Directed by Klaus Härö (Finland/Estonia/Germany, 2015). Fleeing the Russian secret police, a young Estonian fencer is forced to return to his homeland, where he finds himself teaching small town children in a godforsaken Estonian coastal village, only to realize that this is exactly what he wants to do in life. The past, however, catches up and confronts him with a difficult choice. The film is based on the true story of Endel Nelis, an Estonian fencer and coach.
The Fencer is nominated for Best Motion Picture-Foreign Language at the 2016 Golden Globes and shortlisted for Best Foreign-Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.
100 min | In Estonian and Russian with English subtitles
Special thanks to The Little Film Company and Making Movies.
About the director
Klaus Härö (b. 1971) is a Finnish film director. He studied directing and attended screen writing seminars at the University of Industrial Arts in Helsinki. He has directed the five feature films Elina: As If I Wasn’t There/Elina – Som om jag inte fanns (2003), Mother of Mine/Äideistä parhain (2005) and The New Man/Den nya människan (2007), Letters to Father Jacob/Postia pappi Jaakobille (2009), and The Fencer/Miekkailija (2015), as well as documentaries and short films.
His films have won more than 60 prizes in festivals all over the world, and they have been successful with both critics and audiences. He works in both Sweden and Finland. In 2003, Härö received the Ingmar Bergman Award, chosen by Bergman himself, for outstanding achievements in Swedish filmmaking. Three of Härö’s features were chosen as Finland’s submission for the best foreign-language film category at the Oscars; The Fencer/Miekkailija is his fourth film to be selected.
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Image Courtesy of Making Movies
TUE- 12-8-15 – 7:00 PM
$10 ($7 ASF Members)