This is the story of three different generations of Siberian Estonian women whose ancestors were deported from Estonia as criminals in the 19th century. Instead of prison, however, they ended up in paradise - a fertile land where people quickly built their lives. 170 years later, the situation has reversed: who has already "got used to life here", but for whom, on the eve of the war, it is the last time to return to paradise, which on this occasion is Estonia.
Sundial takes us on a journey through the mists of the Estonian countryside. In each house whose door Liis Nimik opens, live people who have chosen to carve their existence at the fringes of modernity. Far from our tumultuous world, the rhythm of life is tranquil and peaceful. Here, humans seem to have found their place, living in harmony with nature.
A Finnish equivalent of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, Hannu has a love and connection to nature that surpasses most. It is the rare lynx in particular that has bitten into Hannu’s heart – so much so that he actually claims to be able to speak its language. So when a dead lynx turns up in his forest, he dons an animal mask, crawls down on all fours and sniffs out the mystery through the mire and thicket. With hauntingly beautiful footage captured by hidden cameras throughout the forest, ‘Lynx Man’ paints a colourful and vivid twilight picture of the natural world around us – and of man’s impact on it. For no matter what Hannu does to live in harmony with the animals, he cannot hide from belonging himself to the species that is the lynx’s worst enemy. It makes sense that most of Juha Suonpää’s atmospheric film takes place in the twilight between dream and reality. Here, the vast forests come alive in Hannu’s hypnotic Night Vision footage of the nocturnal life of the lynx.
