The 21st Matsalu Nature Film Festival (MAFF) has ended. The best films have been announced.

This year's Matsalu National Park Special Award went to the film "The Return of the White-tailed Sea Eagle" by Jouni Hiltunen, a well-known Finnish filmmaker. 

Matsalu is the ancestral home of sea eagles. There are written records of their nesting in the Matsalu forest as early as 1887. The ringed eagle has also nested in Finland.

Finnish white-tailed eagles have experienced similar problems to those in Estonia and Matsalu. The film gives an in-depth insight into fascinating and technically challenging work of Finnish eagle researchers on the protection and research of sea eagles.

You can view all the award-winning films on the MAFF website.

The Matsalu Nature Film Festival (MAFF) is annual nature film event in Estonia. It has been named after the nearby Matsalu National Park, one of the largest bird sanctuaries in Europe. The next MAFF will take place on 25-29 September 2024.