Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
According to the Finns and Estonians, nothing beats the traditional smoke sauna, a type of sauna where a lot of wood is burned to warm up the sauna room. The room fills with smoke and only when the right temperature is reached, a window or a hatch in the roof is opened to expel the smoke. The ancient tradition of the smoke sauna is on UNESCO's cultural heritage list.
Deep in the forests of Estonia there is one such smoke sauna. It is a place where women gather to immerse themselves in the rituals associated with the sauna, a place where love and sorrow are shared, where recognisable stories are told to each other, where sweat drops, water and tears merge.
Estonian director Anna Hints shows in this film, her first feature-length documentary, how the women interact and trust each other - an intimate portrait, shot in beautiful images.
