Sigade revolutsioon / Revolution of Pigs / Revolution der Schweine

In 1986 Estonia, young people from all over the country are spending a few days at a state-run summer camp. They are looking forward to freedom, love, and sex and disco nights with Western hits. But a rumour is making the rounds that anyone who hasn’t been accepted to university might be sent to fight with the Red Army in Afghanistan. When flyers appear condemning the Soviet war, the communist functionaries’ response is incomprehension and brutality. That in turn provokes the young people to rebel. They stage a piece of performance art with the motto “something is rotten in this country” and call for a Revolution of Pigs … With a sensitive hand, this impeccably-choreographed ensemble film uses 15 main actors and some 500 extras to examine the fissures and upheaval in socialist society during the era of perestroika, five years before Estonian independence. In breathtaking wide-screen images, it conveys how youthful rage and energy can be key to revolution.