By The Baltic-German family Buxhoeveden-Siemens story has not been told on the big screen, but a young filmmaker from Estonia would like to change that
“Pädaste” is a short film that tells the story about the last Buxhoevedens who were driven out of their home on Muhu island in 1919 and how the head of the family Alexander von Buxhoeveden along with his brother Arthur were ruthlessly murdered by the revolutionary mob.
It is a story about humanity, about love and loyalty, about revenge, treachery, and injustice. But first and foremost, it is a story about a Baltic-German family who were forced to flee from their homes in fear for their lives. As many innocent people today around the world the Buxhoevedens found themselves in the middle of a conflict they didn’t start, but where they suffered the most.
Much until today the Baltic-German gentry has been depicted in Estonian films as the oppressors. There has been near to none mention that thanks to the Baltic-German initiative the Estonians were literate people with their own culture, the Baltic-German gentries’ households were the aspiration to many Estonians and the influence and footprint the Baltic-Germans left was priceless and helped the people of just-formed republic easily to assimilate with rest of Europe.
Katariina Rahumägi is the screenwriter, director, and editor of the film „Pädaste“. The film will be her Bachelor thesis film at Baltic Film, Media and Arts School.
Born and raised in Tallinn, Estonia – Katariina started out by making YouTube videos about mermaids. The series known as Mermaid Forever has a quarter of a billion views today. Furthermore, Katariina has directed, written, produced, and edited several short films and documentaries
She describes her upcoming film as follows:
I’ve stumbled upon a tragic tale which instantly gave me the chills. As an Estonian I am proud of my roots and have always believed in the greatness of our people, however, this story showed me another side of the coin and made me question things I’ve strongly believed in my whole life.
The Baltic-German history is rather unknown in the world therefore being a topic which hasn’t been explored in cinema yet. The tale itself is unique and never-heard-before, thus imagine if a short narration over a dinner table could give you the chills, what could a whole film do?
As any period film, also making “Pädaste”, is an expensive undertaking. The project is looking for supporters who are willing to participate in getting this historic story ready for the big screen. If you feel that Buxhoevenden-Siemens family history deserves to be memories on the big screen and you would like to support the project with any amount suitable for you, please feel free to contact: KATARIINA RAHUMÄGI [email protected]
Katariina Rahumägi’s previous work
M3RC0RY – a Pilot Episode for a Mini-Series
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