Estonsko, 2016, 78 min
Liivo Niglas
04.03.2020 19:00
"The Land of Love" is a documentary film about reindeer, oil, politics and poetry. It tells a story about Yuri Vella, a Forest Nenets reindeer herder and poet who lives in the taiga of Western Siberia, and who tries to prove that one person can stand against the great power that is destroying the environment of the native people. Vella calls the "Land of Love" a piece of the forest tundra where each autumn his reindeer mate. The same area is a favoured hunting ground for employees of Lukoil, a company that pumps oil in the region. For many years already Yuri has tried to chase the Lukoil people away from the "Land of Love" because the noise of cars and rifle shots and the ruckus caused by boozing oil workers disturbs the mating of reindeer. Yuri uses several unusual resistance methods to chase the oil workers away, including filming the intruders and writing poems on the subject.
Liivo Niglas is currently a research fellow at the department of ethnology in University of Tartu, Estonia. He runs an independent production company, Mp Doc, for anthropological documentary films. He has made films in Siberia, Africa, Central Asia and North America. Some of his works are: The Brigade (2000), Yuri Vella's World (2003), Adventure High (2004), Making Rain (2007), Fish On! (2008), Itelmen Stories (2010), Journey to the Maggot Feeder (2015).
Director, Camera, Script, Edit: Liivo Niglas
Production: F-Seitse & MP DOC
Language of dialogues: Russian, Khanty, Forest Nenets, French
Langue of subtitles: Czech, English
Launching of the movie, awards:
The National Estonian Film and Television Award for the best documentary 2016; Annual Award of the Estonian Cultural Endowment for the best documentary 2016; 1st Prize (Man and Nature), Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Estonia
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq6JYJysHWc