THE FENCER

MIEKKAILIJA

By Klaus HӒRӦ

MAKING MOVIES OY - as PROD

Drama - Completed 2015

The Fencer is a touching drama about love and a man who finds meaning in his life through the children who need him.

Festivals
& Awards

Tallinn Black Nights IFF 2015
Tridens Estonian Film Award
Munich International Film Festival 2015
Bernard Wicki award
Cambridge Film Festival 2015
Beirut International Film Festival 2015
Kyoto Historica International Film Festival 2015
Cairo International Film Festival 2015
International Film Festival by the Sea 2015
Una Finestra Sul Nord 2015
    • Year of production
    • 2015
    • Genres
    • Drama, Historical
    • Countries
    • FINLAND, ESTONIA, GERMANY
    • Languages
    • RUSSIAN, ESTONIAN
    • Duration
    • 95 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Klaus HӒRӦ
    • Writer(s)
    • Anna HEINÄMAA
    • Producer(s)
    • Kai NORDBERG (MAKING MOVIES OY), Kaarle AHO (MAKING MOVIES OY)
    • Synopsis
    • A young man, Endel Nelis, arrives in Haapsalu, Estonia, in the early 1950s. Having left Leningrad to escape the secret police, he finds work as a teacher and founds a sports club for his students. Endel becomes a father figure to his students and starts teaching them his great passion – fencing, which causes a conflict with the school’s principal. Envious, the principal starts investigating Endel’s background…

      Endel learns to love the children and looks after them; most are orphans as a result of the Russian occupation. Fencing becomes a form of self-expression for the children and Endel becomes a role model. The children want to participate in a national fencing tournament in Leningrad, and Endel must make a choice: risk everything to take the children to Leningrad or put his safety first and disappoint them.