The Bus (2004)

The bus line from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, to the Russian city of Kaliningrad was opened decades ago, at the time when Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and also Russia were part of the Soviet Union — a society where there were no intra-country borders. In May 2004 the Baltic States joined the European Union and now, the Tallinn-Kaliningrad bus has to make three border crossings during one night — Estonia-Latvia, Latvia-Lithuania and Lithuania-Russia. It is the story of one bus — its journey from Tallinn to Kaliningrad. The bus travels through four countries and the passengers exchange four different currencies during that trip, to pay either for the WC or to buy a sandwich for the journey. The bus in this movie is not merely a means of transportation but also a home for the passengers who have different nationalities and social status. The characters of the movie are people whose lives the bus is related to — passengers, border guards, bus station workers. The film was shot in 2003 from September to December in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia.