Hilje Murel

Hilje Murel (born December 17, 1975) is an Estonian stage, film, and television actress.

Hilje Murel was born in the town of Võru in Võru 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 Täär, Harriet Toompere, Andero Ermel, Liina Vahtrik, and Jan Uuspõld.

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 Saunakuuldemängu of Estonian writer Mati Unt. This was followed by a small role as Nasta in the 2008 Ain Mäeots-directed Exitfilm biographical feature film Taarka, based on the play of the same name by Kauksi Ülle 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.