Oma juured tracks two journeys across Estonia. Separated in time, but knotted around shared roots, these are tales of our belonging to the deeper and quieter history told by the trees and waters that patiently envelop our lives. Combining oral histories, video footage, field recordings, folk songs, and original music, this piece is an audio-visual reflection on family, memory, place, and homecoming. 

Ülo Suviste was forced to flee his homeland at the age of eighteen, following the Soviet occupation of Estonia during the Second World War. In 1994 – after fifty years in exile – he returned to a newly independent Estonia, documenting the journey on his camcorder. He revisited the towns and forests of his youth, gathering mushrooms, reconnecting with relatives, and attending the Laulupidu song and dance festival.

Thirty years later, five years after grandad Ülo’s death, Hayley Suviste spent a summer in those same towns and forests, collecting field recordings, footage, and music as she worked to trace their shared ancestry. Her search led her to Kuijõe, a small village her family had called home since the 17th century. Amid the pine trees and wych elm sat a derelict wooden cabin, once home to her great-great-grandparents, now half-swallowed by the forest.