The Fifth Annual New York Baltic Film Festival (NYBFF) presented by Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America returns in 2022 as a hybrid festival with both in-person and virtual screenings on November 2-13! From November 2 through 6, in-person screenings and events will take place at Scandinavia House in New York, presented in accordance with new COVID-19 safety guidance and protocols. Following the success of last year’s festival, the online version will once again be available to viewers all across the U.S. via the Elevent streaming platform November 4-13.
On November 6, see the North American premiere of u.Q. (dir. Ivar Murd, Estonia, 2021, Documentary).A documentary about musician Uku Kuut and his mother, singer Maryn E.Coote (or jazz diva Marju Kuut, as she was better known in Estonia), u.Q. takes viewers on a geographical, political, and musical journey. Illustrated by a pop-infused collage made up of home footage, interviews, and stylized photographs, the mother-and-son duo travel from the Soviet Union to a recording studio in Los Angeles, via high school in Sweden, and back to the newly independent Estonia. With visuals aligning the story through their dynamism and unpredictability as they tour through different, niche musical subgenres, Uku and Marju’s life story is a veritable Greek comedy captured on 8mm, VHS and BETA tape.
“Ivar Murd covers the whole story of Uku’s relatively short but somewhat adventurous life, during which he traveled to many places and saw many changes of system, in a very snappy fashion” (Cineuropa)
Tickets to this event must be purchased in advance online at the link above; film screenings will take place in Victor Borge Hall.
Virtual screenings of this film will take place from November 7-13. To read more and purchase virtual passes, please click here.
About the Director
Director and producer Ivar Murd comes from Kohtla-Järve in East Estonia. He has lived in Finland, Denmark, and the United States. Murd graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. He directs and produces documentaries and music videos and is one of the organizers of Mägede Hääl music festival.
About the NYBFF
Established in 2018, the New York Baltic Film Festival is presented and organized by Scandinavia House in collaboration with the Consulate General of Estonia, Consulate General of Lithuania, and Daris Delins, former Honorary Consul for Latvia in New York and founder of the festival.
Financial support for the festival comes from the Estonian Film Institute, National Film Center of Latvia, Lithuanian Film Center, and the Edhard Corporation with additional sponsorship by the Estonian American National Council, Lithuanian Culture Institute, Lithuanian Foundation, Consulate General of Estonia in New York, Embassy of Latvia in Washington D.C., Permanent Mission of Latvia to the U.N. in New York, Consulate General of Lithuania in New York, American Latvian Association, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the PBLA Culture Fund, and Sondra Litvaitytė.
Organizers & Sponsors
