Film

The centenary of Estonian film art was celebrated in 2012 and a stamp issued showing Johannes Pääsuke who was its first film maker. The film was called "Utochkin's Flight in Tartu", a recording of an acrobatic flight by the Russian test pilot Sergei Utochkin above Tartu.  The FDC shows a still but unfortunately the film itself has not survived.  The footage was shot over two days, 14th and 15th April 1912 and it quickly had its first screening on April 17th at the wonderfully named movie theatre, Illusion.  The date of 30th April on the film strip cancel is because Estonia at the time was on the Julian calendar, the difference with today's Gregorian being 13 days.

Johannes Puääsuke went on to produce other documentaries such as the 'City of Tartu and its Vicinity' (1912) and 'Trip through Seto Country' (1913) plus the first Estonian feature film, a 14 minute political satire called 'Bear Hunt in Pärno County' (1914) about the posturing of German and Estonian politicians.

Pääsuke's other occupation was as a collector of antiquities for the Estonian National Museum and in 1913 began a project for them documenting Estonia's land, trades and architecture through photography and artefacts. 1,300 of these photographs and his films are now in the Estonian National Archive.

Sorting Seed Potatoes in Tartu County

Pääsuke was mobilised into the Russian armed forces in World War 1 where he continued to film and take photographs. Sadly in 1918 he was killed in a train accident in Belarus aged just 26.

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps