speakers

The Beauty of Being

Fred Jüssi has built his life at the crossroads between nature and culture. He is a true philosopher of the outdoors who has given deep consideration to the fundamental questions of being human. In this day and age, there is a lot of talk about success and hard work. This film is about fruitful idling. It is a praise of dolce far niente. A hymn for living slowly. Meandering along nature’s secret trails, gazing at clouds passing by, for hours on end, and falling into the sweet embrace of smoke rising from a campfire, we leave city noise and economic growth far, far behind. As Fred Jüssi puts it: sometimes you just have to be sinfully slothful, and all by yourself.

Jaan Tootsen, born in 1975, is a director and screenwriter known for the documentary “New World” (2011). “New World” won the best film of 2011 prize from the Estonian Association of Film Journalists. He studied at the Tallinn University and is working as a program editor at Estonian Radio. He was awarded the Young Cultural Figure Award of the Cultural Foundation of the President of the Republic of Estonia in 2010. He worked as a cultural adviser of the President of the Republic Estonia 2012-2016. Jaan Tootsen has directed several documentaries and compiled over 500 radio programs. His latest documentary film “Fred Jüssi. The Beauty of Being” got 57 000 viewers in estonian cinemas and an award of Estonian Cultural Capital – best documentary 2020.