16/04/2024 - Anna Hints’ acclaimed doc Smoke Sauna Sisterhood has scooped four statuettes, including the Awards for Best Documentary and Best Director

On Friday 12 April, during a special gala ceremony held in Tallinn, the winners of the Estonian Film and Television Awards (EFTAs) were announced. The accolades, established in 2017, aim to honour the achievements of national cinema and television, and are organised by the Estonian Film Institute.

This year’s edition saw the triumph of Rainer Sarnet’s absurdist comedy The Invisible Fight [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Estonia/Latvia/Greece/Finland), which scooped a total of nine statuettes, including Best Film, Best Actress in a Film, Best Actor in a Film and Best Script. The picture follows a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border (played by Ursel Tilk) who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he's capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.

It was also a great night for Anna Hints, the director of the acclaimed Estonian-French-Icelandic documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Hints
film profile], which won the Award for Best Directing in the World Cinema Documentary Competition of last year’s Sundance and is also a LUX Audience Award nominee. Hints’ feature bagged the Awards for Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Sound.

Here is the list of this year’s main award winners:

Best Film
The Invisible Fight [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Rainer Sarnet (Estonia/Latvia/Greece/Finland)

Best Documentary
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Hints
film profile] – Anna Hints (Estonia/France/Iceland)

Best Animated Film
The Mystery of Missing Socks – Oskar Lehemaa (Estonia)

Best Short
A nagu armastus – Indrek Spungin (Estonia)

Best Actress in a Film
Ester Kuntu – The Invisible Fight

Best Actor in a Film
Ursel Tilk – The Invisible Fight

Best Director
Anna Hints – Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Best Script
Rainer Sarnet – The Invisible Fight

Best Cinematography
Ants Tammik – Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Best Score
Hino Koshiro – The Invisible Fight

Best Sound
Huldar Freyr Arnarson – Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Best Production Design
Jaagup Roomet – The Invisible Fight

Best Editing
Jussi Rautaniemi – The Invisible Fight

Best Costumes
Jaanus Vahtra – The Invisible Fight

Best Make-up
Anu Konze – The Invisible Fight

Award for Contribution to the Estonian Film Industry
Kersti Miilen

Best TV Series
Papsid (Estonia)

Best TV Director
Märten Vaher