Over 40 entries arrived at Müürileht, from which a six-member jury chose the winners of the competition. As a reminder to the readers, reviews of films and TV series from 2013 or 2014 were eligible. Winner of the first prize is awarded with a scholarship of 400 € sponsored by the Estonian Film Institute and obtains a free pass to all screenings at Cinema Sõprus till the end of the year. Winners of the second and third prize receive tickets to the Rooftop Cinema and Cinema Artis in Tallinn.

With warm congratulations, the winners are:

I Maria Helen Känd
II Ralf Sauter
III Triinu Eesmaa

Now it’s time to meet the judges who skimmed the ‘crème de la crème’ of the competition:

Edith Sepp-Dallas – head of the Estonian Film Institute

There are few things in Edith’s life that are as important as film. But family comes first of course. She doesn’t cook nor spends time gardening, but she reads, enjoys taking nature photographs, draws, and wanders in the endless forests of East Estonia when the autumn starts.

Donald Tomberg – film critic

Donald has graduated from theatre programme at the Estonian Institute of Humanities and studied cultural theory on a graduate level. He has worked as an actor at Theatrum, written plays and published a novel. As a freelance journalist he is closely linked to culture newspaper Sirp and magazine Teater.Muusika.Kino. Association of Estonian Film Journalists awarded him with the Best Film Critic award in 2011.

Mikk Rand – film pedagogue and filmmaker

Mikk Rand has been a filmmaker for a few decades now. He has been involved in the making of dozens of films as a director and as a producer, and since 2001 he is the founder and leader of the film education and distribution organisation Cinema Bus that travels around Estonia giving children in remote places a chance to get involved in film making.

Martin Oja – semiotic, lecturer and film critic

Martin is a freelance film critic and lecturer at Baltic Film and Media School. He has studied semiotics and made a few short films himself. Recently he has focused on cognitive film studies. He points out Jarmusch, Jodorowsky, early Ki-duk as his favourite directors, but also enjoys 70s American and South-Korean cinema, plus psychologically gripping and plausible goodies.

Helen Tammemäe – editor-in-chief of Müürileht

Helen Tammemäe doesn’t really have time to watch films, but she is in no doubt that life has to involve some action. She often finds herself in a position to choose between real life and fiction, but thinks that a good film critic has the ability to make the reader notice film-like moments of life. And in the end it doesn’t matter whether the script runs on silver screen or is it the viewer’s life itself – as long as anything doesn’t get lost in translation.

Emilie Toomela – film editor of Müürileht

Emilie Toomela is the film editor of Müürileht and a freelance film-lover/journalist, enjoying films on screen and at the set. In addition to this competition, she has been the initiator of many local and international film workshops. Writing is her tool for self-expression, her excuse to put other matters aside, and also her biggest enemy to wrestle with until the wee hours of the night. Preserving life with words makes it seem to vanish only partly.

On featured photo: lecturer and film critic Martin Oja