Dorian Supin, an Estonian documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and cinematographer, author of many films on music, passed away yesterday.
Born in 1949 in Leningrad, having moved to Estonia with his family when he was only a few years old, Dorian Supin became a film director with a distinctive style. Thanks to him priceless footage of composers Heino Eller, Valentyn Sylvestrov and Arvo Pärt has been captured on film.
As the brother of Arvo Pärt’s wife, Nora Pärt, he came closer to Pärt than any other director, portraying him as composer, husband, father and grandfather in a domestic setting. Dorian Supin has said of the relationship between them: “Arvo knows me perhaps even better than I know myself. He trusts us when we film.” This trust materialised in three personal, sensitive and extremely delicate films: And Then Came the Evening and the Morning (1989), 24 Preludes to a Fugue (2002) and Arvo Pärt – Even if I lose everything (2015). In these films, Supin set himself the goal of revealing the inner world of Arvo Pärt as a person and a composer, placing himself as a director in the background and, according to music critic Immo Mihkelson, moving around with the camera as if on tiptoes, trying not to spoil the image he sees and conveys to others.
Arvo Pärt has a high regard of Dorian Supin’s film portraits: “Dorian was the most delicate director I know; he was a pleasure to work with. I have always found it easy to watch his films, they don’t weigh me down afterwards.”
We wish you a safe journey to Eternity, dear Dorian.
Our deepest condolences go to Reet Sokmann and to Jevgeny and Maria.
Arvo and Nora Pärt with family and the team of the Centre