A film by Taavi Arus
Documentary – 96 Minutes – Estonian/Estonia 2026
Puuluup: Cables in the Car is a funny, offbeat music documentary about two middle-aged Estonian fathers who accidentally become an international sensation with one of the world’s strangest instruments: the talharpa, a nearly forgotten bowed lyre.
What begins as an eccentric musical experiment quickly takes on a life of its own. With dry humour, punk attitude, and their self-described style of “neo-zombie-post-folk,” the duo Puuluup revive the ancient instrument, taking it from small clubs in Estonia, to major festivals, international tours, and even Eurovision.
But behind the growing cult following are two middle-aged men juggling touring with family life and the quiet absurdities of everyday existence. Director Taavi Arus follows them with warmth and wit, capturing the strange collision between sudden success and ordinary life.
Set between concert stages and kitchen tables, Puuluup: Cables in the Car is a joyful and deeply human portrait of creativity, friendship, and the radical idea that a breakthrough can happen in midlife – proving that it’s never too late to start a band, reinvent tradition, or take on the world.
