White Lie (2021)

Katariina Aule's short film tells the story about Marie, a student who has decided against the Stalinist regime escape to Sweden. The film is about that even in difficult times it is important to maintain kindness and humanity.

It's 1947 in Estonia. There's a dance party at the university where young student Marie (Maarja Johanna Mägi) meets August (Sander Roosimägi). The party is interrupted by a terrible event - Marie's course mate who's been declared as a traitor shoots himself at the university hall. After that, Marie becomes increasingly paranoid about her own secret about her brother who's fled abroad. She doesn't see any other way than fleeing secretly to Sweden. Now desperate attempts to escape begin, but they are interrupted by militia. Marie is taken to an interrogation where she has an unpleasant surprise - among the militia there is also August, in uniform. Marie thinks it's the end of her and the previous help from August had actually been a setup by the militia. It's August who is sent to verify the white lie that Marie told the militia to be true. He has to decide whether to maintain his commitment to the state and the responsibilities that he's been bound to by extraditing Marie, or to stay humane and save her. He chooses the latter and Marie finds out that despite the cruel regime there are still good people left among the authorities. Later, when she goes to thank August for his kindness, he is forced to pretend he doesn't know her.

Keywords: NKVD (The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) | escaping | interrogation | student | View all »