AUTUMN BALL International Feature Competition

In a shabby Estonian hotel, a coat room attendant pretends be a guest at a conference of intellectuals so he can scam a free meal. As he tucks in, a woman starts a one-sided conversation, opining, There is no such thing as a Slavic identity. He nods mutely, still shoveling food into his face, and she is charmed enough to go home with him.

This is just one of many small, perfect moments in AUTUMN BALL, the captivating first film from Estonian writer/director Veiko Ounpuu. Uniting a far -flung group of characters searching for connection amidst the disintegration of the USSR, Ounpuu has created a total that is far more than the sum of its al remarkable parts.

Faced with difficult and diverse material, the large cast triumphs; they portray men and women who strive to be more than their collected disappointments and failures , who carry on amid complete uncertainty.