Film Review - by Alan Teder
“Pastacas”
dir. Rein Kotov
29 minutes
Pastacas is the stage name of the Estonian illustrator and artist Ramo Teder when he is performing his music which he has described as folktronic as it combines standard song styles with electronic effects such as looping and sampling. A pastakas (usually spelt with a “k”) is also the Estonian word for a ball-point pen and Ramo Teder frequently uses the media of pen and ink drawing in his art work.
Rein Kotov’s “Pastacas” is a short half-hour film that was created for the “Eesti lood” (“Estonian Stories”) film series. It shows Ramo Teder at his home and work-studios in Finland and at various concert events in Estonia and Japan. Ramo and his Finnish wife Piia also run a graphic design and print shop and during the film they can be seen in the process of building a new work studio. Their life with their daughter Pihla Alina in south-western rural Finland looks to be quite idyllic. Young Pihla somewhat steals the movie every time she is onscreen, whether she is describing her half-Estonian, half Finnish nature or just playing on sleds or skates.
Rein Kotov is well-known as a major Estonian cinematographer and he has lensed several past film favourites screened in Toronto, including “Gulag 113” and “Vastutuulesaal” at EstDocs, “Georg” at the European Union Film Festival, and “Georgica” and “Darkness in Tallinn” at TIFF. The lovely little musician/artist bio-film of “Pastacas” is a welcome opportunity to see him in the director’s chair as well.
“Pastacas” will have its Canadian Premiere screening along with the film “The Kaplinski System” at EstDocs on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at the Papery Theatre at Todmorden Mills, 67 Pottery Road. Reception at 6 p.m. followed by films at 7 p.m. 
