Part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s mission is to foster greater understanding through world cinema. This year 72 Foreign Language films were submitted for Golden Globes consideration. Here is an overview of one of them.

1944 is an Estonian film directed by Elmo Nuganen. The film first premiered in February 2015 in Berlin, Germany before its release in Estonia and other Northern European countries.

The film is set in 1944 during WWII and shows the war from the perspectives of the Estonians in the Red Army and those in the German Army. Because of the complicated historical events – Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 and eventually occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941 – young Estonians had to fight against their fellow countrymen. Some of them by their own political choice, some were forcefully drafted into German or Soviet Red Army. Or by tragic irony had to serve and die in both armies – German and Soviet.

It has to be said, that of all countries occupied by Nazis, only Estonians and Latvians were forcefully drafted into the German fighting units. This was different than in many other Nazi occupied countries where only volunteers fought for Germany. The film also shows how the Soviets also drafted young Estonians into Red Army and made them fight their brothers on the other side of the front line. Painful choices have to be made not only by the soldiers, but also by their loved ones. The film focuses on the individual in the context of the war but at the same time graphically showing the horrors of war.

In Estonia 1944 was a huge box office success. With local opening weekend admissions at 19,030, 1944 set a new opening weekend record for an Estonian film, beating the previous record of 15,611 admissions set by Names in Marble in 2002. 1944's first week also broke records by achieving 44,879 admissions, the highest ever for an Estonian film that premiered in Estonia.

Click here to watch the trailer.

Serge Rakhlin