BLACK NIGHTS KICK-OFF

And we're off! The 23rd Black Nights Film Festival has officially begun.
Over 250 films in 4 different cities and 4 competition programs - Official Selection, First Feature Competition, Baltic Film Competition, Rebels with a Cause Competition.

Yesterday's Opening Ceremony kicked off with opening film Adam and the Bruno O’Ya award to a remarkable Estonian actor was awarded to Rea Lest.

Check out all the photos from yesterday's black carpet here. 

READ THE FULL STORY

AND THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD GOES TO....

At the 23rd edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky will be presented with one of the festival’s two Lifetime Achievement Awards.
The festival will also screen two of his films: the Northern European premiere of his latest film Sin (Il Peccato) and House of Fools (2002).

Andrei Konchalovsky’s career spans over five decades, during which he has directed numerous films and series that have become an undisputed, integral part of film history.

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IN FOCUS: SIZZLING ARABIA

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival’s 23rd edition will see a focus on Arab cinema, as the festival screens 14 films in the specially curated programme In Focus: Sizzling Arabia, showcasing highlights from the last decade.

According to the curator, Intishal Al Timimi, a Black Nights curator who is also the head of the programme of the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, the special programme is most likely the largest of its kind ever screened at an international festival in Europe.

The festival opened yesterday with Maryam Touzani’s Adam, that was screened at the Cannes film festival this year.

DISCOVER THE FILMS

REBELS UNLEASHED

Rebels With A Cause is the festival section that showcases independent productions that offer original points of view, polemic opinions or interesting aesthetic pursuits for the demanding audience.

The programme is divided into two competitive programmes – for shorts and features – and a non-competitive selection.

Rebels With A Cause is gradually developing into a section that draws international attention and attracts fresh films from emerging and established creative voices from around the world.

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TV BEATS

The TV Beats programme will screen eight new series from around the world, three of them world premieres, including an Amazon production and the first Estonian series produced by the Finnish telecommunication company Elisa.

The three series having its world premiere at PÖFF are:

• the Elisa-produced Estonian series Traitor is a spy thriller that is inspired by the real-life espionage incidents between Russian and Estonian intelligence that have been occurring ever more frequently since Estonia joined NATO in 2004.
• the Russian series Call Center by Russian directing duo Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov (The Man who surprised everyone), returning to Tallinn with the new series they created at Premier Studios. The story follows the workers of a call centre who are taken hostage by two terrorists who observe the whole building and start to demand the hostages to perform strange tasks.
• Burning Land, an Estonian series produced for the national broadcaster ERR, telling a story based on true events about a criminal group known as the Kolkhoz (Russian word for collective farm). 

SEE THE FULL LINEUP

We are happy to announce that the PROGRAM of the AUGMENTING PERFORMANCE international conference that will be organized at CINETic UNATC Bucharest (15-17 November 2019) is now available online. (Please keep following our website for updates)

We are delighted to have brought together such a diverse group of professionals – well over 100 guests from 13 different countries and 4 continents (Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Romania) – a true global community of artists and scientists.

CONFERENCE LINEUP

KEYNOTES

GERHARD WIDMER, PhD, Institute for Computational Perception, Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU) and Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (OFAI), Vienna (AUSTRIA), Con espressione!

ELIZABETH JOCHUM, PhD, Associate Professor in the Research Laboratory for Art and Technology (RELATE) at Aalborg University (DENMARK), Rehearsal for the robot revolution

JOE KING, Tutor in the Animation program at the Royal College of Art London (UK), Rock paper scissors. Expanded forms of animation, its use within live stage production and the role of research knowledge exchange within live projects

JORIS WEIJDOM, Researcher and senior lecturer – Media and Performance Laboratory at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht (NETHERLANDS), Designing performative mixed reality experiences and what we can learn from post-dramatic theatre

ALIN MOLDOVEANU, PhD, Professor and Vice-Dean at University Politehnica of Bucharest (ROMANIA) Sound of vision – augmenting in the dark – the new, artificial sense for the visually-impaired

RYSZARD W. KLUSZCZYŃSKI, PhD, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies; Chair of the Department of Electronic Media, University of Lodz (POLAND), From cinematic to participatory aesthetics. Immersivity, Interaction and Narrative in Contemporary Performing Arts

WORKSHOPS

MIGUEL ORTIZ, PhD, Lecturer of Education, Erasmus Coordinator, Sonic Arts Research Centre, School of Arts English and Languages, Queen’s University Belfast (UK)

KIVANÇ TATAR, PhD, School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver (CANADA) & Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technologies, Zürich University for the Arts (SWITZERLAND)

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS

IOANA MISCHIE (CINETic) Government of Children. A pioneering glocal transmedia franchise with artistic, educational, societal impact

TEODORA UNGUREANU (UAUIM BUCHAREST) & MARIA MANDEA (UNARTE BUCHAREST), Narrative puzzle in a post-industrial city

ȘTEFAN DAMIAN (CINETic), Choreographic performance using wearable sensors for sonic interaction

GORKEM ACAROGLU (AUSTRALIA), Robots, Avatars and Ghosts. A case study: directing human and technological actors

MARIUS HODEA (CINETic), Between Realities, Art Gesture by Technology

HOREA AVRAM (UBB CLUJ-NAPOCA), The user is present. Performing temporality in mobile augmented reality art

GRIGORE BURLOIU (CINETic), Augmenting a string quartet with live electronics

MIRCEA KIRALY (UBB CLUJ-NAPOCA), Mymix – an AR application on live immersive sound

KIVANC TATAR (CANADA), Subjects of Art in the Post-Metacreation Era

MARIÉ-HELEEN COETZEE (SOUTH AFRICA), Betwixt and between: the intermedial dramaturgy of Gopala Davies

RAMONA COSTEA (UT CLUJ) & TIBERIU TEODOR-STANCIU (UAGE IAȘI), Memorat – a VR-based monograph

ALEXANDRA MUREȘAN (UBB CLUJ-NAPOCA), Creative matrices: Mirrors without glass, algorithms and geometric patterns

ANDREEA IOSIF (UAUIM BUCHAREST) & CRISTINA CLAUDIA POPESCU (UNARTE BUCHAREST), An interdisciplinary art-tech approach through a VR application for the Simu Museum

RICHARD PETTIFER (GERMANY), The Artist is absent: Non-Human Agency in the Situation of the Theatre

DORIN CUCICOV (CINETic), The Sentient Machine. Extending emotional framework through interactive experiences

MARINA HANGANU (CESI BUCHAREST), Before Sunset/After Sunrise: Augmenting Space, Time, and Perception in Telematic Performance

NATALIA ȚURCAN (CESI BUCHAREST), Radio Drama – a sound show

CIPRIAN FACAERU (CINETic), Scenography of Augmented Space

MARIA NĂSTASE (CINETic), Sonic images. Pixel sonification in the photographic image

ADELA MUNTEAN (UBB CLUJ-NAPOCA), Performing Art Practices under the Dome

FRANCISC APOSTU (CINETic), Creating Meaningful Play

IULIANA GHERGHESCU (CINETic), A case for a Bachelor’s program in Art and Technology

ANABELA COSTA (FRANCE), Poetic Cosmicity, VR immersive interactive videoart animation [live practical demonstration]

ANDREI UNGUREANU (CINETic), Gesture recognition system using leap motion sensor: a machine learning approach [live practical demonstration]

MIHAELA DRĂGAN (ROMANIA), Roma Futurism

PANEL: Transdisciplinary skills in creative industries

MODERATOR: Professor Dan Vasiliu, PhD |
Director of the Doctoral School | UNATC „I.L. Caragiale” Bucharest

Alex M. Dascălu | Managing Director
Bucharest Chapter of Founder Institute | Bucharest, Romania

Professor Ioan Cristescu, PhD | Director
National Museum of Romanian Literature | Bucharest, Romania

Professor Nicolae Gheorghiță, PhD | Vice-Rector
National University of Music | Bucharest, Romania

Architect Emil Ivănescu | President
Bucharest Order of Architects (OAR) | Romania

Professor Dinu Dumbrăvician, PhD
National University of Arts Bucharest | Faculty of Decorative Arts and Design | Romania 

PERFORMANCES 

Friday, November 15th 2019 
LIVE CODING PERFORMANCE
Performers: DORIN CUCICOV & BOGDAN ȘTEFĂNESCU

Saturday, November 16th 2019 
URBAN DELTA SCAPES @ Odeon Theatre
Collective:
Music: VLAD ILICEVICI, RADU POP, GEORGE FRĂTICA
Performers: ANDREEA BELU, ALEXANDRA BĂLĂȘOIU
Movement v. sound interaction: GRIGORE BURLOIU, DORIN CUCICOV, OCTAVIAN ALBU, EMIL DRĂGAN
Animation and motion design: RADU POP, ION ARAMĂ, VLAD ILICEVICI, DAN PANAITESCU, BERTRAND SIGNORELLI, HARRY POWELL ALEXANDRU MINCIUNĂ, CRISTIANA CĂLIN, IOANA TRUȘCĂ, GEORGIANA DIBU, DEZ, ANDA PUȘCAȘ, VADIM CIOCĂZAN, DIANA NECȘULESCU, ANA DOBRESCU
Video crew: VLAD ILICEVICI, GABRIEL COPOERU
Special thanks: ANNE DUBOS, FRÉDÉRIC BEVILACQUA

Sunday, November 17th 2019 
#FLUID-ity
A performative concert with: PAUL DUNCA / PAULA DUNKER – performer, choreographer, playwright, ALEX BĂLĂ (musician) and other twisted creatures.

ART INSTALLATIONS

STREAM by ALINA RIZESCU
Information streams and natural streams have a similar dynamic. The stream and the user are influencing each other in an organic continuous way.

SENTIENTIA by DORIN CUCICOV 
This installation expands on the impact of technological advancement on human emotions and social interactions. The project is the result of a research conducted at the International Center for Research and Education in Innovative Creative Technologies(CINETic) in Bucharest by MA student Dorin Cucicov under the coordination of Alexandru Berceanu.

HUMAN STORIES by MARTIAL GEOFFRE-ROULAND
Digital art installation, exploiting more than 30,000 video streams in real time, with the aid of a bot that is constantly looking for human presence, using artificial intelligence. Trying to tell us a story through the eyes of the computer, this installation makes us think about our own privacy in our ultra-connected society. A matrix of 12 screens is displayed on a wall, showing live streams from unprotected cameras. All these streams are analysed in real time using machine learning – trying to detect whether there is human activity. As soon as humans are detected into a stream, they are displayed onto one of the screens, letting the visitor step into a curious voyeur position.

PHOTOSYNTHESIZER by ITPMA Year One 2019
A hybrid technological-organic object that transforms touch and light into sound sequences. Photosynthesizer explores the theme of co-creation between human, nature and technology. Interaction with human input and environmental factors produces different sets of sounds, which mirror the plant’s physiological state. Play the artificial leaves with your hand or any metallic object. Meanwhile, the humidity and temperature in the soil will select the sounds that are available to you.

Looking forward to welcoming you all at CINETic this weekend!

Follow us on Facebook for live updates.
Free access for the public (based on seating availability)

Find Out More

The 23rd edition of the Black Nights Film Festival was opened yesterday at the Alexela Concert Hall with actress Rea Lest honoured with the Bruno O’ya award. 

At last night’s Opening Ceremony’s spectacular multimedia show, directed once again by Ingmar Jõela, crossed stage acting, dance acts and live filmmaking, paying homage to films like A Clockwork Orange, The Matrix and Climax.

The festival awarded actress Rea Lest with the Bruno O’ya Award, that is presented for the 6th year at the festival’s Opening Ceremony to an up and coming Estonian actor or actress on the verge of an international breakthrough. Lest has played in several films that have screened at the festival, such as November (2016), The Manslayer / The Virgin / The Shadow (2017) and Scandinavian Silence that screens in the festival's Baltic Competition programme this year. Lest was selected among the Berlinale Shooting Stars earlier this year.

Another symbolic moment was the passing of the festival’s candle which is done by the representatives of the country/ region the festival has set focus on that particular year. This year, businessman Naguib Sawiris and actress Bushra Rozza, founders of the El Gouna Film Festival  in Egypt passed the candle to festival director Tiina Lokk as Black Nights sets its focus on Arab cinema, presenting a 14 film showcase In Focus: Sizzling Arabia, that screens a retrospective of Arab films from the last ten years mixed with highlights from this year. The candle will be passed on at the festival's award ceremony to the representative of next year’s focus on the 30th of November.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival runs from the 15th of November until the 1st of December.

GALLERIES

Opening Ceremony Gallery #1
Opening Ceremony Gallery #2
Black Carpet Gallery

23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival TEASER.

PRESS ACCREDITATION

Press accreditation for the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and Inudstry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event is in progress. Please apply by clicking on the link below.

APPLY FOR THE PRESS ACCREDITATION

PRESS OFFICE CONTACTS

The festival's press office gladly helps with any question regarding the accreditation, press screenings and conferences and helps to organise interviews with the festival's guests. 

Press accreditations and events: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Press hospitality matters: Anna-Liiza Izbaš - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
International communication: Hannes Aava - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / +372 555 29 211.
Russian communication: Jaana Kalinistova - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Estonian communication: Tiit Tuumalu - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Lithuania joins Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (aka PÖFF) with a rich line-up and a growing delegation of Lithuanian film professionals. 12 Lithuanian films and co-productions will be screened at this year’s programme, with the world premiere of Jurgis Matulevičius’ debut film “Isaac” (lit. Izaokas) being one of the most awaited events. 

Isaac will be competing with 17 other films from around the world for the best First Feature title. It is a psychological drama about two friends whose relationship is the result of the Holocaust, the atrocities of war, the traumas of the past, and love for the same woman in Soviet Lithuania. The film is based on the novel by Antanas Škėma.

Seven Lithuanian films and co-productions were selected for the Baltic Film Competition and will be competing for the best film title with films from Latvia and Estonia. Lithuania will be represented by Karolis Kaupinis’ feature film debut “Nova Lituania”, Ignas Jonynas’ “Invisible”(lit. Nematoma), Aistė Žegulytė’s documentary “Animus Animalis (a story about People, Animals and Things)” (lit. Animus Animalis (istorija apie žmones, žvėris ir daiktus), Tomas Vengris’ debut “Motherland” (lit. Gimtinė) and “Other side of silence” (lit. Kita tylos pusė),the newest film by Algimantas Puipa.

Also, several co-productions with Lithuania are included in the Baltic Film Competition program: Latvian-Lithuanian-Belgian-French feature “Oleg” (co-producer Lukas Trimonis, “InScript”) featuring Lithuanian actor Valentinas Novopolskij, Latvian-Lithuanian-Norwegian film “Spoon” (Karote) by Laila Pakalnina (co-producer Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, “Just a moment”), and the newest documentary by the famous Ukrainian director  Sergei Loznitsa “State Funeral” (a number of Lithuanian cinematographers participated in production of the film).

The Baltic Event, the largest international co-production market in North-Eastern Europe, will also welcome a number of Lithuanian film professionals, who will present their new projects at different categories of the event.

Two Lithuanian films will be presented at Baltic Event Works in Progress: “People We Know Are Confused” (lit. Žmonės, kuriuos pažįstame) by Tomas Smulkis (prod. Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, “Just a Moment”) and “Paralysis” (lit. Paralyžius) by Andrius Blaževičius (prod. Marija Razgutė, “M-Films”)will be presented for the first time and competing for EUR 10,000 prize for post-production works. Inesa Kurklietytė’s project “A Butterfly's Heart”(lit. Drugelio širdis, produced by Živilė Gallego, “Fralita Films”) was selected for the co-production market. 

TV Beats Forumwill pay special attention to HBO series “Chernobyl”, which was shot in Lithuania. Lithuanian producer Lineta Mišeikytė (UAB Baltic Film Services) will take part in the discussion to present the perspective of a local production house in the region working with a major studio on a large-scale project.

Emerging actor Povilas Jatkevičius will be searching for casting agencies in the Black Nights Stars program for talented young actors.

Lithuanian presence at the Baltic Event is supported by theLithuanian Film Centre.

Next great thing is just around the corner! We are happy to announce that 4th edition of Kids Kino.Lab (former: Kids Film.Pro), international script development program, will start with the first session on 26th of November in Poznań (Poland)  thanks to International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino! 

Workshops in Poznań will be the first out of four stationary sessions dedicated to films and series development  for young audience. The entire programme lasts 10 months and will take place in Greece (Athens), Czech Republic (Zlin) and Poland(Poznań & Warsaw). Guided by screenwriting tutors, participants of the program will develop their work from synopsis (concept) all the way to well-developed, second draft of the screenplay with initial production assumptions. 

4th Kids Kino.Larb will focus on developing the following projects:

GROUP 1, tutor: Philip Lazebnik 

- Enchanted in Music, fiction film, scriptwriter Jacek Bławut and producer Bartek Gliński (Poland)
- Ring of Life, fiction film, scriptwriter Kataryna Kopylova and producer Sashko Subko (Ukraine)
- The Gauntlet, fiction film, scriptwriter Nikos Dayandas and producer Stelios Apostolopoulos (Greece)
- Happy End, fiction film, scriptwriter: tbc and producer Agnieszka Dziedzic (Poland)

GROUP 2, tutor: Kirsten Bonen Rask

- Don’t drink our blood, fiction film, scriptwriter Tomáš Pavlíček and producer Tomáš Michálek (Czech Republic).
- Dustzone, fiction film, scriptwriter Stefan Titka and producer Vratislav Šlajer (Czech Republic).
- Really Great Adventure, fiction film, Emil Płoszajski and producer Karolina Galuba (Poland).
- Fantasylum, animated film, scriptwriter Martyna Wojcieszek and producer Natalia Łodygowska (Poland).

GROUP 3, TUTOR: Armin Prediger

- The Family Coat, animated series, scriptwriter Fokion Xenos and producer Isabella Alopoudi (Greece).
- A little pilot, animated series,  scriptwriter, Eliška Chytková and producer Petr Babinec (Czech Republic).
- Johan, Sebastiana & Bach, animated series, scriptwriter Kajetan Kusina and producer Anna Gnyś (Poland).
- Sex O'clock, fiction series, scriptwriter Matěj Randár and producer Karolína Zalabáková

4th Kids Kino.Lab will include industry masterclasses, guidance of tutors and established screenwriters as well as meetings with the producers’ tutor Ronald Kruschak who will help participants in developing their production plans, identifying production needs and potential problems. During sessions in Poznań, the participants will learn how to construct characters, develop a treatment and will find out about constructing the screenplay’s sequence and structure. 

OUR TUTORS:

 PHILIP LAZEBNIK - Feature Script Script Tutor

Philip is a screenwriter, writer of plays and a screenwriting consultant. Originally associated with Disney Studios and Dream Works. His screenwriting credits include Mulan and Pocahontas for Disney, and The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado for DreamWorks, among many others.

KIRSTEN BONNEN RASK - Feature Script Script Tutor

Kirsten is an experienced script consultant in all formats – shorts, features, TV series, and documentaries for adults as well as for children.

ARMIN PREDIGER -  Series Script Tutor

Armin has worked in the film industry for 30 years, 24 of those as a writer, head writer and script editor in live-action and animation.

RONALD KRUSCHAK - Producer’s Tutor

Germany-based producer, writer and tutor/lecturer with a track record of twenty years of filmmaking focusing on Family Entertainment.

Kids Kino.Lab is a project organised by New Horizons Association Educational Department - a non-governmental organisation, founded in 2003 by Roman Gutek. Its main objective is the promotion and popularization of unconventional, artistically challenging cinema. 

Kids Kino.Lab workshops are co-financed by Creative Europe Media and Polish Film Institute. 

Our partners are: International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino! , Athens International Children's Film Festival, Zlin Film Festival and Kids Kino Industry

Selected projects will be presented at the Kids Kino Industry (former: Warsaw Kids Film Forum) 2020 – an international co-production forum, which is an industry part of Kids Kino International Film Festival.

Let’s get started, let’s get creative!