Born in Tartu, Estonia, screenwriter-director-composer Anna Hints (b. 1982) studied film directing at the Baltic Film, Media and Arts School in Tallinn, but also has prior degrees in folklore, literature and photography. She already received acclaim from her early short films: Ice (2017) was screened at over 90 festivals around the world, bringing home 14 awards. More recent and likewise widely screened short documentary For Tomorrow Paradise Arrives (2021) dealt with dumpster diving as means of battling food waste. Her musical merits include Eeter’s score to the Estonian nature documentary Wind Sculpted Land (2018) that beat box office records in Estonia for documentaries.
The first Estonian feature documentary to be selected in competition at Sundance, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood promptly brought Hints the Directing Award in the World Cinema category. The multi-talented Hints can also be heard on the ritualistically atmospheric soundtrack as part of her experimental folk trio, Eeter.
Liina Härkönen