Last year, the cinema screenings of European films outnumbered those of American films for the first time

Cinema-goers could choose between 379 films, most of which (276) were new films, meaning that there were more than 5 new films per week. A record number of Estonian films also reached cinemas: the films screened included 64 different Estonian films, 32 of which were new films.

Films made in the United States of America (USA), which just ten years ago dominated Estonian cinemas, have been in a slight decline, while European films have rapidly increased their market share. In 2015, 159 European films and 140 films produced in the USA were screened in Estonian cinemas.

The most-watched Estonian films in 2015 were “1944” by Elmo Nüganen (115,599 viewings), Margus Paju’s family movie “Supilinna salaselts”, which is based on books by Mika Keränen (90,746 viewings), and “Must alpinist” (“Ghost Mountaineer”) by Urmas Eero Liiv (51,193 viewings).

The most popular foreign films were “Minions” (156,104 viewings), “Fast & Furious 7” (99,552 viewings) and “Spectre” (96,862 viewings).

While the average ticket price for all movies screened in Estonian cinemas was 5 euros, the ticket price of Estonian films was somewhat lower – 4.1 euros. 20–29-year-old inhabitants of Estonia were the most active cinema-goers. People prefer watching comedies, thrillers and drama films the most. The inhabitants of North-Eastern Estonia prefer significantly more than average to watch horror movies.

In total, there were 204 films released in Estonia in 2015. There were 38 full-length films produced, including 14 feature films and 24 documentaries. Short films produced in 2015 totalled 166, 12 of which were short animations, 46 short feature films and 108 short documentaries.

Country of origin of a film – the country who covered at least 50% of the production costs.