Jaan Tootsen

Jaan Tootsen is an award-winning Estonian filmmaker who has forged an acclaimed career with distinctive documentaries that beautifully encapsulate the personal – often hidden - human experience within a rich socio-political context. Tootsen debuted with “The New World” (2011), a vivid exploration of the urban anarchist hipsters community in Estonia’s capital. His latest work "Good Luck, Mr President" is a distinctly non-political, wry observation of the most eccentric and consequential politician-you-probably-never-have-heard-of, Estonia’s President Toomas Ilves. Tootsen’s non-conformist vision reveals the myriad fractures in the dynamic relationship between individuality and community and marks him out as the latest of Estonia’s “New Wave” filmmakers to invigorate global audiences with their bold and distinctive approach to cinematic storytelling.