Tallinnfilm is the oldest surviving

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

in Estonia. It was founded as

Estonian Culture Film The Estonian Culture Film ( et, Eesti Kultuurfilm) was a state-subsidized movie studio established in Estonia in 1931 by the Ministry of Culture. During the first years of existence, the studio mostly distributed films. The foundation for the pr ...

in 1931, and was nationalized in 1940 after Estonia was forced into the Soviet Union. During the first year of Soviet Occupation (1940–1941) ''Eesti Kultuurfilm'' was taken over by the Communist Party and renamed ''Kinokroonika Eesti Stuudio'' (the Estonian Newsreel Studio). In 1942 during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

the studio was renamed ''Kinokroonika Tallinna Stuudio'' (the Tallinn Newsreel Studio) and then renamed again as ''Tallinna Kinostuudio'' (the Tallinn Film Studio) in 1947 by the Soviets. The Tallinn Film Studio was renamed ''Kunstiliste ja Kroonikafilmide Tallinna Kinostuudio'' (Tallinn Feature and Newsreel Film Studio) in 1954 and in 1963 was renamed again Tallinnfilm. During the Soviet era, the studio was the only major movie production house in Estonia, responsible for almost all feature-length movies of the time. (Most of the rest were produced by Eesti Televisioon.) The most notable feature film produced by Tallinnfilm during the Soviet era was ''

Viimne reliikvia ''Viimne reliikvia'' ( Estonian for ''The Last Relic''; russian: Последняя реликвия, translit=Poslyednyaya ryelikvya) is a 1969 Estonian-language Soviet film based on '' Vürst Gabriel ehk Pirita kloostri viimsed päevad'' ( Esto ...

'' (The Last Relic), released in 1969 by Tallinnfilm. The movie set the absolute box office record for the entire Soviet Union at the time by selling 44.9 million tickets. It was distributed by the Soviet film export internationally in more than 60 countries. ''

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

'' (1969) ( et, Kevade), directed by

Arvo Kruusement Arvo Kruusement (born 20 April 1928) is an Estonian actor, theatre and film director who has made some of Estonia's classic novels into films; ''Spring'' (1969), ''Summer'' (1976), and ''Fall'' (1990) The movie ''Spring'' has been noted as the be ...

, sold 558,000 tickets in Estonia (total population 1.34 million) and in 1971 8,100,000 in Soviet Union. After Estonia regained independence in 1991, Tallinnfilm terminated its production activities and concentrated on the restoration of its

film stock Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent p ...

and film distribution. Since 2004 Tallinnfilm has acted as an

art-house An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

cinema operator. The owner of Tallinnfilm is the Estonian Film Foundation.

Joonisfilm

In 1971, the animation studio (Joonisfilm) was founded by

Rein Raamat Rein Raamat (born 20 March 1931) is an Estonian animation film director, artist and screenwriter. He is the first internationally successful Estonian animator and along with Elbert Tuganov is regarded as the "Father of Estonian Animation". He has ...

at Tallinnfilm being one of the Tallinfilm's division.

References

External links

* Film production companies of Estonia Film production companies of the Soviet Union Mass media in Tallinn Mass media companies established in 1931 1930s establishments in Estonia 1931 establishments in the Soviet Union Companies nationalised by the Soviet Union {{Estonia-stub