dokfilm2

I forgot to add another documentary that I`ve seen myself and which is really worth watching. "Eve and Dawn" is made by Tarmo Rajaleid, graduate from our school (International University Concordia Audentes). "There is goodness in the world.... human story about two women who are contrary just like eve and dawn"..
Like I already said, I`ve seen the film and highly recommend others to watch it when you get a chance. You can see the free preview of the film by clicking "tasuta eelvade" on https://www.itv.ee/portal/filmid.aspx?id=3205 or if you wish to see the full film it costs you 18 krouns by clicking VAATA 18kr.( it`s with english subtitles) I can assure you, the documentary is amazing, full of unbelievable things.

dokfilm

Apparently a finnish channel Yle 2 has made a documentary called "Poverty in Estonia". Film`s editor is Andres Raid. As the title says, the film talks about poverty in Estonia. And not only about Estonians who are not coping with their incomes. The main theme is mental poverty. There`s many out-of-the-know(so called " mentaly poor")-people sitting next to authorities holding the power, thanks to who`s wrong desicions the rate of citizens in penury is increasing. Raid himself is in one of the political parties of Estonia now. He`s commentary to that is : "there`s nothing you can do without taking part in politics."
I haven`t seen the film yet, but I will try to find it from somewhere. If any one has already seen it, I`d be glad to hear your commentaries.

Silence...

A bit off-topic... and on the other hand, not.. depends on the interpretation.

I wanted to take a walk in this beautiful autumn, I headed to old town.

It was quiet, or maybe it`s just me shutting myself off the street noises. It was sad and full of excellence at the same time.

Somehow people manage to see frustration rather than beauty in this time of year. Just put on warm clothes and go out there!And if you have, take a camera with you... then you`ll see.

(When you happen to visit Tallinn, take your time to discover those lonely sreets of the old town. And if you get a chance, enter any of museums.. get the feeling of how Estonians lived through history)

anyway...

I took out my camera and this was what i saw. This beautiful silence.

I like what Georg Elliot said about silence:

"If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it

would be

like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel`s hearts beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."

Poverty on streets

One can be young and without money but not old and without it. You can see poverty reflecting mostly on elderly people in Estonia. Lets take beggars on the streets of Tallinn for example, only few of them are youngsters, the ones who have given up and need money for drugs. Others mostly old and don`t have enough financial support for buying food.
The woman on the photo was begging for money in front of the shopping center. She noticed me taking pictures with my camera and asked me to take few of her. I did, and she was so exited about it, like no one has ever taken a photo of her. I really like this portrait, she made an effective model.

Life`s not just being alive...

Being well is what counts... (approximately every 10th person in Estonia is declared disabled)

Older generation of Estonians are so weak and most of them sick. And I think it`s not just the age. It`s also the conditions they had to live in when they were younger. And they were working physically very hard. And now there`s strong consequences. They don`t live half as good as swedes or finnish elderly people for example. And yet they worked so hard. So much labour was put into moving the mountains and a silly little mouse was born. I have 2 grandmothers and I´m really glad that they have all the support of their children, otherwise I couldn`t even imagine how they would get by with this ridiculously small amount of money they get from the government. It`s sad! They deserve better!
Let`s take this man on the photo for example. He`s blind! The support money he get`s from this country is 2100 krouns pension and 600 for disability. And over 1000 krouns goes straightly back to the government for taxes. So he must live with 1500 krouns (100 euros) a month. How can that be possible?!? He had to do something to survive, so he started playing accordion on streets (He had to get permission from the government by the way). It`s considered as his business and according to the law he should pay taxes from this income as well. I mean...WHAT?!?

Not giving up?!

After regaining independence, estonians started their struggling road through unstable economy. Stratifaction of society strongly increased causing general tensions. Average lifetime decreased. Appearance of unemployment and loss of jobs was inevitable. Level of education was showing strong falling tendencies. The nation weakened. Entire population was constantly decreasing.
After 1995, the state started gradually developing. People were showing much stronger initiative. General state of life was getting better. Life in Estonia stayed relatively stable until 1998, when consequences of economical crisis in Russia declined again the rate of employment. Fortunately the nation was strong enough to get out of that "hole" after 2 years of struggle. Estonians are known as hardworkers.
Now they(we) have joined European Union. It has it`s pros and cons, but I see it as slowly giving up our independence. Differences between social classes have become so big. Expenditure wins over income. Poverty rate is too high, 35% of the population. It`s getting extremely expensive to live here, for some even impossible.

ego trip

Well..here I am. 22-year-old audiovisual media student from Estonia - trying to figure out what am I doing here.
I´ve tried several times to leave this country and somehow it just doesn`t work that way. Once I made it to england, but returned after half a year. Estonia is beautiful, it`s my home, it`s my family... and yet, in my eyes, the country is still so miserable. I`m going to try to go away again next year. Maybe I can keep myself away from here at least a year, and then, when I come back, perhaps everything here in Estonia will look better and more developed. This is how I see it from here...