Liina Tennosaar
Liina Tennosaar (born May 23, 1965) is an Estonian stage, film and television actress.
Liina Tennosaar was born in Tallinn to Kalmer Tennosaar and Sirje Tennosaar (née Arbi). She has one full sibling and one half-sibling, from her father's second marriage. Her father was a popular Estonian journalist, singer and television personality who is possibly best recalled as "Uncle Kalmer" (Estonian: onu Kalmer), the host of the ETV children's television series Entel-Tentel. Her mother was a stage, film and television actress.
She attended primary and secondary schools in Tallinn, graduating in 1982, before studying acting at the Tallinn State Conservatory, Performing Arts Department (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre), graduating in 1986.
Liina Tennosaar made her television debut at age 22 as Mari in the Ago-Endrik Kerge directed 1983 Soviet-Estonian comedy television feature-length film Püha Susanna ehk meistrite kool. This was followed by the role of Aili Tõru in the 1986 Ago-Endrik Kerge directed television drama film Võtmeküsimus and the role of Mari in the 1987 Peeter Simm directed historical dramatic television film Tants aurukatla ümber, based on the novel of the same name by Estonian author Mats Traat. In 2004, she appeared in the feature-length television film Taksirengit, directed by Jussi Niilekselä and based on a play by Mihkel Ulman.
From 1997 until 1999, she played the character of Tiiu on the popular, long-running ETV television drama Õnne 13. She has made appearances on such Estonian television series as Urpo & Turpo, Ohtlik lend, Ühikarotid, Kelgukoerad, Kättemaksukontor, Elu keset linna and Viimane võmm. In 2017, she appeared as Inga in the TV3 mystery-drama series Merivälja.
Tennosaar made her feature film debut in 1990 in a starring role as Juuli in the Arvo Kruusement directed Sügis for Tallinnfilm. The film was based on the Oskar Luts novel of the same name and the final part of a trilogy of both the novels and films made based on them. This was followed by a small role in the 1993 Pekka Karjalainen directed comedy Hysteria; a joint Finnish-Estonian production.
In 2007, she appeared in a small role in the Veiko Õunpuu directed drama Sügisball; adapted from author Mati Unt's 1979 novel of the same name. That same year she appeared as Viire in the Andres Maimik and Rain Tolk directed road movie comedy Jan Uuspõld läheb Tartusse; a film that portrays Estonian actor Jan Uuspõld as a down-on-his-luck caricature of himself trying to hitchhike from Tallinn to Tartu to perform in a role at the Vanemuine theatre. This was followed by a role in the 2008 Ain Mäeots directed drama Taarka, in which she plays the main character's mother. The film was based on the play of the same name by Võro poet and author Kauksi Ülle. Other notable roles in films include Toomas' mother in the Hannu Salonen directed drama-thriller Vasha in 2009; Riina, in the Ain Mäeots directed drama Deemonid in 2012, and in the Andrejs Ekis and Tanel Ingi directed 2020 comedy Asjad, millest me ei räägi. Tennosaar has also appeared in number of film shorts and student films.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.171 |
| Birthday | 1965-05-23 |
| Place of Birth | Tallinn, Harju District, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Harju County, Estonia] |
| Also Known As | Liina Tennossaar, Liina Tenno, |
2022
Not Too Hard and Not in the Face
0/0
The 30-year-old protagonist Slava wakes up in a strange place with missing memories from last night. He’s taken to a hospital where Slava learns that...
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Not Too Hard and Not in the Face
1990
Awakening
5.6/5
It is the night of March 25, 1949. A full moon hangs over Estonia. Endless rows of cattle cars are waiting to transport thousands of Estonian families...
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Awakening
1990
Autumn
6/10
The main character of the film is Paunvere tailor Jorh Adniel Kiir. Two young seamstresses, Juuli and Maali, arrive in Paunvere. At first, Kiir regard...
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Autumn
2008
Taarka
5.7/3
The first film in the Seto language in the world speaks about the brightest heroine of a small people, the folk singer Hilana Taarka, a woman who live...
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Taarka
2009
Vasha
5.3/7
Tom, a wide-eyed, innocent sixteen year-old, finds himself an unwitting accomplice in a deadly game of vengeance and death when he befriends Artur - a...
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Vasha
2007
Autumn Ball
5.4/31
Autumn in Estonia, where six people live, six solitudes, prisoners of the monotonous architecture of Soviet-era concrete buildings, in search of human...
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Autumn Ball
2007
186 Kilometers
3.2/8
Jan Uuspõld is a talented actor who is not up to scratch due to his problems with alcohol. He makes up his mind to stop taking clownish roles and acce...
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186 Kilometers
2008
The Wish Tree
7/3
Hoping to find ways to start living independently, Liina travels from the country to her cousin Ave in the capital.
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The Wish Tree
2003
The Beauty Queen of the Mountains
0/0
A story of two women, a mother and a daughter, whose life together is a constant battle. Even the simplest everyday activity can grow into a big fight...
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The Beauty Queen of the Mountains
2012
Demons
8/1
When Joko, Ants and Reeda, all in their own good reasons, first enter a casino, they can't possibly be aware of the very existence of the demons insid...
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Demons
2024
8 Views of Lake Biwa
7/2
On the shimmering shores of Europe’s otherworldly edge, two teenage girls, Hanake and her best friend are discussing their first love interest while g...
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8 Views of Lake Biwa
2022
Tango of Mustamägi
0/0
It is the middle of the 1980s in Soviet Estonia and many people dream of a new apartment with all the comforts in the Mustamäe apartment building. Bar...
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Tango of Mustamägi
2025
The Black Hole
7.563/8
A comical triptych about residents in an apartment block district who long for a better life. When a black hole mysteriously appears in a lilac bush,...
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The Black Hole
2019
Dora Who Came from Highway
1.7/3
At the center of Estonia's first full-length horror film are the brothers Markus (Franz Malmsten) and Tom (Kristjan Kasearu), who find themselves in a...
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Dora Who Came from Highway
2004
Taksirengit
7/1
Finnish-Estonian short film.
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Taksirengit
1988
Dance Around the Steam Boiler
6.8/5
The movie travels through the 20th century by monitoring a steam boiler. We see the history of Estonia through life, agricultural work and people at d...
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Dance Around the Steam Boiler
2020
Things, We Do Not Talk About
7/1
An adaptation of the Australian film “The Little Death” (2014). A black comedy about sex, love, relationships and taboo. Five couples, five problems,...
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Things, We Do Not Talk About
2025
One-Dimensional Man
4/1
Raul's father Viktor, a Soviet-era Estonian militia officer, shaped his son with communist ideology. Raul was raised in a violent and pathological att...
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One-Dimensional Man
1992
Armastuse lahinguväljad
8.5/2
When the doorbell rang late night during the Soviet times, if was often the sign of military recruitment. The chain of events in the film begins from...
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Armastuse lahinguväljad
2018
Life on Gears
0/0
The childhood of Kerdo, the lead singer of the scandalous pop duo Respekt, was anything but rosy. Stepfathers struggling with alcoholism and a constan...
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Life on Gears
1986
Flamingo: The Bird of Luck
3.333/3
A teenage boy named Vahur, who is from a seemingly upstanding family, becomes an accomplice to the vicious assault on an elderly man. Through a look i...
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Flamingo: The Bird of Luck
Serafima
0/0
In Soviet Estonia, one woman's tragedy intersects with a doctor's inner struggle: to obey the orders of an authoritarian system or risk losing everyth...
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