In the early 2000s, I directed a provocative and guerilla-type TV show, Esto TV. It had a terrible reputation for some, especially politicians. But for others, it was downright cultish. But for the most part, we were considered total idiots. The TV channel received complaints and threats. At one point, the doors of the parliament were closed for our cameras, the politicians stopped giving interviews to us, and the infamy spread. We realized that the regular tv show could no longer be made. We then thought of making a documentary film instead. We twice asked the Estonian Film Foundation for money and received a negative answer twice. Our film idea was very innovative and experimental, and I asked the chief film expert of the Foundation why we didn’t get funding. He said he would not spit in the face of the people with Estonian taxpayers’ money.

We were like a counterculture. A powerful phenomenon. An anarchist, punkish position. This rejection even made me feel proud. As Rimbaud said, to change a life, one needs to penetrate it. Such a more social and radical line we had. So we decided to make the film anyway, from our own pockets; the Estonian Cultural Endowment probably supported a little as well. So somehow, by force of will, we did it. Fortunately, it wasn’t very resource-intensive, except for the lost nerves. There was one moment that was a bit scary when Russian state tv wanted to interview us after the film came out. They thought we were like partisans or somehow against the official Estonian politics. 

The film mocked populistic politicians, especially one party doing their parliamentary campaign under the banner “Choose Order,” which also became the name of our documentary. It was released in 2004 and won the Estonian Film Critics Award. The award was shared with another film directed by a local industry classic. When we asked him what he thought of our film and he said this is not a film. The classic had spoken.