This was played at the social dinner at the 12th International Conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice.
For me personally it was very moving because
- Having lived in Estonia and having many Estonian friends, I understood the struggle for Estonian independence
- I also understood why the Song Festival grounds was featured so prominently - because the song festival had played a major role in preserving Estonian language and identity through many occupations. And I consider myself fortunate to have experienced it twice (in 2004, when I lived there, and in 2019, when we timed our visit to coincide with it)
- I also recognized why the TV tower was a location - because it was occupied by Soviet Troops in response to the Estonian Declaration of Independence
- I didn’t recognise what the monument where the song opened was about, but later was informed that it was a memorial to the victims of communism. I felt moved to visit the memorial after the conference and write a small story about it.
- The main artist, JMA (Joel Markus Antson) was on stage, had already performed on stage (with Uku Suviste, another artiste in the video), and was someone I had been in touch with as he was providing the visa invitation letter for me, and he was a participant at the conference.
