Aksella Luts (born Aksella Hildegard Kapsta; 10 October 1905 – 8 January 2005)Tallinn University Academic Library
(in

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n actress, screenwriter, dancer, choreographer, film editor and photojournalist.

Early life

Aksella Luts was born Aksella Hildegard Kapsta in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to Estonian parents Martin and Maria Kapsta (''née'' Mark). She was the middle child of three siblings; her sister Erica Regina was born in 1903 and her brother Alfred was born in 1911. The family returned to Estonia when she was quite young. She attended secondary school in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

, graduating in 1924 before attending dance classes in Tartu and then the Union des Professeurs de Danse de France (UDPDF) in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where she studied

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

. She married Estonian future filmmaker

Theodor Luts Theodor Luts ( in Palamuse – 24 September 1980 in São Paulo) was an Estonian film director and cinematographer, brother of classic writer Oskar Luts. Theodor Luts was the first major figure of Estonian cinematography His '' Noored kotkad'' ( ...

(younger brother of writer

Oskar Luts Oskar Luts ( – 23 March 1953) was an Estonian writer and playwright. Biography Oskar Luts was born into a middle-class family in Järvepera, central Estonia, at that time in the governorate of Livonia (Russian Empire). His younger brother was ...

) at age 19 and the two opened a dance studio in Tartu.

Film

In 1927, Theodor Luts founded ''Tartu Filmiühing'' (Tartu Film Society) and using the knowledge he had gained from filmmakers in Paris and Berlin, the couple began writing the script for the patriotic silent film '' Noored kotkad'' (''Young Eagles''), which was Estonia's first feature-length dramatic historical film. It was financed through a bank loan.''Postimees: Hüvasti, imeline Aksella!''
11 January 2005 The film was a dramatic telling of the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...

of 1918-1920 and was filmed in Tartu,

Mustvee Mustvee is a town in Mustvee Parish, Estonia. It lies on the shore of Lake Peipus in Jõgeva County. Its population of 1,600 is approximately half Estonian and half Russian. The name of Mustvee was first recorded in 1343 at the time of reign o ...

and

Värska Värska ( seto, Verska) is a Populated places in Estonia, small borough () in Setomaa Parish, Võru County in southeastern Estonia. At the 2011 Estonia Census, 2011 Census, the settlement's population was 443. History Värska was first historica ...

in the summer of 1927. Theodor directed, acted as cinematographer and had several small roles in the film. Aksella appeared in the film as an actress and was the film's make up artist.Ekspress.ee archive.
September 1996 ''Noored kotkad'' is generally regarded as the cornerstone of Estonian cinema.Culture And Customs of the Baltic States By Kevin O'Connor
/ref> After Theodor made several silent film nature and cultural documentaries for Eesti Kultuurfilm, the couple would co-write the script for the 1932 melodrama ''Päikese lapsed'' (''The Children of the Sun''). The film would be Estonia's first feature-length

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,0 ...

sound film; it was co-produced by

Erkki Karu Erkki Karu (born Erland Fredrik Kumlander) (10 April 1887 Helsinki – 8 December 1935 Helsinki) was a Finnish film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the pioneers of the Finnish cinema. Career Karu started his career as a member ...

of Finland's

Suomi-Filmi Suomi-Filmi, lit. ''Finland-Film'', is a Finnish film production and distribution company established in 1919 by Erkki Karu. Suomi-Filmi produced around 160 feature-length films and for most of its history was one of the two most important film comp ...

and Theodor Lutsu Filmiproduktsioon. Theodor would again direct and Aksella would choreograph a dance routine, while Estonian actor

Ants Eskola Ants Eskola (until 1935 Erhard-Voldemar Esperk;Eskola 1986: 7 17 February 1908 in Tallinn – 14 December 1989 in Tallinn) was a Soviet and Estonian actor, singer and artist. He appeared in 25 films from 1930 to 1979. People's Artist of the USSR (1 ...

would have a starring role.

Travel abroad

In 1938, Theodor and Aksella moved to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, where Theodor hoped to further his education. From 1938 until 1944, Aksella worked as screenwriter for Fenno-Filmi OY under the masculine

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Antti Metsalu. Many of her scripts from the era were

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...

in nature. In 1944, the couple moved to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, where Aksella worked as a librarian and archivist at the Folk Universitetet. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union, they relocated to the city of São Lourenço near

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

in the South Region of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.''Eesti filmi andmebaas'': Theodor Luts.
13 June 2007 (in

...

) In Brazil, the couple made a permanent home. Aksella Luts worked primarily with her husband at his new film company ''Theodor Lutsu firma'' as a screenwriter, author of manuscripts, cameraman's assistant, film editor and photojournalist. She was a founding member and secretary of the

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Church ...

in São Paulo (''EELK São Paulo Kogudus''), worked as a librarian at the Estonian-Brazilian New Cultural Association (''Eesti-Brasiilia Kultuuriühing Uus''), worked as a film editor at Milo Harbichi Films, and was made an Honorary Member of the ''Academia de Ciências e Letras de São Lourenço'' for the introduction of

Estonian culture The culture of Estonia combines an indigenous heritage, represented by the country's Finnic national language Estonian, with Nordic and German cultural aspects. The culture of Estonia is considered to be significantly influenced by that of the ...

to Brazil.

Later years

Following the death of Theodor Luts on 24 September 1980, Aksella remained in Brazil until 1996, when she returned to Estonia and settled in

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

. She gave frequent television and radio interviews and was made an Honorary Member of ''Eesti Kinoliit'' (Estonian Filmmaker's Association). She died in Pärnu in 2005, aged 99, and was cremated. Her ashes were buried next to her husband in São Lourenço, Brazil.

References

External links

* *Image of Aksella Luts a
''Fotis. Rahusarhiivi Fotode Andmebaas''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luts, Aksella 1905 births 2005 deaths Actresses from Tartu People from Moskovsky Uyezd Estonian film actresses Estonian silent film actresses Estonian screenwriters Estonian female dancers Estonian emigrants to Brazil Estonian expatriates in Brazil Estonian film editors 20th-century Estonian actresses Women film editors 20th-century screenwriters Estonian photojournalists Women photojournalists