TALLINN - Anyone attuned to international reverberations would be aware of the rising tensions between Russia and the West.
Those seeking to better understand the worsening situation should head to the Parnu International Docu-mentary and Anthropology Film Festival, which began earlier this month and runs until July 29.
This year the program features several films which examine the political and social situation inside Russia, and question its future relationship with the rest of the world.
At the top of the list is the highly topical documentary "My Friend Sasha" by Andrei Nekrasov, which traces the controversial life and Hollywood-style death of Alexander Litvinenko.
Litvinenko was poisoned to death in London on Nov. 23, 2006. He is believed to have been given a fatal dose of the radioactive isotope polonium-210 during a meeting with two former KGB agents.
In a 50-minute documentary commissioned by the BBC, Nekrasov paints a portrait of Litvinenko and traces his life, from his time as a Russian special services officer to his exile after publishing a book about modern-day Russian atrocities.
The documentary has been hailed as a startling insight, not the least because of the filmmaker's close connection with the poisoned spy-turned-informant.
Nekrasov was at Litvinenko's bedside as he slowly died from the radioactive poison, and injects his personal sadness into the political plotline.
"I suppose this is the cost of proving that you are telling the truth," Litvinenko told the filmmaker. "In the old days there were communists and there were criminals. Now there are only criminals."
Nekrasov himself has spoken about his fear of being targeted for his outspoken statements about Russian politics.
"The people who order such attacks are capable of anything. Those who obey their orders commit a moral suicide. Some have become generals, rich entrepreneurs and political leaders," Nekrasov wrote in an open letter in late 2006.
"I want people to feel for Litvinenko, to sense that even in these days of so many tragedies that maybe this is something special. That here is someone dying for his beliefs, in a way as a martyr. I want them to see the film and say 'enough is enough.' Human life is not disposable."
Nekrasov also talks about the tragic school hostage crisis in Beslan, North Ossetia, in 2004. The same situation is the topic of another film on the Parnu Film Festival program 's "Beslan. The Right To Live" by filmmaker Olga Stefanova.
In her 2006 film, Stefanova asks questions about the Russian government's handling of the situation, in which 334 people were killed and hundreds more wounded.
"Two years passed since the tragedy in Beslan, but still there are no answers," Stefanova says in a synopsis. "Authorities don't know what to say and the community is almost indifferent. Even if you know in advance that you cannot find the truth… this doesn't mean that one shouldn't look for it."
The Russian-themed films are among 150 documentaries on the program at the Parnu film festival, which is now entering its 21st year.
Films are screened at the Parnu Museum of New Art and the Vannalinna School each night until July 29. The festival will also tour to the regional cities of Rakvere, Haapsalu, Viljandi and country clubs in Manija and Heimtali.
Tickets are only 10 kroons. Head to the website for the full program,
www.chaplin.ee/filmfestival.
Parnu International Documentary and Anthropological Film Festival
Parnu New Art Museum and other locations
Through July 29
Tickets: 10 kroons
Info:
www.chaplin.ee/filmfestival
