8 Views of Lake Biwa - Biwa järve 8 nägu

Estonia/Finland 2024, feature film, 125 minutes, OmeU. Director: Marko Raat

In Japan, on the shores of Lake Biwa, the wind rose and carried the whispers of a fishing village to Peipsi. "Have you ever loved?" asked the wind.

The young Hanake didn't know the answer, she never wanted to grow up. Merikarp wanted to become a famous singer, Roman wanted to become a respected community official and Õnne wanted to take care of her pupils' education - that's how peaceful life on Lake Peipsi was. But when the cherry trees began to grow by the lake, people's wishes and destinies changed.

"8 Views of Lake Biwa" follows the Japanese art tradition of describing emotions in landscape paintings. With eight oriental-poetic motifs, the film explores the state of mind of its protagonists: returning sailboats, the redness of sunset, the first snow, rain at night, a full moon in the fall, a temple bell, an unexpected breeze, the wake of a wild goose. It translates old Japanese love stories into the language of the longings and desires of a village community in Estonia.

The film is based on the book of the same name written by the German Japanophile Max Dauthendy in 1911.