Dirt In Your Face

Dirt In Your Face is an Estonian-language coming-of-age rock comedy-drama directed by Jaak Kilmi from a screenplay by Martin Algus. It is based on the bestselling book by Mihkel Raud, a former member of an 1980s band. The film is a co-production between Estonia, Latvia and Finland. It is set in the summer of 1987, when the blue-black-white flag is still forbidden but a hidden movement is already working towards the restoration of independence. Audacious 17-year-old Mihkel travels with his heavy metal band to the most important music festival of their lives. His friend and rival Hendrik, whose own band has just broken up, joins them to impress the foreign music producers invited to the festival. Hendrik promises to respect Mihkel's leadership, but he brings his new girlfriend Liisa, who is Mihkel's dream girl. The tour, charged with bravado and alcohol, becomes a road trip through the absurd circumstances of a crumbling empire. It tests friendship, love and dreams, and ends at a massive music festival where the young rockers must answer the question "to be or not to be".