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Birthday:
11-24-1956
(68 years)
Birthplace:
Tallinn, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Estonia]
Biography
Sven Grünberg (born November 24, 1956, Tallinn) is an Estonian synthesizer and progressive rock composer and musician best known for his meditative organ and electronic works involving the concepts of Tibetan Buddhism. He has collaborated with the film director Olav Neuland and written the soundtracks for the most of his films.
In the 1970s Grünberg was the leader of the progressive rock band Mess, which was founded by him in January 1974 together with Härmo Härm. Despite years of the band's existence and many live performances, Mess did not release a single studio album because of the contradictions of their musical style with the Soviet ideology[citation needed]; only in 1996 did Grünberg release a compilation from several surviving Mess recordings and a full remastered album in 2004.
Grünberg is also the Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Institute of Buddhism.
In the 1970s Grünberg was the leader of the progressive rock band Mess, which was founded by him in January 1974 together with Härmo Härm. Despite years of the band's existence and many live performances, Mess did not release a single studio album because of the contradictions of their musical style with the Soviet ideology[citation needed]; only in 1996 did Grünberg release a compilation from several surviving Mess recordings and a full remastered album in 2004.
Grünberg is also the Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Institute of Buddhism.
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Their works
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Grisha
event1996 star_border 7
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An up-close look into the life of the often misunderstood movie director Grigori Kromanov through the lens of old friends and colleagues.
Requiem
event1984
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When the frontline extends over Estonia in the summer of 1944, the pilots of a shot down Soviet airplane come to ask for help at a farm where organ builder Jaan lives with his kids.
Bonus track
Act like Self
event2016
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Sven Grünberg is a composer, musician, Buddhist thinker, the introducer of the Dalai Lama to Estonia, and a father – to name just a few roles in his life. Of course, he is also a son, husband, brother, teacher, and human being. He is a distinctive personality with a well-defined worldview. Despite his connection with Buddhism, he is a man of sharp words, yet one who is ready to take responsibility for his opinions or judgments. A few years ago, Grünberg underwent a serious heart operation, which led him to see life from a new perspective. Bonus Track portrays Sven Grünberg in the period following his operation, as he continues to create new music, ensures the flawless preservation of his earlier works, raises his preschool-aged daughter, and organizes the third visit of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Milarepa laulud
Act like Noormees
event1989
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The film is based on the works of Milarepa, the most renowned Tibetan poet and Buddhist teacher of the 11th century. A young scholar and a student journey through the sacred sites of Buryatia and Mongolia, guided by a mentor on an exploratory expedition, seeking a path to self-discovery through Milarepa's philosophy and Buddhist culture.
Lotte from Gadgetville
Music
event2006 star_border 8.6
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Somewhere in Europe by a great sea stands a small village, where inventing all manner of domestic gadgets is held in great esteem. Every year the villagers organize an annual competition of new inventions. One of the best inventors in the village is Oskar, Lotte's father. His primary rival is Adalbert, whose wife also partakes in the competition. On the eve of the next competition, Lotte and her friend Bruno find a book soaked in the sea, from which Susumu, a gardener from distant Japan, climbs out. Susumu teaches the villagers some judo throws before a big judo competition, which the latter will eagerly use to facilitate their daily lives.
Code
Music
event2021
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The development of nature is controlled by the genetic chain. Life goes on as the information code is stored in the gene chain. Every living being tries to indulge and laze. Unfortunately, development doesn't happen this way. The gene chain only rusts. Progress will only be made if there is an urgent need for it. The protagonist's rusty gene chain only starts working when the fear of death arises. What code is hidden in the human gene chain becomes clear during development. Mankind has debated the meaning of life for a long time, not knowing that it has long been found. What everyone is striving for is collectively creating strange patterns. After that, we become the starting point of a new gene chain again.
Inherent Obligations
Music
event2008
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Short film from Rao Heidmets about voyeurism, violence and media. Mixing live action with stop motion animation.
The Pearlman
Music
event2006 star_border 3
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A smart leader can keep the culture of his nation homogeneous for a long time, but he is helpless against the interchange of genes.
Klaabu in Space
Music
event1981 star_border 6.3
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Fantastic film about the space trip of Klaabu, Ninni and Pessik, to their help to the habitats of other planet in a release from the yoke of ominous Mushroom and transformation of motherland in a flowering garden.
Three Jolly Fellows
Music
event1990 star_border 7
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Three Jolly Fellows tells of the adventures of three small men in a world that borders on the fantastic: the composed and close-to-nature Mossbeard, the irritable city dweller Halfshoe, and the sensitive poet Muff.
Set Point
Music
event2004 star_border 3
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On one summer evening, four strangers are brought together by a mysterious murder. A case which at first seems like a regular crime investigation turns out to be something more - a tale of love, alienation and new hope.
Luigeluum
Music
event1983
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A documentary about the everyday life on a film set and the elusiveness that still confronts the artist and without the pursuit of which there would probably not even be failures.
The Belt of Lielvārde
Music
event1980
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The film explores and attempts to decipher the complex ornaments encoded in the traditional folk costume accessory, Lielvārde’s belt, drawing parallels with ancient cultures in Japan, China, Egypt, and elsewhere.
Barbarians
Music
event2003
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A mixture of popular stories are reversed and adapted to the Barbie universe. Queen Tiina (that's what these Barbies are called) asks who is the most beautiful in the city of Las Tiinas and someone dares to say that there is someone more beautiful than her. Immediately afterwards, Queen Tiina decides to kill the beautiful doll, who ends up in the sewers surrounded by forgotten toys (such as a melancholic Pinocchio and a charming rag doll).
Bermuda
Music
event1998
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Bermuda is a film about love
Fed Up!
Music
event2005
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Kaminsky is a long-distance driver disappointed both in life and other people. His last duty as a drives takes him to Estonia where he decides to fulfill an old promise. By chance, Kaminsky meets an Estonian cellist Stella on his road. Her career in Germany has ended already before it ever started. Kaminsky's trailer truck is being steadily followed by a catafalque where an Estonian beginner bank robber Wolf is chasing his eluded prey. Undertaker Manfred with dark past tries to lead Wolf closer to God. In Estonia, everyone's wishes will come true, even if not exactly the way they ...
The Art of Looking
Music
event2024
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Astronomers look through telescopes and see that the universe has a structure — it’s shaped like a web. Slime mold researchers look through microscopes and see that the tiny organisms form similar patterns. In their quest of discovering the nature of things, they both show the beauty of curiosity.
Jump
Music
event1985
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The incessant self-transcendence of man.
Minek
Music
event1990
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A person falls into a huge water reservoir and drowns. Before death, they have a vision of their past, of how they drowned a mouse. The film is based on the idea of the equality of all living beings and the repercussions of cruelty.
Lotte and the Moonstone Secret
Songs
event2011 star_border 6.2
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Plucky young Lotte embarks on an adventure with her uncle Klaus to solve the mystery of three stones that a pair of hooded figures are attempting to retrieve.
On the Possibility of Love
Music
event1999
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This animated short looks at the relationships between humans and other living creatures where life can be more diverse and sometimes more unexpected than it first appeared. The film is about the individual's right to choose his or her own path in a complex world.
Tear of the Prince of Darkness
Musician
event1993 star_border 4
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Tallinn, Estonia, days before outbreak of World War II. Hotel detective and Polish writer team up to find Tear of the Prince of Darkness, a legendary ring which can bring Satan’s rule over the world.
Corrida
Music
event1983 star_border 2
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Osvald, a man in his sixties, his wife Ragne who is about half his age and full of life, and her ex-lover Tarmo, have reached a decisive point in their lives where important choices need to be made. The isolation of a lonely island sets the characters face to face with each other, depriving them of social safety measures.
Birthday
Original Music Composer
event1994
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An experimental short about a child’s birthday based off the drawings of children.
Call of God
Music
event2022 star_border 6.9
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Anticipation of Love has settled in the heart of a young lady. The boundaries between dream and passion are very elusive. Life is full of physical deprivations and, of course, sensual pleasures, and the deep meaning of that all is Love. The deeper the feeling, the more intense the emotions. Each girl dreams about meeting her love one day. An experienced man helps her discover the world of passion and senses, and brings her to ‘heaven’s gate’ where the two of them will prevail. One can only imagine how many hearts were broken along the way to master the science of love. But passion blinds and soon the man becomes slave to the young woman’s sensual body. The carnal knowledge makes the girl try to subdue her love object. This is what the last film by Kim Ki-duk, shot in summer 2019 in Kyrgyzstan, is all about. The film was finished by Kim’s friends and colleagues after he unexpectedly passed away in December 2020.
Üks Uks
Original Music Composer
event2003
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Doors in our life. Each has a melody, like a music box. They have stories, like a book. They will be opened one by one.
Lotte and the Lost Dragons
Songs
event2019 star_border 6.6
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Lotte gets a little sister named Roosi. Two scientists Karl and Viktor come to Gadgetville, they are taking part in a big folk song collecting competition. Whoever succeeds in recording the folk song of the world’s oldest animal species, wins the competition’s grand prize. Lotte and Roosi decide to help the scientists. Exciting and unexpected adventures await the sisters.
Three Jolly Fellows 2
Original Music Composer
event1987 star_border 5
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The second part of the film based on Eno Raua's children's book of the same name, which tells about the activities of three jolly fellows - Sammalhabe, Kingpool and Muhvi. The movie viewer can join their exciting adventures in saving the city from the rats.
We Lived for Estonia
Original Music Composer
event1997
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During June 1941, Nazi forces occupied Estonia. By 1944, when the Soviet-Nazi frontline was drawing towards the Estonian border from the East, Alfred Käärmann was conscripted into the German military. By September 1944 the Red Army had again occupied Estonia. Alfred was forced to make a decision: whether to stay in Estonia or retreat with the Germans. He chose the former, However he risked arrest and deportation by the Soviets.
Three Jolly Fellows
Original Music Composer
event1984 star_border 5.9
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“Three Jolly Fellows” tells of the adventures of three small men in a world that borders on the fantastic: the composed and close-to-nature Mossbeard, the irritable city dweller Halfshoe, and the sensitive poet Muff. An old woman’s inexplicable love of cats has lured many felines to the city. Risking their lives, the diligent and ready-to-help fellows lure the gang of cats out of the city, with the result being trouble in both the city and nature.
The Curse of Snake Valley
Original Music Composer
event1988 star_border 6
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The trio of adventurous pals, a man who is a scientist, a fine lady and a former military pilot are in the Tibetian jungles looking for some mysterious vase that holds a metal container that is of no mundane origin.
Dead Mountaineer's Hotel
Original Music Composer
event1979 star_border 6.2
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The police get a call-out to a lonely hotel in the Alps. When an officer gets to the hotel everything seems to be alright. Suddenly, an avalanche cuts them off from the rest of the world and strange things start happening.
The Last Ones
Original Music Composer
event2020 star_border 4.5
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Tundra of Lapland, Finland. Rupi, a young man who fills his days dealing and drinking, works in a mine hoping to raise enough money to escape the desolate village where he lives.
December Heat
Original Music Composer
event2008 star_border 5.5
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The young country of Estonia is dancing to the jazzy tune of the 1920's when on December 1, 1924, the capital Tallinn is overrun by members of the Comintern in an attempt to stage a Communist coup. The film follows the fates of a young soldier called Tanel and his wife, a telephone operator named Anna, amidst the ensuing chaos which determines whether the country remains independent or becomes a minor province in the Communist Empire.
Instinct
Music
event2003 star_border 2
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What happens when the Maker loses control over his creation and it starts to obey its own will?
Klaabu
Music
event1978 star_border 2
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Klaabu's birth and adventure begins.
Ladybirds' Christmas
Music
event2001 star_border 6
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Two young ladybirds Tim and Mia are unexpectedly taken into a human family’s house together with a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Tim and Mia set about seeking the way back to the forest.
Flight
Music
event1988
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A gloomy allegory about the difficult human fate.
Rahutaevas
Music
event1988
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This is a film about Juhan Peegel, a linguist and lecturer, professor and writer, a former soldier. Against the background of all these facets, the viewer is presented with an amazingly simple and modest human nature, who values the warmth of home and the land of his birth above all else.
The Girl and the Golden Mane
Music
event1978
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A fairy tale about a girl who goes in search of a lost sunny foal and saves a windy boy from trouble.
Loop
Music
event1989
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Animation short.
Hundiseaduse aegu
Music
event1985
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The love story of Liza Pesentak and the fearless patriot Melelave, who will go through a series of various trials before they find their happiness.
Evald Okas
Music
event2009
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The documentary portrays artist Evald Okas: an exceptional painter and a diverse graphic artist, a virtuoso drawing artist and creator of thousands of ex libris. Okas was a honorary member of Florence Art Academy, author of numerous book illustrations and master of papercuts, he has practised glass painting and ceramic art. He has been called as the Picasso of Estonian art. 94-year-old Okas tells the story of his colourful life, casts light upon his artwork and reveals the secrets of his principles of working. Tireless artist radiates zest for life and reflects affection towards creative life and looks back at his life with warm humour. Hotblooded passion of creation has never left the grand master.
Monument
Music
event2008
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The documentary depicts monuments and heritage artwork that have been closely related to the history of the Republic of Estonia. Estonian sculptors, former political prisoners, social scientists and art historians share their memories in the film. Why do we need our monuments? What kind of attitude has been towards Estonian monuments and heritage artwork during the changing times in local history? Memorial columns can be victims of ideology. Estonia has been governed by several state authorities during the 20th century, all of them have left their own monuments. The destiny of numerous military monuments in East-Europe has become a current issue.
The Boys of Wikman
Music (12 ep.)
event1995 star_border 7
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The boys of Wikman is a 1994-year drama serial about the Wikman Private Gymnasium students from 1937 till their mobilization in 1944. The series is based on a 1988 novel Wikmani poisid by Jaan Kross.
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