cross-border chart success, were honoured at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival at Groningen in the Netherlands on Wednesday night.

The biggest winners of the night were the French DJ collective C2C, who scooped the public choice award, which was announced live during the ceremony following an online vote to select the “best of the best”. A four-time winner of the World DJ Championships, the DJ collective originating from Nantes mix jazz, soul, blues, electro and hip-hop. Their debut album, Tetra, achieved platinum (100 000) sales in France and also charted in Belgium and Switzerland.

The award ceremony featured performances by C2C and six of the other ten winners of the 2013 EBBA: Nabiha from Denmark, Ewert and The Two Dragons from Estonia, French Films from Finland, Dope D.O.D. from the Netherlands, Amor Electro from Portugal, and Juan Zelada from Spain.

Hosted by British TV presenter-bandleader Jools Holland and Dutch singer-actress Birgit Schuurman, the event will be broadcast throughout Europe in the coming weeks, organisers said.

The award for Ewert and the Two Dragons was announced at the 10th jubilee gala of EBBA by Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in a video message.

2 May (ERR)

Estonia's top tennis player, Kaia Kanepi (WTA 40), has earned her way into tomorrow’s semifinals at the Portugal Open where she will face fourth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro (WTA 23) of Spain.

The match is slated to take place in the center court and will likely start at approximately 14:00 Estonian time.

The 27-year-old Kanepi moved into semifinal position on Thursday by beating Japan's Ayumi Morita (WTA 43) 6-4, 6-3.

Kanepi is the defending champion in Oeiras, having made the third tournament win of her career there last May.

21 February (BNS)

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip finished the 40th Tartu Maraton ski marathon, which took place on Sunday, in 903rd place, while Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi came in 568th.

Ansip finished the 63-kilometer main race in four hours, four minutes and 13 seconds. Ligi's time was three hours, 47 minutes and 47 seconds. The prime minister's bodyguard Alar Ridamäe finished in 904th place, after the prime minister.

The marathon, which is part of the Worldloppet series since 1994, was won by 21-year-old Swede Jerry Ahrlin with a time of 2:41:23. In places two and three followed Anders Aukland and Simen Oestensen, both from Norway.

The competition was held in cold but sunny weather. The pace of the race was quite fast, especially in the last third. In the end Jerry Ahrlin, who was also victorious here in 2007, showed his strength and took the first place. The fastest woman on the track was 21-year-old Sandra Hansson from Norway, who took her third victory in a row in Estonia.

In all 4 610 skiers finished the 63 kilometer race on Sunday.
 

16 June (BNS)

The third Finnish-Estonian folk dance festival will take place in Tampere on 17 June. There will be 5 000 dancers, musicians and singers taking part in the third joint Finnish-Estonian dance festival, half of them from Estonia. The dance festival is entitled Velisinfonia (Brotherhood Symphony) and its artistic conductors are Petri Kauppinen from Finland and Kalev Järvela from Estonia,

The third Finnish-Estonian dance festival was organised by Folklore Suomi Finland RY and Eesti Rahvatantsu ja Rahvamuusika Selts (Estonian Folk Dance and Folk Music Society). The Eesti Rahvatantsukeskus (Estonian Fold Dance Center), Eesti Laulu- ja Tantsupeo Sihtasutus (Estonian Song and Dance Festival Foundation), and Suomen Nuorisoseurojen Liitto (Finnish Youth Societies' Association) are also co-operating.

The first joint Finnish-Estonian dance festival took place in 2000 in Helsinki and the second in Tartu in 2005. The third Finnish Estonian dance festival will open at 13.00 at the Ratina Stadium in Tampere.

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Evelin Ilves will take part in the Finnish-Estonian dance festival Sunday. The Finnish president's office said that Finnish President Sauli Niinistö with his wife Jenni Haukio would also take part in the dance festival.

28 December (BNS)

Wrestler Heiki Nabi has been voted sportsman of the year and Triin Aljand sportswoman of the year 2012.

Nabi won silver at the London Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling and Aljand took home silver from the swimming world championships.

The men's double sculls team consisting of Kaspar Taimsoo, Allar Raja, Andrei Jamsa and Tonu Endrekson, who placed 4th at the Olympics and won the European championships, were chosen Estonia's best team. The best trainer award went to Nabi's coach Henn Polluste. Tennis player Anett Kontaveit was voted the young athlete of the year.

The athletes of the year are picked by members of the public, sports organisations, and sports reporters.
 

12 December (BNS)

The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt has became a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the internet issue of the German daily Die Welt reported.

Pope Benedict XVI has asked Wolf Joachim Singer, director of the German Max Planck Institute, and Arvo Pärt to become members of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The aim of the Pontifical Council for Culture is to maintain dialogue between the Catholic Church and culture.

Last Wednesday Pärt was also elected an Academician of the Estonian Academy of Science in music.
 

20 January (ERR)

Estonian professional sumo wrestler Kaido Höövelson, better known as Baruto, locked in the first top division tournament victory of his career on Friday by scoring his 13th consecutive win at the Hatsu-basho in Tokyo.

The 27-year-old Baruto took the decisive bout by knocking fellow ozeki Kotoshogiku out of the ring using the shitatenage move, an underarm throw. Though two more match days remain in the tournament, no other competitor has enough wins to catch up.

Baruto is next scheduled to battle Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshuga, with whom he has a record of eight wins and 12 losses, reported sport.err.ee. He will go on to face yokozuna Hakuho on the last day of the tournament.

Until now, Baruto's best performance in a Makuuchi-level tournament was the 14-1 score he achieved at the Haru-basho in Oksaka in March 2010. The result, however, wasn't enough to win him that tournament.
 

31 January (ERR)

Representing Estonia in Lyon, Pinnak's team came in 14th out of the 24 nations competing in the final round of one of the world's most prestigious chef championships.

As the Bocuse d'Or's only female contestant, Pinnak outperformed chefs from leading culinary powerhouses Italy and Holland, improving her position by one place since her last performance in 2009, reported the competition's website.

Chefs from across the globe went head-to-head in yesterday's final round of the event, frequently referred to as the culinary equivalent of the Olympic Games. In the 20-year history of the competition, the number of female finalists can be counted on one hand, ETV reported.

Pinnak's team used Estonia's local ingredients including Vana Tallinn liquor, quail eggs, rye bread, juniper berries and pine shoots. 

“I want to show that Estonia has a lot to offer to the world in terms of local chefs and local cuisine inspired by local ingredients. I hope that this will encourage young Estonian chefs to aspire high, value local traditions and recreate them,” said Pinnak.

Pinnak was spurred on at the event by Evelin Ilves, the spouse of Estonia's President, and Minister of Agriculture Helir-Valdor Seeder, among other dignitaries.
  
France claimed the top spot, followed by Denmark and Japan.

27 July (ERR)

The 19th Viljandi Folk Music Festival, held from 28-31 July, promises a rhythmically explosive program, attracting thousands of music lovers from Estonia and abroad.

According to Ando Kiviberg, head organiser of the event, the ticket sales have given a reason to believe that interest toward Estonia's biggest folk festival remains high.

The main program of the four-day festival has 70 concerts, yet additional performances will be given both on the open stage and on the street corners of Viljandi.

Besides Estonian folk artists, the stage will also feature those from India, Senegal, the Dominican Republic, UK, Denmark and elsewhere.

Visitors can also attend instrument fairs, handicraft workshops and film sessions.
 

17 October (ERR)

Estonia picked up its first victory in football's 2014 World Championships qualifiers, scoring in the 59th minute of its Group D match against Andorra and protecting the lead to the end. Andres Oper scored the game's only goal.

Estonia beat Andorra 1-0. The national team didn't lack for opportunities early, as Joel Lindpere centred from the right flank in the seventh minute, and Tarmo Neemelo just missed a header into the net. Three minutes later, it was Ats Purje and Andres Oper on the attack, but this time Oper's header went just wide.

There were two additional good scoring opportunities in the first half.

Andorra had its best chance of the game three minutes into the second half, as a long lob eluded goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko and went just over the crossbar.

28 August (BNS)

Estonia is sending three athletes to the 2012 Paralympic Games that will start in London on Wednesday, two of whom will compete in shot put and one in swimming.

The 24-year-old swimmer, Kardo Ploomipuu, will enter the contest in 50 meters freestyle on 31 August and 100 meters backstroke on 4 September. Ploomipuu won bronze in 100 meters backstroke in Beijing four years ago.

Sirly Tiik, 37, will compete in women's shot put on 5 September and Jüri Bergmann, 23, in men's shot put on 7 September, the Estonian Paralympics team said.

The opening ceremony of the London Paralympics will take place Wednesday and the games will continue until 9 September.

19 April

Today in Tallinn Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs announced the winner of the Estonian-Latvian/Latvian-Estonian translation prize. The winner of the prize was Latvian translator Maima Grīnberga. The masterful translation that earned her the award was of Jaan Kross’s great historical novel “Between Three Plagues”. Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that it is noteworthy that Maima Grīnberga has already won the translation prize once before, in 2009.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that the translation contest proves that Estonian literature is in good standing. “It is brought to Latvian readers by very good professional translators that are enthusiastic about their work. Thanks to them, Estonian literature reaches readers in Latvia and also speaks to them,” Paet stated. He also expressed hope that a new generation of Latvian-Estonian translators is growing so that Latvian authors can be sure that the translations of their works in Estonian will play a role in Estonia’s literary scene.

Foreign ministers Paet and Rinkēvičs expressed their satisfaction that the translation prize initiative has become a tradition of the Estonian and Latvian cultural space – it was given out for the fourth time this year. “We are pleased that the translation prize is well-known in literary circles and it serves as motivation for translators, the cultural mediators of our countries,” added Foreign Minister Paet.

Maima Grīnberga is a dedicated, professional, productive translator with a command of many styles and who is unmatched in her own genre. She has translated the works of many important Estonian authors into Latvian, including those of Jaan Kross and Enn Vetemaa, but also youth and children’s authors Aidi Vallik, Sass Henno, and Andrus Kivirähk.

With the translation prize, the Estonian and Latvian foreign ministers hope to inspire the translation of Estonian-language literature into Latvian and vice versa. The Estonian-Latvian and Latvian-Estonian translation award emphasises the importance of the Estonian and Latvian languages as well as cultural exchange in order to advance the professionalism of translators of literature as well as political, popular science, historical, sociological, memoirs and other texts.

The jury will contain representatives from the foreign ministries of the two countries and the director of each nation’s literature information centre. The monetary value of the award is 3 000 euros, to which both sides are contributing equally.

The agreement that established the Estonian-Latvian and Latvian-Estonian translation award was signed by Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and Latvian Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš on 18 February 2009. The idea for the creation of the award came from Estonian Ambassador to Latvia Jaak Jõerüüt and Latvian Ambassador to Estonia Kārlis Eihenbaums, who presented a joint letter proposing the implementation of the idea to the foreign ministries of both countries at the end of 2008.

In previous years the prize has been awarded to translators Maima Grīnberga (2009), Guntars Godinš (2010), and Kalev Kalkun (2011).
 

24 October

On Tuesday, 23 October, General Inspector of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and French curator of the cultural festival “Estonie Tonique” Benoît Paumier presented the French Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) to cultural counsellor of the Estonian Embassy Kersti Kirs in a ceremony at the Estonian Embassy in Paris.

Kersti Kirs, who has worked at the embassy in Paris as a cultural counsellor since 2007 and served as Estonia's representative to UNESCO, earned the high honour from the state of France for her involvement in the Estonian cultural festival “Estonie Tonique” that took place in Paris and the surrounding areas in October and November 2011.

The order is recognition for Kersti Kirs's contribution to developing France-Estonia cultural ties. In his speech after presenting the medal, Benoît Paumier thanked Kersti Kirs for her dedication and work in organising and carrying out the Estonian festival as well as for her earlier efforts to introduce French culture, especially music, in Estonia.

Following the Estonian cultural festival “Estonie Tonique”, French Orders of Arts and Letters have also been awarded to composer Helena Tulve, artistic director of the singing group Vox Clamantis Jaan-Eik Tulve, film director Ilmar Raag, director Lembit Peterson, and the festival's Estonian co-ordinator, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture Ragnar Siil.

16 July (BNS)

The Montreal World Film Festival in Canada has picked the short film by Estonia filmmaker Anu Aun entitled “Shift” into its programme.

The Montreal World Film Festival, which takes place for the 35th time this year, is one of Canada's oldest film festivals and the only A Category film festival in North America with the accreditation of global producers' associations and accredited by the international federation.

“Shift” will be screened in the Focus on World Cinema programme at the festival, which takes place from 18-28 August this year. The short film has been chosen for the programme of 32 international film festivals and has won seven prizes, Luxfilm informed BNS.

The main characters of Shift are Mari Abel and Katariina Lauk. The director and screenwriter is Anu Aun.
 

27 March (BNS)

The April movie programme of Eurochannel, which is distributed outside Europe, is this year dedicated to Estonia. Among other things, the movies “Shop of Dreams” and the series “Class: Life After” will be shown.

The programme that focuses on a different country each month started on Eurochannel six years ago, Gustavo Veinstein, President of Eurochannel, told BNS. Three years ago representatives of Eurochannel visited the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) and discovered the Estonian programme for themselves.

The idea of having an Estonian month on Eurochannel was born a year ago. Vainstein said that it took a little time to put together the programme, but it was not difficult as the quality of Estonian movies is high.

In addition to “Shop of Dreams” and “Class: Life After”, other works to be shown are “Night of the Carrots”, “Karl and Marilyn”, and “Still Alive” will be shown. In addition, Eurochannel will show Estonian Movie 100 advertisement clips.

Eurochannel is a television channel presenting European culture and lifestyle that is distributed in South America, the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Angola, Mozambique, Portugal, and South Korea. The programme of European origin alone is shown in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Korean.

22 March

Today an exhibit introducing traditional Estonian clothing entitled “Estonians’ Traditional Clothing” will be opened in the State Museum of Ukrainian Decorative Folk Art in Kiev.

The exhibit was created using the collections of the Estonian National Museum and provides an overview of how clothing and handicraft traditions have changed in Estonia, where in recent years using elements of traditional clothing or traditional accessories has become very popular and such elements are once again used every day.

The exhibit introduces the traditions of creating and wearing traditional clothing. Through the exhibit one sees how traditional clothing became a national symbol and the meaning of these clothes for Estonians both at home and abroad. Also highlighted are some modern-day items that were inspired by elements of traditional clothing.

The Estonian National Museum’s exhibit “Estonians’ Traditional Clothing” will be on display in the State Museum of Ukrainian Decorative Folk Art from 22 March to 24 April 2012.

The exhibit was co-ordinated by Kristjan Raba, the curators are Reet Piiri and Jane Liiv, and the graphic designer in Jane Liiv.

The exhibit is being supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Estonian Embassy in Ukraine.
 

8 May (BNS)

Estonia's Kaia Kanepi (WTA 51) has advanced to the third round of the Madrid Open, defeating Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro (WTA 23) 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday, public broadcaster ERR reports.

Kanepi fell behind 0-2 in the first set but dominated the rest of the match.

On Friday Kanepi played Navarro in the semifinal of the Portugal Open and lost 6-4, 6-1.

The Estonian will meet either Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic or Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the third round.  

7 November (ERR)

Top Estonian footballer Joel Lindpere will be reunited with his national team this week, though exactly in what capacity he'll be helping battle Ireland in the Euro 2012 playoffs is not yet clear.

The 30-year-old had earlier looked unlikely to participate in the critical matches on 11 and 15 November, having declared that his duty to his home club, the New York Red Bulls, took precedence. However, that factor was eliminated on 3 November, when a 2-1 loss to Los Angeles Galaxy knocked the Bulls out of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

The Estonian team announced the next day that Lindpere had agreed to return after a two-year absence from the club.

In an interview with ETV, assistant coach Janno Kivisild said that it was too early to say what role the attacking midfielder would have in the matches, and that a decision would be made after the first practice on 8 November.

The first leg of the playoffs, which will determine whether Ireland or Estonia will be headed to the UEFA Euro 2012 championships next summer, will be held in Tallinn on 11 November.
 

14 September (BNS)

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves noted the need to publish a Latvian-Estonian dictionary during his meeting with Latvian colleague Andris Berzins in Riga on Friday.

The dictionary project was proposed following the release of a Latvian-Estonian co-operation report that was drawn up in 2010 at the initiative of the two countries' prime ministers, the Latvian president's press service told BNS.

Ilves pointed out that no fundamental Latvian-Estonian and Estonian-Latvian dictionary has been published in the history of independent Latvia and Estonia. Berzins, for his part, affirmed that as far as Latvia is concerned there would be no financial obstacles to the publication of such a dictionary.

On Friday a Livonian-Estonian-Latvian dictionary was presented in Riga which was created with the support of the Estonian and Latvian governments.

4 October (BNS)

The Seaplane Harbour of the Estonian Maritime Museum has been short-listed for the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in two subcategories.

The Seaplane Harbour of the Estonian Maritime Museum was opened on 12 May this year.The Seaplane Harbour will be represented at the festival by KOKO architects Andrus Koresaar and Raivo Kotov, who will present the reconstruction of the unique seaplane harbour and the design of the brand-new museum to the best architects of the world. This year the World of Architecture festival is taking place in Singapore.

The new maritime museum was built into the unique seaplane harbour hangars that were built on the coast of Estonia's capital Tallinn in 1916-1917; the powerful reinforced concrete domes of the hangars were the world's biggest at the time. One main component of the maritime museum's exposition, which contains nearly two hundred large exhibits, is the legendary submarine Lembit. The museum opened on 12 May this year and received 30 000 visitors within the first three weeks of being open.

The World of Architecture Festival is one of the world's biggest architecture festivals. It is taking place for the fifth time this year and 500 projects took part in the first round.

8 February (ERR)

Those not up for skiing 63 km solo through possibly Arctic conditions can now team up with three other skiers and split up the distance in what Tartu Marathon organisers hope will become a new tradition a week before the race – the marathon relay.

The course for the 12 February event will be the same as the one to be contested on 19 February from Otepää to Elva. The four legs will vary in difficulty and length, between 12 and 20 km.

“The relay is a great opportunity for all colleagues, friends and families to don skis and take part in a team marathon event," said Inderk Kelk, marathon director.

As of 7 February, 60 teams had been registered for the relay. Online registration runs until the close of business on 10 February, in person until 11 February.
 

17 April (BNS)

About 40 out of the one hundred or so vessels to take part in Tall Ships Race 2013 this summer are expected to call at the ports of Saaremaa Island, the regional newspaper Saarte Hääl said.

The vessels will be in Saaremaa from 22-23 July. The Tall Ships Race 2013 will consist of two legs. In Leg 1, the ships will sail from Arhus in Denmark to Helsinki in Finland, while in Leg 2 they will sail from Riga, Latvia to Szczecin in Poland. Between the two legs there will be a Cruise in Company from Helsinki to Riga, as part of which some of the vessels will visit Saaremaa, the paper said.

Arhus will serve as host port for the vessels from 4-7 July, Helsinki from 17-20 July , Riga from 25-28 July, and Szczecin from 3-6 August.

Madis Rallmann, board member of STA Estonia who co-ordinates the visit ofthe tall ships to Saaremaa, said 45 ships calling at Saaremaa ports would be a satisfying outcome. "Everything on top of that will be a bonus. With that number of yachts we can speak of approximately one thousand sailing enthusiasts visiting the Roomassaare harbour and Saaremaa harbour," Rallmann said.

The biggest of the vessels to take part in Tall Ships Race 2013 are too big to berth at Roomassaare, the port situated near Saaremaa's main city Kuressaare. The biggest of the vessels will approach Saaremaa from the West while for the smaller ones organisers have recommended to sail in procession via the Big Strait, the passage between the mainland and the Muhu/Saaremaa islands.

27 February

Today, 27 February, Estonian Ambassador to Russia Jüri Luik opened an exhibit of Eduard Wiiralt’s graphic art in the Estonian Embassy in Moscow on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.

Ambassador Jüri Luik acknowledged that Wiiralt, who is one of the most cosmopolitan Estonian artists in terms of both his work and his life, represents the European spirit for which Estonians have always been known in Moscow.

The colourful graphic pieces from the series entitled “Absinthe Drinkers” and “Estonian Girl” are on display in the exhibit. Each of the “Absinthe Drinkers” proofs are printed by the artist in different tones, and the “Estonian Girl” etchings also differ from one another in colour. The rich use of colour, particularly in “Absinthe Drinkers”, will surely come as a surprise to many viewers. By examining the details of various proofs, one can also follow the process of how the works were done.

The embassy is grateful to Toomas Sildmäe, whose collection the works belong to, for the opportunity to display the works of one of Estonia’s most beloved artists on the occasion of the anniversary of the republic. The exhibit is also symbolic because Wiiralt himself played a role in the birth of the Republic of Estonia, having volunteered to serve in the War of Independence.

12 July (BNS)

A feature film by the Estonian director Ilmar Raag, “Une estonienne a Paris”, has been picked for the main competition program of the Locarno Film Festival. Raag's film will have its world premier in the festival, which marks its 65th anniversary this year. The film will arrive on screens in Estonia on 12 October, the Estonian Film Foundation told BNS.

The films in the competition program will arrive before 8 000 viewers at the Piazza Grande in Locarno, where one of the biggest open-air screens has been installed.

Ilmar Raag's “Une estonienne a Paris” is a drama about two women in Paris, shot in Estonian small towns and in Paris. The producers of the film, completed in co-operation between with Estonia, France and Belgium, are Riina Sildos of Estonia, Milena Poylo and Gilles Sacuto of France, and Philippe Kauffmann of Belgium. In 2008 “Une estonienne a Paris” was picked as the first Estonian project to the Cannes film festival Cinefondation project market L'Atelier.

28 December (ERR)

After an eventful sporting year, the efforts of Estonia’s best athletes were recognised in an awards ceremony on 27 December.

Best male athlete went to discus thrower Gerd Kanter, who in 2011 took silver at the World Championships in Daegu. Kanter beat road bicycle racer Rein Taaramäe and midfielder Konstantin Vassiljev of the national football team for the number one spot.

Swimmer Triin Aljand, who won a silver and bronze medal from the European Short Course Championships, was awarded best female athlete. Estonia’s star tennis player Kaia Kanepi ranked second.

Youth European Championship winner heptathlete Grit Sadeiko was named best young athlete, ousting Junior European Champion in javelin Liina Laasmaa and Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship winner Anett Kontaveit. The national football team, which ended its most successful ever European Football Championship preliminaries this year, was named team of the year, with the best coach title going to Tarmo Rüütli.

Swimmer Kardo Ploomipuu was awarded Paralympic athlete of the year. In 2011, he took European Championship gold in the 100-meter backstroke.

The winners were picked by a combined vote of the public, sports associations and journalists.
 

24 October (ERR)

Estonian nature photographer Remo Savisaar's photo of a deer was deemed worthy of second place in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year black and white nature photography category last week.

Over 48 000 photos from 98 countries were submitted for all categories of the Veolia-sponsored competition, regarded as a prestigious international nature photography competition, reported Delfi.

The deer in the chiaroscuro setting was photographed on a winter's day in the Vooremaa area of east central Estonia. The photo and the story behind it can be viewed on the Wildlife Photographer of the Year website.

8 February (ERR)

Arvo Pärt's Fourth Symphony, "Los Angeles," which is dedicated to the Russian political prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has been nominated for a Grammy for best classical contemporary composition. The Symphony was recorded by the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

The composer has asked Mikhail Khodorkovsky's son Pavel to represent his father at the award ceremony on 13 February in Los Angeles, the Khodorkovsky and Lebedev Communications Center homepage reports.

On 31 January, the citizen initiative Friends of Russian Democrats organised a demonstration in front of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn to support Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev and other Russian political prisoners. Arvo Pärt expressed his support to Khodorkovsky by making an on-camera statement pleading with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev to release the prisoners.
 

28 November (BNS)

The European Athletics Awards ceremony will be held in the Estonian capital Tallinn next year, sports news of the public broadcaster ERR reported on Tuesday.

"It has been agreed with the European Athletic Association that we and they will both do all we can to bring Europe's best athletes here," the president of the Estonian Athletic Association, Erich Teigamägi, told ERR news, adding that he gave the head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Lamine Diack, a personal invitation to visit Tallinn for the first time.

The IAAF acknowledged the achievements of Estonian athletics with its Spirit of the World Plan award, which was given to one country on each continent. Teigamagi said the award is recognition not only of the association but of the 103-year-old Estonian athletics organisation as a whole. Estonia won the award for organising successful competitions at the national, regional and European level, as well as for the overall level of sports of the small country, he said.

Tallinn hosted the European athletics junior championships last year and the association is bidding for European U-23 championships 2015.

26 January (BNS)

"Mushrooming" ("Seenelkäik"), a political satire from Estonian director Toomas Hussar, secured a place at the top of the box office rankings for Estonian films in 2012 with more than twice as many viewers as the next popular production, figures published by the Estonian Film Institute show.

"Mushrooming" was watched by an audience of 73 712 by the end of the year, with runner-up "A Lady in Paris" ("Eestlanna Pariisis,"  "Une Estonienne a Paris") second with 36 621 viewers and "Bad Hair Friday" ("Vasaku jala reede") third with 32 990.

"Purge" ("Puhastus"), a film based on a novel of the same name by Finnish-Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen, came fourth with an audience of 18 137 and "Demons" ("Deemonid") fifth with 17 494.

10 August

On 20 August 2011 Estonia will be celebrating 20 years since the independence of its country was restored with a number of fascinating events.

The Foreign Ministry and the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute have organised a conference on 20 August entitled “20.08.1991 – Twenty Years On”. At the conference the former and current government leaders and foreign ministers of the Nordic countries, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia will focus on the experiences gained over the last 20 years as well as new challenges. Participants in the conference will include Icelandic Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, Latvian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis.

On the evening of 20 August the massive free music event “Song of Freedom” will be held at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. The concert will include performances by Estonian artists as well as Finnish, Norwegian, Latvian, and Irish performers. Midnight will officially mark the beginning of Iceland Day, a special day of Icelandic culture that is Estonia’s way of thanking Iceland and celebrating the special relationship between Estonia and Iceland. “For Estonia, Iceland’s decision to be the first country to recognise the restoration of Estonia’s independence is and will remain a historical turning point,” said Paet. “Iceland’s bold step made the decision easier for a lot of other countries, who then followed its example.” Icelandic President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson will be there to kick off the Iceland Day event.

Throughout the day on Sunday, 21 August, over ten musical acts from the island nation will appear in Tallinn’s courtyards, venues, and on Iceland Square, Iceland-themed exhibits will be unveiled, and a Nordic-inspired food market will take place. Many of the scheduled events are free of charge. “The fact that Estonia has decided to dedicate the 20th anniversary of the restoration of its independence to another country, calling it Iceland Day, is a great honour for our country. I am certain that this day full of music, design, literature and photography will strengthen the cultural ties between our countries even more,” commented Icelandic Ambassador to Estonia Elín Flygenring.

A few of the major events of Iceland Day include the “Inspired by Iceland” food market at Iceland Square, the Icelandic Contemporary Design exhibition being opened at the Museum of Applied Art and Design, and the huge wrap-up Iceland Day Party that will take over the Von Krahl Theatre building from 21:00-03:00.

“Iceland Day is a unique and extraordinary event. The possibility to see and hear so much world-class Icelandic art and music over the course of a single day here in Tallinn is truly a great gift to us from both the Estonian and Icelandic states,” noted the organiser of Iceland Day, Helen Sildna.
 

10 February (BNS)

Representatives of the ministries of culture of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will sign an agreement in Riga on Monday on the joint Baltic chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica for the next three years.

The agreement will be signed on Estonia's behalf by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture Ragnar Siil, spokespeople for the ministry told BNS.

Also to be discussed at the meeting are matters of cultural co-operation between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In the evening a festive anniversary concert of Kremerata Baltica and a meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis will take place at the Great Guild Hall in Riga.

The Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra was founded by the renowned violinist Gideon Kremer in 1997. Kremer is also the director of the orchestra now and the activities of the orchestra are supported by the ministries of culture of the three Baltic countries.

The orchestra brings together talented young musicians from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the average age of its members being 27 years. Kremerata Baltica was awarded a Grammy Award in 2002 in the category Classical Music: Best Small Ensemble Recording for its recording "After Mozart".

21 December

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics announced the start of the competition for recognising the best Latvian and Estonian-language translators. The winner of the competition will be announced in February 2013.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that through awarding a translation prize, we hope to inspire more translations of Estonian literature into Latvian and vice versa. “We call on all translators who translate from Estonian to Latvian of from Latvian to Estonian to participate in the competition,” said Paet. The Estonian-Latvian and Latvian-Estonian translation prize emphasises the importance of the Estonian and Latvian languages as well as cultural exchange in order to advance the professionalism of translators of literature as well as political, popular science, historical, sociological, and other texts.

The monetary value of the award is 3 000 euros, to which both sides are contributing equally. The jury will contain representatives from the foreign ministries of the two countries and the director of each nation’s literature information centre.

The agreement that established the Estonian-Latvian and Latvian-Estonian translation award was signed by Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and Latvian Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš on 18 February 2009. The idea for the creation of the award came from Estonian Ambassador to Latvia Jaak Jõerüüt and Latvian Ambassador to Estonia Kārlis Eihenbaums, who presented a joint letter proposing the implementation of the idea to the foreign ministries of both countries at the end of 2008.

In previous years the prize has been awarded to translators Maima Grīnberga (2009), Guntars Godinš (2010), and Kalev Kalkun (2011).

Nominees for the translation competition can be submitted through the application form found on the Foreign Ministry’s website: www.vm.ee/sites/default/files/Eesti_lati_tolkeauhinna_vorm.doc. The deadline for nominations is 1 February 2013.
 

14 February (BNS)

The Estonian national football team improved its position by one place to a tied 82nd in the FIFA rankings for February published on Thursday.

Estonia was 83rd in January, 86th in December 2012, 84th in November, 69th in October, 55th in September, 49th in August, 56th in July, 57th in June, 54th in May and 53rd in April. In March 2012 Estonia was in its all-time highest place, 47th.

Estonia is tied for 82nd place in the fresh table with Senegal. Ahead of it comes El Salvador as 81st and next down is Uganda in 84.

Spain remains at the top of the list, followed by Germany, Argentina, England, Italy, Colombia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Croatia and Russia.

Of the nations playing in the same Group D with Estonia in qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Netherlands is placed 8th, Romania 31st, Hungary 33rd, Turkey 41st and Andorra 204th.

Of Estonia's closest neighbours Russia is 10th, Finland 85th, Latvia 109th and Lithuania 117th in the table ranking 207 national sides.

22 August (BNS)

An Estonian company led by Iranian director Homayun Ghanizadeh will perform 'Antigone' at Tehran's Iranshahr Theatre from 22 August – 10 September, the Tehran Times said. "The idea to stage 'Antigone' dates back three years ago. I selected members of the cast during a short workshop I held in Estonia," Ghanizadeh said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Citing differences in the way Iranian and Estonian acting companies perform, the director said staging 'Antigone' was a good experience for him. "In Iran, a director should give many ideas during rehearsals and the cast chooses the best, but in Estonia, cast members create great thoughts from small ideas," he explained.

Estonian actress Elina Reinold described working with Ghanizadeh as interesting. "He gives outstanding ideas and he knows how he can influence the audience," she said the press conference.

'Antigone' is a production of the project theatre R.A.A.A.M and was also performed during the 29th Fajr (Dawn) international theatre festival in Iran in February 2011. Reinold won the best actress award for her portrayal of Antigone at the festival.

11 September (BNS)

The full-length animated cartoon “Lotte and the Moonstone Secret” completed at the Eesti Joonisfilm studios last year, won the first prize in the full-length animated cartoons category in the prestigious International Film Festival Nueva Mirada for Children and Youth.

The festival, which took place from 30 August to 4 September and is one of the biggest film festivals for children and youth, was taking place for the 11th time, Eesti Joonisfilm informed BNS. Janno Põldma, one of the authors of the film, took part in the festival.

The film “Lotte and the Moonstone Secret” was supported by the Estonian Film Foundation, the National Film Centre of Latvia, and the Estonian National Broadcasting Company.

9 April

On Thursday, 11 April, Finnish historian and acclaimed researcher of Estonian history Seppo Zetterberg’s new book “Kulttuuria ja kumouspuuhia” will be presented at the Estonian Embassy in Helsinki.

The book is about Estonians that were active in Helsinki in the beginning of the 20th century, several of whom were later part of independent Estonia’s cultural elite or political leadership. Those who studied in Helsinki include Oskar Kallas, who became Estonia’s first ambassador to Finland, Hella Murrik (Wuolijoki), who was later an author and Finnish social figure, and the poet Gustav Suits. Working in Helsinki from time to time were also writer Friedebert Tuglas, journalist and author Eduard Vilde, future heads of state of Estonia Otto Strandman, Konstantin Päts and Jaan Teemant, the founder of social democracy in Estonia Mihkel Martna, violinist Eduard Sõrmus, and painter Konrad Mägi. The book paints an interesting picture of the activities and the various stages of development of the Estonian community in Helsinki at the start of the 20th century.

Seppo Zetterberg is a historian, professor emeritus of general history at Jyväskylä University, and member of the Academy of Finland. From 1994-1996 he was the director of the Finnish Institute in Estonia. Seppo Zetterberg’s 2007 work “Viron histooria” is an anthology on the history of Estonia from the Ice Age until the present day. The Finnish Friends of History Association selected it the history book of the year and it was a candidate for one of the most recognised non-fiction literature prizes in Finland, Tieto-Finlandia. The work was published in Estonian in September of 2009.

Seppo Zetterberg’s new work “Kulttuuria ja kumousouuhia” will be published in Estonian at the end of this year by the publisher Tänapäev.

22 November 2011 (ERR)

The Estonie Tonique culture festival in France will run a special program to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Estonian movie making.

During the program, running from November 23 through December 5, nine feature-length Estonian fiction films will be screened, six of which have been named by the Film Critics Association as the nation's top feature films of the past 100 years.

All movies will be screened at the Cinematheque Fracaise in Paris, the largest film archive in the world.

The program, titled Les 100 ans du cinema estonien, will be opened by an Estonian silent movie classic, the War-of-Independence-themed "Young Eagles" by Theodor Luts, which dates back to 1927.

In addition to full features, movie buffs will be treated to a number of short fiction and documentary films produced in Estonia and can get acquainted with the works of the country's animation filmmakers.

5 March

This year’s Tallinn Music Week (TMW) will take place from 4-6 April, during which time 30 music venues in the city will fill up with music fans and 233 artists from 20 countries. To bring attention not only to good music but also to the good food offered in Tallinn, this year's festival has hand-picked a selection of town's best restaurants and eateries, which are offering special menus and discounts to festival guests.

Tallinn Music Week that has grown into one of the biggest indoor festivals in the Baltic region and spans diverse musical styles and genres, having developed dedicated programmes for classical music, contemporary composition, folk and jazz and the whole spectrum that popular music has to offer.

International highlights this year include the dream pop sensation Me and My Drummer from Berlin, playful electronic visionaries Rangleklods from Denmark, and the all-girl electro punk attack LCMDF from Finland. As international interest for the festival has grown significantly, so has the number of countries represented in the programme. The artist line-up is proud of the Iberi choir from Georgia, graffiti artists and dub step stars 3421 from Israel, Belarus’ art rock trio Folkmashina, and the Spanish trumpeter Adan Delgado Illada. And last but not least, Namgar will bring over the mysteries of Mongolian and Buryatian traditional music.

Finland is big at this year’s TMW with 26 artists in the programme; Russia and Lithuania have strong line-ups with 6 artists from each country. Denmark and UK follow with 5. Estonia is represented by 165 versatile acts from all genres and subgenres.

As part of the culinary aspect of this year’s TMW, festival-goers can try the best culinary achievements Tallinn has to offer from high-end fine dining like Gloria to the hip and bohemian F-hoone or Von Krahl’s Aed. Special menus are available from 15.00-18.00, so guests can plan for a 3-day tasting journey through 16 restaurants before the festival concerts in music venues start.

Last year 11 200 music fans and 589 music industry delegates participated in TMW. The hub for TMW’s conference and music industry professionals will once again be the Nordic Hotel Forum.

More information: http://www.tallinnmusicweek.ee/index.php