October 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary Estonian puppet animation master Heino Pars. Throughout October, Pars’ films will be shown in cinemas across Estonia.
After lighting candles at Heino Pars’ grave in Tallinn’s Pärnamäe Cemetery, a group of several dozen people moved on to Randvere tee in Viimsi. It was there, among the forests, that Pars’ puppet films were created in the Nukufilm pavilion for decades. Now, there is a new memorial plaque to commemorate the location.
Märt Kivi, CEO of Nukufilm, said that without Pars, Estonian puppet films today would be much more one-dimensional.
“Pars is a very strong cornerstone of Estonian animation as a whole – precisely because Estonian animation is very unique and distinctive. Thanks to his courage to play with film language, it was not a case of taking too seriously that it is a world of puppets and therefore we are playing in our narrow environment, but rather that you can think more broadly. This has carried over very strongly into today’s animation, I am more than convinced of that,” said Kivi.
Heino Pars has an extensive filmography and directed his first film, “Väike motoroller” in 1962. This was followed by the now very well-known four-part series “Operaator Kõps” in which Pars combined classic puppetry film techniques with natural materials.
Pars directed a total of 30 films, a selection of which can already be seen on ERR’s on-demand Jupiter service here.
This October, they can also be seen on the big screen at Tartu Elektriteater, Tallinn’s Sõprus Cinema (Sõprus Kino) and other cinemas across Estonia.
“When we think of Pars as a filmmaker, we should first talk about one of the world’s leading animation filmmakers, who has had a significant influence on other filmmakers, especially in his own time, and was also a trailblazer in terms of certain themes and artistic approaches. Together with Elbert Tuganov, he created an environment that attracted a range of top Estonian composers, artists, and screenwriters, including Pärdi Tormis, Ellen Niidu, Kross and Ernesaks,” said Mait Laas, curator of the “Pars 100” program.
To mark the 100th anniversary of Heino Pars’ birth, a large exhibition of puppets from the Nukufilm studio is also on display in the foyer of Viimsi Artium.
—