The film tells the relatively unknown story of the non-violent Singing Revolution and its catalytic role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The Singing Revolution opens today in San Francisco and San Jose.

I admit I may be a bit biased as these are my peeps, and I was the producer of the film… so for a more objective opinion:

“Imagine the scene in Casablanca in which 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 New York Times

Or as the late Milton Friedman put it, this film “will unquestionably have the effect of strengthening the belief in freedom on the part of anybody who watches it.”

See www.singingrevolution.com for the trailer and up-to-date show times (U.S. and Canada for now).

The “Singing Revolution” and its role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union is a relatively unknown story in the West. From 1987 – 1991, Estonians defiantly sang national songs forbidden by the Soviet authorities, signed petitions disavowing the legality of the Soviet occupation, and created a line of 2 million Baltic people holding hands from Estonia to Lithuania in protest of the Soviet occupation. During the coup, tens of thousands of Estonians stood as human body shields between the advancing Soviet tanks and the radio and TV stations. In 1988, Estonia was the first country to declare sovereignty from the U.S.S.R., a catalyst for its disintegration. Iceland was the first country to recognize Estonia’s declaration of independence in 1991, and, interestingly, Russia was the second. The U.S. was number 32.

If you can, please forward this to Nordic folk, history buffs, choral groups and freedom fighters you may know…

17 responses to “Sing, Sing a Song”

  1. Hmm, nice promoting. I might see that film at some point.
    – Tomi the Finn

  2. Please do… if you go early, it helps the movie hold over and have a chance for an Oscar.

  3. I would love to see it. I hope it does well.

    Perhaps some key tags in Estonian might help.

  4. I will bring my mother to this, her father is Ukranian. Thanks for the info.

  5. You can see the current and future cities here. Given your commute path to the new launch site, the film’s opening in Reno tomorrow might be perfect. =)

  6. Looks like a wonderful story… one that actually happened?

    Looking forward to it’s release!

  7. Finally saw it. Thank you! Almost a mystery how it all so happened. I would of missed the whole movement, If I would of accepted to go to the soviet occupation army at the time. I think that if there is something that is so right, then it moves you , and this is a film, that does that. There have been several other films on this subject, but this is a pearl.

    I don’t think this song "Dawn" is used in the film, but if you listen to it, you may get an idea when 100-300 thousand people sing this together http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-6tLn6hQ7Q

  8. Good to see Roger Waters’ influence in there… 😉

    @trumpet: unbelievably, yes.

  9. That is some awesome song, "Dawn" even when I can´t understand the words. There´s something that it speaks out universally, in the voice. Must be moving to witness thousands singing it altogether.

    I loved the viddeo too. The TheWall reference was most in place indeed. I liked the picture of the white ice, the dark line of trees (pines) and the blue sky.

  10. Another song for TheAlianess from the same artist, you don’t have to like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_epUNDItzfk&feature=related

    If you truly want to know what they say in "Dawn", then you can find lyrics here http://www.lyricsprovider.com/song.php?id=59081, may need a dictionary though. 🙂 dict.ibs.ee/

  11. And now the DVD has showed up on Barnes & Noble and Netflix

  12. [I post here too!]

    Better late than never… I’ve just seen the movie. You know how much fond of singing I am and I’ve been playing part in choirs through all my school years… so from that perspective, of course I knew it would appeal to me to watch it. However, the whole story was way beyond what I was expecting. I knew a lot about this part of the history -the ongoing Russian genocide -since the first revolution in 1905 on, more than 30 million people died-, a portion of reality greatly denied in the West due in big part to all the massive attention the Jewish holocaust had in history books and media [sorry to put it in those terms, by no means it tends to be disrespectful to the Jewish suffering, but they were not the only ones]… Certainly, then, very little I knew about Estonia in particular.

    I was chicken-skinned, close to tears during the whole hour and a half.

    I think it’s a great movie, it’s an even greater documentary and a historical due acknowledgement to a nation and an even greater legacy for the next generations. It should be aired, if it didn’t yet. Worldwide. I can think of several people down here in Argentina who would love to see it.

    I don’t know if it’s possible, commercially wise I mean, but I really think that given the time passed, there should be, if there isn’t, a free version of the movie online for public sharing, and for educational purposes.

    The world needs to see this movie. It belongs to our human patrimony, it’s OUR history, not only Estonian’s.

    I read a line in the credits at the end… The executive producers. 🙂 Aitäh.

  13. It only took 10 years, but I finally watched this movie.
    Very moving and a great history lesson.

    I remembered your Estonia connections as I was watching, and behold saw your name in the credits. Had to come here and say Hi!

  14. That was a powerful and inspiring film. Thank you for helping to make this story of creative nonviolence known to the world.
    I also appreciate you making this image available for others to use. I used it in a Creative Commons video I made about protest songs. I attribute the image to you in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. You can see it at 00:19 here: youtu.be/Pa7XE9wZCFw

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