Estonia is one of the four countries in which the shooting of the future film will take place. On the first day of filming, our film crew visited the Estonian Art Museum KUMU. We filmed the museum's storerooms, which contained several self-portraits of Ülo Sooster, which he painted throughout his life. Some of them were done during his imprisonment and miraculously survived. A series of these self-portraits will be shown at an exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery early next year in Moscow.
Then the son of Ülo Sooster, Tenno, met with his longtime art critic Eha Komissarov, an expert at the museum and a recognized connoisseur of Ülo Sooster's artwork. We left the museum after the closure. We were glad to meet wonderful people who remember Sooster and carefully store his works.
The next day we went to the island of Hiiumaa, where the artist was born and where his relatives live today. We met with his cousin Ants, visited the local museum, where some of the works of Ülo Sooster are exhibited, which were gifted to the museum by Ilya Kabakov. We visited Pendi Farm, where Sooster's house once was, and now there is a small commemorative sign about the birthplace of the famous artist.
On our way back we visited the city of Haapsalu, visiting a cousin of Ülo - Liis Aaloe. She remembers well those times and the special situation that prevailed in the Pendi farmstead. There we also had the opportunity to see and shoot unique photos from Lees's family album.
The third day of filming was in the city of Tartu. This is the oldest city in Estonia, the student city where Ülo Sooster studied at the Pallas Art Institute, whereas a student he was arrested and sent to a camp. We visited the Tartu Art Museum, where we met with the chief specialist on Sooster - Tiiu Talvistu, who showed us a collection of drawings of the artist.
Then we had the most interesting meeting in Estonia - with Ülo Heldur Viires. They studied together at the Pallas Institute, then were arrested and even were in the same cell. Heldur, 92 years old, told us a lot of interesting things. He found Sooster's drawings, which he painted while he was still a student.
