Discover the best of Estonian cinema, film, and television
Discover the definitive list of popular and critically-acclaimed movies and TV shows from Estonia. Find your next binge-watch, streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
The cinema of Estonia
Estonian cinema is a fascinating world of quiet forests and wry, sideways glances, a film culture that brilliantly blends a soulful, melancholic mood with a wonderfully deadpan sense of humour. For a small nation, its artistic voice is remarkably strong. The modern era has been marked by huge international success. Its crowning achievement is undoubtedly Tangerines (Mandariinid), a profoundly humane and beautiful film that earned both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, putting Estonian filmmaking firmly on the world stage. This was followed by more acclaim for historical dramas like The Fencer. But to truly know Estonian cinema, you must meet its wonderfully strange and brilliant other self: a world-class animation tradition. For decades, animators like the legendary Priit Pärn have created surreal, philosophical, and darkly funny short films that are celebrated by cinephiles globally. This love for the unconventional also produced the stunning folk-horror masterpiece November. This creative spirit is also a part of daily life, with beloved long-running television series like Õnne 13 becoming national institutions. What makes Estonian film so memorable is this unique character. It is a cinema of deep thought, surprising humour, and stark, unforgettable beauty.
Best Estonian series
The Class: Life After 2010
The Class: Life After is a follow-up to the feature film The Class (Klass) and deals with the aftermath of a school shooting. Each one-hour episode focuses on a different character who survived or witnessed the tragic event. There are kids from the class, their parents, the class teacher, a boy who survived the shooting, and finally, one of the culprits in the very last episode.
68The Bank 2018
Based on a true story in the turbulent Estonian 90s. Personal dramas will unfold using the historic events as a backdrop, with the characters constantly re-evaluating the currency rates and their personal values.
72Süü 2021
Süü is a family drama exploring the themes of retribution, justice, guilt and forgiveness. Gripping, paced and tense, the series leaves a lot of open questions until the final reveal.
80Musta kivi saladus 2022
80ENSV 2010
A comedy-series depicting an Estonian family in 1980s that consists of a rebel-minded grandpa, two siblings, a mother, who is a member of the Soviet Socialist Party, and her lover, who is there, because the real husband is a captain on a foreign-going ship. Aand they have to share their apartment with a true communist and her son, who is an exemplary militiaman.
59Traitor 2019
In 2004, shortly before Estonia's accession to NATO, the Russian intelligence service is approaching Alfred Vind, an official of the Estonian Ministry of Defense ...
65
Best Estonian movies
Tangerines 2013
War in Abkhazia, 1992. An Estonian man Ivo has stayed behind to harvest his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict at his door, a wounded man is left behind, and Ivo is forced to take him in.
77Firebird 2021
At the height of the Cold War, a troubled soldier forms a forbidden love triangle with a daring fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet Air Force Base.
72The Class 2007
An average guy of an Estonian high-school decides to defend his bullied classmate. This starts a war between him and the informal leader of the class.
76November 2017
In a poor Estonian village, a group of peasants use magic and folk remedies to survive the winter, and a young woman tries to get a young man to love her.
701944 2015
The events of the war in 1944, from the Blue Hills to Sõrve Peninsula. Shown through the eyes of Estonian soldiers who had to pick sides and fight against fellow brothers. Choices have to be made, not only by the soldiers, but also by their loved ones.
68The Fencer 2015
Fleeing from the Russian secret police, a young Estonian fencer is forced to return to his homeland, where he becomes a physical education teacher at a local school. The past however catches up and puts him in front of a difficult choice.
69