SAUNA: WHEN DISCOMFORT REVEALS WHO WE ARE

HANS JOOSEP TAMME ON HUMOUR, UNEXPECTED TURNS AND THE ART OF STEPPING OUTSIDE THE FAMILIAR

In Sauna, a film by Hans Joosep Tamme, the ordinary becomes the starting point for something unexpected. Familiar situations take strange turns, and life confronts people with circumstances they could never have anticipated. According to the director, these are precisely the moments when we discover something new about ourselves and others.

At the centre of the story is a quiet, reserved writer whose orderly life is disrupted by an unusual problem. He cannot simply brush it aside or pretend nothing has happened. He is forced to act, open up and step beyond the boundaries of his familiar world.

Tamme is less interested in the problem itself than in what it does to a person. Awkward situations strip away our usual defences and reveal unexpected sides of our personalities. Sometimes, the very circumstances we would rather avoid are the ones that push us forward.

FUNNY DOESN'T MEAN FRIVOLOUS

Sauna plays with the audience's expectations, combining comedy with a dramatic story. For Tamme, humour is more than a way to make people laugh. It can reveal character and expose human contradictions from an unexpected angle.

Behind a comical situation, there is often a very real problem. The fact that an audience laughs does not make what is happening any less significant. On the contrary, humour can offer a way into serious subjects without sacrificing a story's emotional depth.

The director emphasises that the film's comedic elements do not diminish its dramatic foundation. His protagonist faces a genuine difficulty, and beneath the unusual circumstances lies a human experience that many viewers may recognise.

THE UNEXPECTED WITHIN THE EVERYDAY

Tamme aims to create stories in which fantastical elements emerge within a recognisable, realistic world. He is drawn to fantasy and science fiction, but what interests him most is seeing what happens when something extraordinary enters everyday life.

This approach allows us to look at familiar experiences from a different perspective. What happens when an ordinary person finds themselves in an extraordinary situation? How will they respond? What choices will they make? And what will those choices reveal about who they are?

The opportunity to explore such possibilities was one of the main reasons Tamme wanted to make Sauna. He is interested in the moment when the familiar order of things breaks down and the protagonist has to find a way forward on their own.

Yet originality is not an end in itself for the director. He wants a film to do more than surprise its audience. He wants it to leave them with something beyond the initial appeal of an unusual idea.

CINEMA AS A SHARED JOURNEY

When Hans Joosep Tamme was asked to choose the one moment from the festival day that meant the most to him, he pointed to conversations with other young filmmakers.

For him, this was a reminder that the journey into cinema does not have to be a solitary one. Estonia is home to many young people who dream of making films, finding their own cinematic language and telling stories. Realising that you are not the only person pursuing an idea can be meaningful in itself.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons cinema continues to evolve: every new voice brings its own perspective on the world. And sometimes, telling a new story begins with something deceptively simple — placing an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances and seeing what happens.

The interview took place at the 2026 Tartuff Film Festival in Tartu. Sauna was presented as part of the festival programme at Elektriteater.