PÖFF30 | Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival | 6-22 november 2026 | Cinema Artis
"I think it is a torpedo.” Against a beautiful, tranquil shoreline, these opening words immediately unsettle our gaze. Some 1.6 million tons of unexploded military munitions were dumped into the Baltic and North Seas after two World Wars.
Filmed across several Baltic Sea countries, “Baltic UXO” moves through German, Russian, Polish, Latvian and Estonian voices, yet its true protagonist is the sea itself: a wounded creature struggling to breathe, its depths burdened by the remnants of war. In the tradition of Baltic poetic cinema, haunting images replace conventional narration: a seal’s near-mummified body, blood-red sunsets, blue-black tides and murky seabed strewn with explosives. Fishermen return with a single box of vimba; women’s hands monotonously prepare Riga sprats. Even amber, that familiar fragment of frozen sunlight, may be dangerous to touch. The people who locate and neutralise the explosives remain peripheral. Their quiet work only reveals the scale of what lies beneath. When the film finally allows us to breathe and contemplate familiar seascapes, we can no longer see them with innocent eyes.
Marianna Kaat
In cinema 11/15/2026
PÖFF: Baltic UXO
Baltic UXO
-
Genre
Drama, Documentary
Director
Alexander Belinski, Agnė Dovydaitytė
Run time
1h 16min
Genre
Drama, Documentary
Director
Alexander Belinski, Agnė Dovydaitytė
Run time
1h 16min
PÖFF30 | Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival | 6-22 november 2026 | Cinema Artis
"I think it is a torpedo.” Against a beautiful, tranquil shoreline, these opening words immediately unsettle our gaze. Some 1.6 million tons of unexploded military munitions were dumped into the Baltic and North Seas after two World Wars. Filmed across several Baltic Sea countries, “Baltic UXO” moves through German, Russian, Polish, Latvian and Estonian voices, yet its true protagonist is the sea itself: a wounded creature struggling to breathe, its depths burdened by the remnants of war. In the tradition of Baltic poetic cinema, haunting images replace conventional narration: a seal’s near-mummified body, blood-red sunsets, blue-black tides and murky seabed strewn with explosives. Fishermen return with a single box of vimba; women’s hands monotonously prepare Riga sprats. Even amber, that familiar fragment of frozen sunlight, may be dangerous to touch. The people who locate and neutralise the explosives remain peripheral. Their quiet work only reveals the scale of what lies beneath. When the film finally allows us to breathe and contemplate familiar seascapes, we can no longer see them with innocent eyes.
Marianna Kaat
"I think it is a torpedo.” Against a beautiful, tranquil shoreline, these opening words immediately unsettle our gaze. Some 1.6 million tons of unexploded military munitions were dumped into the Baltic and North Seas after two World Wars. Filmed across several Baltic Sea countries, “Baltic UXO” moves through German, Russian, Polish, Latvian and Estonian voices, yet its true protagonist is the sea itself: a wounded creature struggling to breathe, its depths burdened by the remnants of war. In the tradition of Baltic poetic cinema, haunting images replace conventional narration: a seal’s near-mummified body, blood-red sunsets, blue-black tides and murky seabed strewn with explosives. Fishermen return with a single box of vimba; women’s hands monotonously prepare Riga sprats. Even amber, that familiar fragment of frozen sunlight, may be dangerous to touch. The people who locate and neutralise the explosives remain peripheral. Their quiet work only reveals the scale of what lies beneath. When the film finally allows us to breathe and contemplate familiar seascapes, we can no longer see them with innocent eyes.
Marianna Kaat
Info
Rating
-
Production year
2026
Global distributor
--
Local distributor
Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival MTÜ
In cinema
11/15/2026