Handmade

Streaming video - 2023

HANDMADE tells the inspiring story of Nukufilm, the oldest surviving stop-motion animation studio in the world, founded in 1957. During the Soviet era, Nukufilm was both financed and censored by the USSR government. In the 1980s, a new generation of animators took over. They had a more adventurous approach to stop-motion animation and were given the freedom to experiment with any style they wanted. Despite strict censorship regulations, they were able to conceal messages and layers in their animations without being detected. When Estonia regained independence in 1991, Nukufilm lost its distribution through Moscow, and the studio struggled to survive in a global market. However, they managed to learn the new market and become businessmen, su...rviving in the new free market economy. This debut film offers a glimpse into stop-motion animation production today, as well as rare archive material from stop-motion animation history, and is an ode to the perseverance and creativity of the Nukufilm studio. more