The Fencer

Set in Estonia in the early 1950s, The Fencer follows Endel, a young fencer who once trained in Leningrad and is now on the run from the Soviet secret police because of his past. He settles in the small coastal town of Haapsalu, where he is viewed with suspicion at first but eventually finds work as a physical education teacher. When his pupils show interest in his sporting background, he starts teaching them to fence, a project that gives him a new purpose and brings him closer to Kadri, a fellow teacher. The trouble comes when his students earn the chance to compete in Leningrad: travelling there would mean stepping back into the reach of the authorities he is hiding from, while staying away would mean abandoning the children who have come to depend on him.

The film is directed by Klaus Härö from a screenplay by Anna Heinämaa, and its largely Estonian cast is led by Märt Avandi as Endel, with Ursula Ratasepp as Kadri and Hendrik Toompere Jr. as the school principal. It was produced across Germany, Finland and Estonia on a budget of about 2 million dollars, and runs 98 minutes. It is the earliest of five features directed by Härö, followed later by One Last Deal, My Sailor, My Love, Never Alone and Blue Baby.

Audiences have responded favourably: on IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from roughly 5,500 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7 out of 10 from a much smaller base of 87 votes.