Vertov, Flaherty, Marker, Roach, Blank-one thinks of these non-fiction masters while watching the films of Mark Soosaar. Whether treating timeless themes of man in nature (several Soosaar films concern the survival struggles of the fishing people of the isolated Baltic island of Kishnou) or probing topical, even taboo social problems (alcoholism, wife battering, teen suicide), Soosaar displays virtuoso mastery of the medium in adapting style to subject. Some films are wordless visual essays close to the classic avant-garde cinema of Europe and the USA; some films document and celebrate unique ethnic traditions and folk music from regions threatened with cultural extinction; some films are angry works of social protest. All reflect the spirit of a true auteur. Like other major Soviet film artists, Soosaar was completely unknown outside small unofficial circles in the USSR until glasnost allowed his films to be seen, written about, and shown abroad. (In the last year his films have been featured at the Berlin, Tampere and Leipzig Film Festivals.) This program, features four of his more than 15 films made since 1971. Tom Luddy, Co-Director, Telluride Film Festival