The Fencer

Endel is on the run. With his past affiliations catching up with him, he eludes the secret police in Leningrad and finds himself in hapless Haapsalu, Estonia. It is the early 1950s and, in the wake of World War II, Estonia is living under the iron fist of Stalin’s Soviet empire, with many of the fathers lost to the war or shipped off to prison camps. Endel finds a job running the sports club at a secondary school, where he shares his expertise in fencing with eager young students. But Endel is undermined at every turn by his weasel of a principal, a communist functionary who is suspicious of his past and deems fencing non-proletariat. Endel must ultimately choose between guiding his team or running for his life. Nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film, and featuring a wonderful lead performance by Estonian actor, Märt Avandi, THE FENCER is a touching drama about a coach who gives children something to believe in. Based in part on the real life of expert fencer, Endel Nelis. (In Estonian and Russian with subtitles) –C.O.