The first film in the Seto language in the world speaks about the brightest heroine of a small people, the folk singer Hilana Taarka, a woman who lived her whole life as an outcast in a small chimney-less hut; as an unmarried mother of children in poverty, begging her bread, doing odd jobs and singing. She always sang the truth, sometimes bitter, sometimes funny, sometimes cruel. She was feared, despised and coveted. Taarka sang throughout her remarkable life, throughout her fate, from a small Seto village to international fame. And she sang well. Really well. Taarka became the Mother of the Song, a legend. But as a woman, as a member of the community, the Seto people never really accepted her. Taarka - a despised woman and a worshiped singer.
Acting
Three women embody one life with devastating continuity.
Sound
Seto leelo singing — untamed, ancient, unforgettable.
Production
First Seto-language film ever; every frame preserves a vanishing world.

Director
Ain Mäeots
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Seto people, straddling Estonia-Russia borders, number fewer than 15,000; this film is an act of linguistic resistance.
Hilana Taarka was real — her leelo recordings survive, and she died in 1933 still officially 'disgraced' by the village that now claims her.