On the week between winter and spring, after a warm-up on Estonian television and in Tallinn’s KUMU museum and GenKlub in Tartu, many documentary film flights took off from Athena cinema in Tartu, fully booked with spectators. Half a hundred flights using not one drop of fuel is surely one of the most ecological ways to travel around the world that we could ever imagine or organise.

Over the years, the festival family has grown and grown, but the ambiance that surrounds and binds the world of Worldfilm documentaries is by no means less intimate or warm. On the contrary – hardened volunteers, an experienced team, bright moderators and hard-working authors (about three dozens of whom were present at the festival, as is the custom), all came together as happily as ever this year, both inside and outside the cinema hall.

One of the presumptions with which we keep this warm atmosphere alive is that Worldfilm festival does not have - and purposely so – a competition programme. However, some sporting-like achievements can still be pointed out, namely a new record for getting a screening copy to the screening room at the last minute: Enet Yapai – An Ambonwari Girl, a film describing the relationship between a young girl in Papua and an anthropologist, arrived in the hands of the video projector technician no more than 2.5 minutes before the screening.

Films were projected with an excellent new high-definition projector, and this was definitely an eye-soothing exchange for those (i.e. most of us) with an everyday TV or computer screen habit. The chillout cinema was appealing for those who prefer to see films from a more horizontal position, as well as for those little Worldfilmers who still live in The Age of Mischief and want to run around and make some louder noises. The festival café was open from early morning to late night and ensured no traveller had an empty stomach or a dry mouth.

All the flights have now landed, for the moment, and so before the next take-offs later in the coming year one can enjoy our travel stories here in the festival blog.

Taavi

Worldfilm world tour guide