NÖFF “Maestro Roman Toi. Beautiful Song I Dedicate to You” (2023)
Novembriööde filmifestivali NÖFF 5. film
Roman Toi learnt his first lesson about communists when a classmate’s father was shot down at the train station: Resist and make songs as fists. Maestro Roman Toi advocated social justice and peaceful resistance through choral music. When the Republic of Estonia became occupied by the Soviets and his home was in ashes, Roman Toi broadcasted Estonian music from Nazi-occupied Poland becoming a bridge between Estonians in exile and in the homeland. He composed choral works to the powerful poetry of Ärkamisaeg, the Estonian Age of Awakening, becoming a charismatic personality most active in reviving the Estonian Republic. His life story is told through music, magic realist imagery and a creative adaptation of his published autobiography.