The 6th Annual New York Baltic Film Festival (NYBFF) presented by Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America returns this November with the best new films from the Baltic region! This year’s lineup includes Kaupo Kruusiauk’s documentary Machina Faust, offering an unfiltered look at the life of Estonian composer, saxophonist and feminist Maria Faust. The film will screen in-person at Scandinavia House on November 10 at 6 PM and virtually from November 11-19. **Maria Faust will present a film talk after the screening.*
Machina Faust delves into the whirlwind of composer and saxophonist Maria Faust’s unbridled creativity and fearless artistry, capturing her dynamic journey over the course of three years and highlighting the creation of works centered on women’s struggles, while also shedding light on her own complicated relationship with musician Ned Ferm. Despite her resilience and artistic accomplishments, Faust’s personal life is candidly laid bare, revealing her battles with trauma and domestic violence and the challenges she’s faced as a woman in the music industry. Faust’s openness about her experiences, including abuse and inequality, adds a powerful layer of authenticity to the film, while shedding light on societal hurdles that women continue to navigate.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Film director and screenwriter Kaupo Kruusiauk graduated from the Baltic Film and Media School as a film director, and he has a diploma in stage directing from the Estonian Theatre and Music Academy. He studied film directing for a semester at FAMU in Prague. Kruusiauk participated in the 2022 New York Baltic Film Festival with his film Sandra Gets a Job.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Maria Faust (B. 1979, Kuressaare, Estonia) is an Estonian freelance saxophone player, composer and arranger currently living in Copenhagen, Denmark, who is best known for her work in the fields of experimental jazz, big band music, contemporary classical music, avant-garde, improvised music, and other alternative music styles. She is currently releasing and has released under STUNT, ERP, ILK, BUSH FLASH and Gotta Let it Out record labels. Faust’s musical education began in 1986 as a classical piano student at the Kuressaare Music School on her home island of Saaremaa. After high school, she moved to Tallinn and studied at the Georg Ots Tallinn Music College. When a short study period to become a Conductor at the Tallinn Conservatoire was over, she moved to Denmark to pursue studies in jazz saxophone. Charismatic and eccentric, Maria Faust is one of the most successful Estonian jazz musicians of all-time and the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and honors including multiple Danish and Estonian Music Awards. Her work and musical language as a composer and improviser is unique and easily identifiable to those who have heard it, while being challenging to describe due to its inventiveness and combined influences.
Photo by Toomas Volkmann