(03.12.1925 – 20.09.2007)

Kaljo Kiisk studied chemistry and geology at Tallinn Technical College. He then left for Moscow to study at the State Institute of Dramatic Arts (GITIS) but returned to Tallinn, where he began working as an actor and stage director. He began directing films for Tallinnfilm in 1955 and has sixteen feature films to his name (e.g. Melting of Ice, We Were Eighteen Years Old, The Midday Ferry, Windy Coast, Landing, The Red Violin, A Hundred Years Later in May, Regina, The Prompter). Two of his films, Trails (1963) and Madness (1968), were banned by the Soviet regime. As an actor, Kiisk appeared in over twenty films, and he also acted on stage and for television. During the years 1995-2003 he was a member of the Estonian Parliament.