QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM TALLINN
When directorial duo Heilika Pikkov and Liina Särkinen started shooting their documentary about one of Estonia’s most famous couples in the entertainment industry – clowns Piip and Tuut -, they didn’t know that it would take them seven years to finish it, and even less so, where the path would lead them. The contracted duration of the production proved advantageous to the storytelling. Many events took place during in the making, offering them enough material to turn the movie into something far more ambitious.
Haide Männamäe and Toomas Tross (the respective real names behind the Piip and Tuur stage personas) give the directors free access into their lives, both on- and offstage. They leave the family home’s door wide open. We meet the couple’s three children: Emma, Anni and Siim. They grow during the film’s beaming 84 minutes from children to adolescents. They are an integral part of a story of love, suffering, sacrifice and forgiveness. We follows the star clowns on their tour across China, we see their performances in local schools, public events, television shows, etc. At home, we get to understand the complex personalities and family dynamics.
We see the family of five on holidays on the the Baltic coast, and their attempt to take a dip in the ice-cold water. The abrupt cut to Piip and Tuut’s performance in a school would feel awkward if the team of editors (Madli Lääne, Heilika Pikkov and Liina Särkinen Helilooja) didn’t know how to piece the film together in an unusually dynamic manner. As a result, one scene gently rolls gently into the next. We gradually discover the family secrets.
My Family and Other Clowns doesn’t demand much from audiences. Just sit back and enjoy a story skilfully threaded together. No knowledge of Estonian arts and culture is required. The original score by Ann Reimann – who worked on Carlos Eduardo Lesmes Lopéz’ A Loss Of Something Ever Felt (2020) and Moonika Siimet’s The Black Hole (2024), – adds a touch of magic of the proceedings. The other song choices are commendable, too. Eldest daughter Emma steps on stage: her crystal-clear voice brings local tunes to life.
Directors Pikkov and Särkinen remain invisible, firmly behind the camera. They are comfortably familiar with their subjects. It is apparent that they earned the family’s trust and intimacy long time before the cameras started rolling. The couple and their offspring open up in front of Taavi Arus and Heilika Pikkov’s lenses (one of the directors doubles down as cinematographer). The emotions flow freely, both in moments of duress and joy. The unspoken prevails in the final part of the movie, after deep-seated trauma surfaces.
The complexity of family ties is depicted in a neutral, non-judgmental, strictly observational and gently curious tone. The audience is asked neither to take sides nor to pass verdict on Piip and Tuut’s parental skills. It is the couple who vet their shortcomings. They expose the challenges of balancing professional and family duties. Despite the glass of wine on their hands, the revelations are sobering. The movie raises simple yet relevant questions: Is it really possible to juggle a successful career and a fully functional family? Is it ok to turn your eldest child into a proxy parent? These are no simple answers. Instead, the two directors offer viewers acceptance and reconciliation.
My Family and Other Clowns screens in DOC@PÖFF Baltic Competition of 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
