It is a truth universally acknowledged in the advertising world that when a cultural institution reaches a milestone anniversary, it will seek a visual identity, and that visual identity will be described as "fresh." The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, which is turning 30 this year, has followed this path with admirable precision — though its choice of spokescharacters is, perhaps, more self-aware than most.

The Estonian festival, known by its acronym PÖFF, has commissioned its first-ever visual identity from Priit Pärn, an 80-year-old animator and caricaturist who has been depicting the Kilplased — the foolish yet resourceful folk of Estonian folklore — since 1974. The characters will appear across advertisements, decorations and other promotional materials for the festival, which runs Nov. 6-22.

"When I was commissioned to create the poster, the main requirement was that it should be original," Mr. Pärn said, revealing his design on his birthday. He settled on the Kilplased, he explained, because "they have never promoted a film festival before, nor have they ever been seen making a film."

(One might note that most folkloric characters have not promoted film festivals, but Mr. Pärn's logic has a certain circular charm.)

The Kilplased, Mr. Pärn noted, have counterparts across European folklore — Germany has its Schildbürger, England its Gothamists. The Estonian versions, he added with evident pleasure, were essentially borrowed from the Germans by one Estonian writer, then borrowed again by another. "As we can see, these two Estonians were perhaps a bit too clever for the Kilplased themselves," he said.

The visual identity was developed with the creative agency AD Angels, which Mr. Pärn approached with some wariness. "Just to be safe, I brought Olga along as a security expert," he said of his wife and fellow animator. "You never know with 'Angels,' after all."

The poster depicts a swarm of Kilplased engaged in filmmaking, with one small exception to their famous modesty: a single star, hidden somewhere in the composition. "Happy hunting," Mr. Pärn said.

Original story published in The Hollywood Reporter: "Meet the Estonian Folklore Characters Helping to Celebrate the 30th Tallinn Fest - and Their Animator"