"Can singing change history?   THE SINGING REVOLUTION, a documentary by James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty about Estonia's struggle to end Soviet occupation, shows that it already has."       ~ Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times    ... a New York Times "Critic's Pick"

"Inspiring! Gripping! ... A story of how feelings became songs,  songs became a national voice,  and voice became action!"     ~ Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times "The Singing Revolution should be shown in all North American schools and universities and to anyone who takes their freedom for granted."     ~ Liz Braun, Toronto Sun "A WONDERFUL FILM... it will have the effect of strengthening the belief in freedom on the part of anyone who watches it."     ~ Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate

Listen to the WVXU review >>>   

ABOUT THE FILM

MATT SEITZ, in his New York Times film review writes, "Imagine the scene in 'Casablanca' where the French patrons sing 'La Marseillaise' in defiance of the Germans, then multiply its power by a factor of thousands, and you've only begun to imagine the force of THE SINGING REVOLUTION."

THE LARGE SCALE choral music of the Laulupidu Festival is inspiring, powerful and, for most Americans, unique — the sight and sound of 30,000 Estonians singing in harmony is not something we normally see on our movie screens.

BUT, THE THRUST of this documentary is about freedom and how, through music and non-violent protest, the Estonians ultimately came to gain it.

THE TINY BALTIC STATE OF ESTONIA, two-thirds the size of West Virginia with a population half that of Metro Cincinnati, has been prized by numerous invaders over centuries as a gateway to the sea. Carved up by the Germans and then the Russians in World War II, Estonia endured nearly 50 years of executions, torture, deportation, poverty and cultural genocide by the Soviet system.

THE SOVIET UNION'S decades-long occupation of Estonia meant residents couldn't express their political views, celebrate religious holidays, or do much of anything most free people take for granted. It was their response to the oppression that set the Estonians apart. Through repeated occupations, Estonians have depended on music, and singing in particular, to affirm their national identity and raise their spirits.

FOUR YEARS IN THE MAKING, directors James and Maureen Tusty bring us the remarkable story of individual and collective courage and what a nation can accomplish when its people act as one. This is the true story of how patience, persistence and culture saved a nation. And while music provides stirring dramatic and illustrative content, THE SINGING REVOLUTION offers some amazing archival footage and interviews with the people who actually lived the story.

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Screening at the Cincinnati Art Museum for three nights only, THE SINGING REVOLUTION has been held over for extra weeks in theatres coast-to-coast -- in towns like Santa Fe, San Jose, Albany, Tulsa, Toronto, Washington DC, Chicago, Portland, New York and San Francisco. In a world affairs context this film is especially timely, as Russia continues to chart a neo-Soviet course. So mark your calendars, tell your friends and plan to attend!

EUROPEAN UNION PARLIAMENT and U.S. CONGRESSIONAL SCREENINGS... More than 500 people viewed the film at the EU Parliament, where it received three standing ovations. It also screened at the U.S. Congress in commemoration of Estonian President Toomas Hendrick Ilves's visit to Washington. President Ilves spoke directly to the film's crucial importance as an educational and inspiring reminder of the Estonian people's remarkable recent history.