LIVE FROM THE INDUSTRY@TALLINN & BALTIC EVENT
The audience sees the close-up of a little girl’s face. Meanwhile, another child recites: “ladybug, fly away home/your house is on fire and your children are gone/don’t fly away/when your home’s up in flames”. Cut to a woman (the titular Stiina). The 28-year-old looks after a small boy in a well-furnished home. It quickly becomes clear that this is not her home: the actual parents of the boy reveal to us that Stiina is the babysitter. Next, we enter enter Stiina’s family home.
Stiina is a short film about a woman and her daughter Emma, the girl from the very beginning of the film. They live on the rough side of the town with derelict buildings and overgrown yards surrounding them. Their apartment is cramped with curtains drawn and clothes strewn around the place. Stiina is always away from home at one of her two jobs, while Emma stays home on her own.
This realistic snapshot of life is experienced by many mothers across the globe. The mundaneness here portrayed is entirely relatable. Stiina loves Emma, yet she cannot be there for her. The director illustrates this sense of absence through repetition. Stiina has to leave her daughter alone over and over again, and she becomes increasingly strained by that.
Contrasting with the gloomy narrative developments are the bright visuals,. This short features vibrant colours, sunny and clear skies, and the overgrown meadows populated with dandelions and flowers of other sorts. The writing is on the wall: however rough life may be, there is always beauty to be found if you open your eyes wide and look around you.
Elisabeth Kužovnik’s film is a difficult watch, however it provides mother, daughter and audiences alike with a sense of hope. It also raises a questions: what’s the ladybug going to do once she realises that the flames are generational?
Stiina shows in the PÖFF Shorts section of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. This review was written as part of the Film Review Workshop conducted on November 9th, 2025.
