Singing Revolution - Canadian Premiere

Last night I attended the Canadian premier of The Signing Revolution film at the Ontario Science Centre. The movie was part of the EstDocs film festival, a Estonian documentary film festival that is in it's 3rd year here in Toronto. The event was sold out, with an about 500 guests in attendance including 2 member's of Canada's parliament and Mart Laar who spoke about the film. One of the film's creators, Maureen Castle Tusty, was also in attendance and introduced the film. (You can see a video of the intro at Eesti.ca)

I had seen the movie earlier and wrote a bit about it but this was the first time seeing it on a big screen with a crowd. Most of those in attendance either fled Estonia during the war or were born to parents who fled so there was a personal connection for most people there. The film received a very warm reception, including a 5 minute standing ovation at the end. It was followed by a nice Q&A with Mart and Maureen where they explained a bit of the background of the movie, how footage was collected, how the inspiration for the film came and some of the challenges of making it.

The film is opening in Los Angeles and New York in December (I believe the weeks of Dec 7th and 14th respectively) and I urge you to go to SingingRevolution.com and register for a screening in your area if you're interested. If you are familiar or interested in eastern european history or have a connection with Estonia, chances are you are going to enjoy this movie. Documentaries are difficult sells, especially ones about small northern countries most people haven't heard of, so supporting this movie is important.