Hilje Murel
Acting
Hilje Murel (born December 17, 1975) is an Estonian stage, film, and television actress. Hilje Murel was born in the town of VĂ”ru in VĂ”ru County. She is a 1998 graduate of the EMA Higher Drama School (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) in Tallinn. Among her graduating classmates were: Tiit Sukk, Veikko TÀÀr, Harriet Toompere, Andero Ermel, Liina Vahtrik, and Jan UuspĂ”ld. Hilje Murel made her film debut in starring role as Li in the Rainer Sarnet-directed 1998 dramatic short film Libarebased ja kooljad in 1998, which was adapted from the collection of short stories by Qing dynasty Chinese writer Pu Songling and produced by Eesti Televisioon (ETV) and Eesti Telefilm. In 2003, she appeared in the role of Linda's daughter in the Rando Pettai-directed, Peep Pedmanson penned comedy Vanad ja kobedad saavad jalad alla (English release title: Made in Estonia). The film was based on the popular Estonian television comedy series Vanad ja kobedad. In 2004, she had a starring role in the Andres Maimik-directed dramatic short film Kurat tuleb sauna; based on the leitmotif SaunakuuldemĂ€ngu of Estonian writer Mati Unt. This was followed by a small role as Nasta in the 2008 Ain MĂ€eots-directed Exitfilm biographical feature film Taarka, based on the play of the same name by Kauksi Ălle about the difficult life of Seto folk singer Hilana Taarka. Taarka has the distinction of being the first feature-length film in the Seto dialect, and won the 2008 Estonian Cultural Endowment Debut Award. In 2013, she played the role of Silvi SĂ€inas in the Toomas Hussar-directed comedy-adventure film SeenelkĂ€ik; the film was selected as the Estonian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. In 2013, Murel played the role of Berit Piir in the family-fantasy drama VĂ€ikelinna detektiivid ja valge daami saladus, directed by RenĂ© Vilbre and penned by Mikhel Ulman. In 2016, Murel had a small role in the Valentin Kuik and Manfred Vainokivi-directed melodrama Perekonnavaled. In 2018, she appeared in a supporting role in the Liina TriĆĄkina-Vanhatalo-directed drama VĂ”ta vĂ”i jĂ€ta and in 2020, appeared in the Peeter Simm directed coming-of-age period drama Vee peal. In 2020, she voiced the character Mother Rat in the Meelis Arulepp and Karsten Kiilerich directed animated film Sipsik, based on the popular 1962 children's book of the same title by Eno Raud
