Salme Poopuu (18 October 1939 – 13 May 2017)
was an Estonian filmmaker and actress. Poopuu's career in the film and television industry spanned nearly fifty years working in a variety of positions, such as an actress, production assistant, production manager, producer, assistant director and director.
Early life and education
Salme Poopuu was born in the village of
Rahtla
Rahtla is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Estonia.
Before the administrative reform in 2017, the village was in Mustjala Parish.
Rahtla is the birthplace of Estonian filmmaker and actress Salme Poopuu
Salme Poopuu (18 O ...
on the island of
Saaremaa to Alexander Theodor Poopuu and Triinu Poopuu (''née'' Tamm). She was one of three siblings. At age nine the family moved to
Kuressaare. Poopuu attended school in Kuressaare until age thirteen when the family moved to the town of
Türi in
Järva County where she completed her studies. After graduation, she attended the
University of Tartu where she studied
economic geography and
demography. At university, she met students Peep Puks,
Paul-Eerik Rummo and Kulle Raig, who were all interested in filmmaking. Poopuu began experimenting with an
8 mm film
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...
camera and the group would spend time filming one another.
[Postimees](_blank)
''Lahkus Ühikarottide «ühikatädi» Salme Poopuu'' 14 May 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2019
Career
After graduation from the University of Tartu, she worked as an economist for the National Design Institute's Estonian Land Development Project from 1964 until 1969.
Filmmaker
In 1969, Poopuu began work on the Madis Ojamaa directed music documentary ''Uksed'' as a production assistant.
This would lead to a lengthy career in the film and television industry as a filmmaker, working on various productions as an actress, production assistant, production coordinator, production manager, producer, assistant director and director. From the early 1970s until 1996, she worked for
Tallinnfilm in a number of positions. Afterward, she worked for Danish, Finnish, German and U.S. film production companies until 1998. From 1996 onward, she contributed to Estofilm,
Exitfilm, RCE, Baltic Broadcast and Faama Film as a contracted project manager and an active film producer. During her lifetime, Poopuu worked as a filmmaker on over sixty television films and series and feature films.
Actress
In addition to her career as a filmmaker, Poopuu has also worked as a film and television actress since the late 1960s. One of her first significant, albeit small, roles was in the 1972
Sulev Nõmmik
Sulev Nõmmik (11 January 1931, in Tallinn – 28 July 1992, in Kuressaare) was an Estonian theatre and movie director, actor, humorist and comedian. He's mostly associated with the comical character of Kärna Ärni and the related fictional villa ...
comedy television film ''
Noor pensionär
''A Young Retiree'' ( et, Noor pensionär) is a 1972 Estonian comedy film directed by Sulev Nõmmik and written by himself and Enn Vetemaa. Together with ''Viimne reliikvia'', ''Siin me oleme!'' and ''Mehed ei nuta'', ''Noor pensionär'' is one o ...
'' (English: "A Young Retiree") for Eesti Telefilm. Poopuu would spend the next several decades appearing in often small roles in motion pictures,
telefilms, and television series. She is possibly best remembered by younger audiences for her appearances in such television series as ''
Kättemaksukontor'', ''Köök'' and, particularly, in the role of Salme in the Ergo Kuld directed
Kanal 2 teen comedy-drama series ''
Ühikarotid
''Ühikarotid'' is an Estonian teen drama TV series that airs on Kanal 2. The series first aired on 8 March 2010. It's written by Martin Algus and produced by Tuuli Roosma. It's about students from different Estonian locations who spend their ti ...
'' from 2010 until 2012. In 2016, she appeared in a cameo role in the music video "Mind ei koti" by the Estonian rapper Azma.
Personal life
Salme Poopuu never married or had children. Beginning in her early 40s, she was in a relationship with a man that ended after fourteen years.
She lived in Tallinn with a summer home in her childhood village of Rahtla on the island of Saaremaa. Poopuu was a longtime member of the
Estonian Greens
The Estonian Greens ( et, Erakond Eestimaa Rohelised, EER) is a green political party in Estonia. Founded in 2006, the party held six seats in the Riigikogu from 2007 to 2011. Its objective is to ensure that Estonia's development is environmen ...
political party. She died in Tallinn at age 77.
erakond.ee
"Lahkus Salme Poopuu." 15 May 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poopuu, Salme
1939 births
2017 deaths
People from Saaremaa Parish
Estonian film directors
Estonian film actresses
Estonian television actresses
Estonian film producers
20th-century Estonian actresses
21st-century Estonian actresses
University of Tartu alumni
Estonian women film directors
Estonian women film producers