As Lithuanian films are receiving more and more recognition at international film festivals, the Lithuanian film heritage is also being screened in various programs. On November 3rd the world premiere of the first colour Lithuanian film “March! March! Tra-ta-ta!” (lit. Marš! Marš! Tra-ta-ta!, 1964) by dir. Raimondas Vabalas took place at National Gallery of Art in Washington. The film was restored specially for this occasion.

The film, which was made 35 years ago and has never been screened in the Western countries before, was screened at the festival’s program “ABSURDISTAN: Central European Cinema of the Absurd”, which focuses on Central and Eastern European films from 1950-1989s. The event marks the 30th anniversary of the independence of post-Soviet countries and focuses on the surrealist films of that era. “March! March! Tra-ta-ta!” - a film full of political parody and grotesque - was screened together with other Ukrainian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, and Czech films. 

The film’s plot takes place at the frontier of two non-existent countries, Centia and Groshia. Lovers Zigmas and Jadzė, live in the neighbouring countries that are at constant disagreement. Their romantic relationship is not acceptable, so they secretly visit each other by crossing the border at night.However, one morning, Groshia’s Major Varnalėša accidentally falls into an open sewer pipe in the street. As he searches for the guilty ones, he blames Zigmas and Jadzė, and thus a military conflict between the two countries starts. Known for his innovative ideas, Raimondas Vabalas also appears in the film as a director, constantly reminding the viewers that what they see is not realistic.

According to film critic Gediminas Jankauskas, the film should be called a pamphlet because, as dictated by the rules of this genre, it mocks specific historical events or individuals without directly naming them. “The film received serious criticisms in its time. But we should not forget that the pamphlet is a rare phenomenon in the world cinema, therefore Lithuanian filmmakers should be praised for their courage and inventiveness,”- says G. Jankauskas.

Cinema researcher Anna Mikonis-Railienė agrees with this idea: “Today the film feels like an attempt to deconstruct the postwar totalitarian system and the behavior of its ordinary citizens. In the political-satirical pamphlet, the director depicted the conformist behaviour of the characters. Vabalas used military satire as an excuse to ask the basic question: What does it mean to live heroically in war? Is it worth fighting if every fight is just an imitation of the theater of the absurd? If wars are caused by a wild hare that crosses the state border and two people in love? The film, based on Brechtian aesthetics, can be interpreted as an audiovisual commentary on aprevious (as well as present) political situation.”

The film will be later presented in Europe.

The Official Selection - Competition, the coat-of-arms of an A-category film festival!
The selection of #PÖFF23 Official Selection is diverse, in terms of genre, topics and geography, covering five continents, with films from Northern And Southern America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Eight of the films will be having the world, nine the international and four its European premiere at PÖFF.

See the Official Selection mashup!

DISCOVER THE PROGRAMME

18 FILMS ARE COMPETING IN FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION

Embodying the festival’s mission to discover emerging creative voices from all over the world, offering them a first launchpad and help to gain international recognition, the First Feature Competition boasts nine world, eight international and one European premiere - a new record for the festival!

See the First Features mashup!

SEE THE LINEUP

BALTIC COMPETITION INCLUDES 15 ENTRIES

What a year for the Baltic film industries! 15 films that are representing the three Baltic states will be taking part in the Baltic Competition of #PÖFF23. The programme consists of nine features, five documentaries and one animation, many of which have won awards at prestigious film festivals from all over the world. All of them are worthy of checking them out!

CHECK THEM OUT

PÖFF & APSA

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) are the region’s highest accolade in film, where cinematic excellence shines and Black Nights Film Festival is proud to be an Official Submitting Organisation for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 

We are glad to announce that from the list of films submitted to APSA by Black Nights, two have made it into the final list of nominees:
House of Hummingbird - her role in the South Korean film brought the young actress Park Ji-hu a Best Actress nomination; 
The Unseen - the Iranian animation is nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film category.

SEE THE LIST OF NOMINEES

WORKSHOP: HOW TO INCORPORATE VIRTUAL REALITY TO AUDIO-VISUAL PROJECTS?

Are you interested in VR and want to know how to use the technology in your audio-visual projects?

Join the “Demystifying Virtual Reality” workshop taking place in collaboration with Film New Europe and Proto Invention Factory on 28-29 November in Tallinn. It is a hands-on workshop for filmmakers and enthusiasts, who are interested in what the future brings to the audiovisual medium.
During the two intense days, participants will discover how to apply their creativity and to make pieces that speak to audiences on a completely different level through Virtual Reality.

The two-day workshop is lead by Rein Zobel (Maru VR) and Angel Urbina Vitoria (Iralta VR).

READ MORE AND APPLY HERE

18 films in production or post-production looking for sales agents or festivals for international premieres will be presented at the Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event Work in Progress sessions on November the 26 and 27th. 

Both the Baltic Event, showcasing Baltic and Finnish projects, as well as International Works in Progress, compete for the same awards this year - the Post Production Award by Post Control, a Helsinki based high-end post-production house, in the amount of 10 000 EUR and the Baltic Event Works in Progress Award in the amount of 3000 EUR. 

The jury is comprised of cinematographer and festival curator Dhanushka Gunathilake (Sri Lanka), distributor Debra Liang (Level K, Denmark) and journalist and fesival programme Alissa Simon –  (Palm Springs IFF,  Chicago IFF, USA).

Baltic Event Works in Progress

Baltic Event Works in Progress programme, held for the 17th time this year, presents a selection of 10 promising projects from the Baltics and Finland.

"I am very proud of the list of projects we have this year. Baltic Event Works in Progress includes 10 outstanding films in production or post-production from the Baltic states and Finland. The programme gives an excellent overview of the best our region has to offer," commented Maria Ulfsak, the Project Manager of Baltic Event Works in Progress.

The Baltic Event Works in Progress includes three projects from Estonia - youth comedy Kids of the Night by director Priit Pääsuke that tells the story of three sisters during one fateful night, tragicomical On the Water by veteran director Peeter Simm that focuses on the life of a preadolescent boy growing up with his grandparents in small-town Soviet Estonia and O2 by Margus Paju, a spy thriller set in 1939, co-produced by Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Latvia is represented with three projects - In the Mirror (Latvia, Lithuania) is a contemporary version of the well known fairy-tale Snow White by renowned director Laila Pakalniņa. The Pit by Dace Pūce follows a boy named Markuss adapting to a new life with his grandmother. Where the Road Leads (Latvia, Sweden) is the first Baltic western, the debut feature by Matiss Kaza. 

Lithuanian producer Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė is representing the long-awaited debut by director Tomas Smulkis - a Vilnius-based multiplot People We Know Are Confused. The drama Paralysis (Lithuania, Czech Republic) is the new project by Andrius Blaževičius whose debut feature The Saint (2016) premiered at Busan and Warsaw and received six Lithuanian Film Academy Awards.

Finland brings two projects to Baltic Event Works in Progress - drama/comedy Eden, a coming-of-age film about a Protestant Confirmation camp, written and directed by Ulla Heikkilä; and Ladies of Steel, a comedy by director Pamela Tola about three elderly ladies and their journey through Finland filled with memories and sinful dancing.

International Works In Progress

The fifth International Works in Progress showcases eight projects from around the world. “A number of them are presenting their first feature, so there is some new promising talent to explore,” Triin Tramberg, Project Manager of International Works in Progress explained.

Hungry Saints is the first feature of award-winning short filmmaker Marc Wilkins, Switzerland, backed by producer Joël Jent (Iraqi Odyssey). After the success of System Crasher by Nora Fingscheidt, the production company Weydemann Brothers, Germany, brings their new project in progress Schoko by debutant Sarah Blaßkiewitz to Tallinn. Yet another first feature is the coming-of-age story Hilda by Rishi Pelham with Tim Roth on board as executive producer. The awarded short film maker Ferit Karahan from Turkey presents his second feature Deskmate. Moving to Central Asia, where the International Works in Progress has always included a project from, we welcome yet another debutant, Maxim Dashkin with Far Frontiers, a co-production between Russia and Kyrgyzstan. This years’ summit’s spotlight, Argentina, rounds up the slate with two projects: One Thousand And One by Clarisa Navas and French Braid by Lucas Turturro. 

Baltic Event Works in Progress 2019 selected projects:

1. Kids of the Night, directed by Priit Pääsuke, produced by Marianne Ostrat, Alexandra Film, Luxfilm, Estonia

2. O2, directed by Margus Paju, produced by Esko Rips/Nafta Films, Kristian Taska/Taska Film, co-produced by Jukka Helle/Solar Film, Janis Kalejs/Film Angels, Lukas Trimonis/In Script, Estonia/Finland/Latvia/Lithuania

3. On the Water, directed by Peeter Simm, produced by Marju Lepp, Filmivabrik, Estonia

4. In the Mirror, directed by Laila Pakalniņa, produced by Laila Pakalniņa/Hargla Company, co-produced by Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė/Just a Moment, Latvia/Lithuania

5. The Pit, directed by Dace Pūce, produced by Kristele Pudane, Elīna Zazerska, Marana Productions, Latvia

6. Where the Road Leads, directed by Matiss Kaza, produced by Una Celma, Dace Siatkovska/Fenixfilm, Matiss Kaza/Deep Sea Studios, co-produced by Zahavi Sanjavi/AVB Production, Latvia/Sweden

7. People We Know Are Confused, directed by Tomas Smulkis, produced by Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, Just a Moment, Lithuania

8. Paralysis, directed by Andrius Blaževičius, produced by Marija Razgutė/M-Films, co-produced by Jakub Kostal/Bionaut Films, Lithuania/Czech Republic

9. Eden, directed by Ulla Heikkilä, produced by Miia Haavisto, Tekele Productions, Finland

10. Ladies of Steel, directed by Pamela Tola, produced by Aleksi Bardy, Dome Karukoski, Sirkka Rautiainen, Helsinki-Filmi, Finland

International Works in Progress 2019 selected projects:  

1. Deskmate, directed by Ferit Karahan, produced by Kanat Doğramacı, Asteros Film, Turkey/Romania

2. Hungry Saints, directed by Marc Wilkins, produced by Joël Jent, Dschoint, Ventschr Filmproduktion, Switzerland, USA

3. One Thousand and One, directed by Clarisa Navas, produced by Diego Dubcovsky, Lucía Chávarri, Argentina

4. French Braid, directed by Lucas Turturro, produced by Diego Dubcovsky, Lucía Chávarri, Varsovia Films, Argentina/Germany

5. Schoko, directed by Sarah Blaßkiewitz, produced by Milena Klemke, Yvonne Wellie, Jakob D. Weydemann, Jonas Weydemann, Weydemann Bros. GmbH, Germany

6. Hilda, directed by Rishi Pelham, produced by Nassim Mniai, Tomos Roberts, United Kingdom

7. Far Frontiers, directed by Maxim Dashkin, produced by Denis Kovalevsky, Maxim Dashkin, Victoria Films, Russia, Kyrgyzstan

8. Stand Up, directed by Juraj Bohuš, produced by Katarína Krnáčová, Silverart, Slovak Republic

JURY
Dhanushka Gunathilake – Cinematographer, Festival curator (Sri Lanka)
Debra Liang – Level K (Denmark)
Alissa Simon –  festival programmer Palm Springs IFF,  Chicago IFF (USA), film critic, journalist

AWARDS
Post Production Award (10 000 Euros)
Baltic Event Works in Progress Award (3000 Euros)

PHOTO
Works in Progress session in 2018
Winner of Works in Progress Post Production Award in 2018 - Golden Voices 
Winners of Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event Awards in 2018

ADDITIONAL INFOMATION
Read more about Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event

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

APPLY FOR THE PRESS ACCREDITATION

We announce the line-ups of this year's EnergaCAMERIMAGE Special Screenings and Contemporary World Cinema sections:

Special Screenings 2019

Contemporary World Cinema 2019

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival announces the lineup for Rebels With A Cause, an International competition programme with 15 feature films in competition and five feature films out of competition, and a mini-competition for short films that includes seven entries. The programme includes six world and five International premieres.

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. Both of the competitions will be overseen by a jury comprised of international film professionals announced during the first week of November.

Festival director Tiina Lokk shared her excitement over the fact that 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. 'We launched this programme to support filmmakers that are rebelling against common cinematic expression and narrative structures, who surprise us by doing something totally out of the box.' 'I’m glad that we have caught the attention of others and our audience!' she added.

The short film competition will screen ЮНАК by Georgi Stamenov, Counterpoint by Ivan Koroman, The Father, The Child and the Mother by Luca Arcangeli, Wild Willby Alan King, Heatstroke by Edgar Morais, I, Wretched Man by Armer Mensch and The Silence of Dying Fish by Vasilis Kekatos.

Feature Films In Competition

Director Gilson Vargas presents his second feature Bad Honey, a tale of German immigrants living in isolation in the countryside of Brazil during World War II, clashing with the world surrounding them. A visually poetical thriller of a cycle of violence born of intolerance and fear of the unknown. The film will have its world premiere in Tallinn.

Inspired by almost two years of research in both male and female prisons, director Mira Fornay presents the world premiere of Cook, F**k, Kill, a story of a man who is pathologically jealous of his wife Blanka and very much afraid that she will leave him one day with their three children, not hesitating to employ at violence, deceit and terror when it feels necessary. Mira Fornay's debut Foxes (2009) premiered at Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, her second film, My Dog Killer (2013), won the Hivos Tiger Award in the main competition at the Rotterdam IFF, received a nomination for the European Film Awards, and was chosen as the Slovak national entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

Second-time director Nie Yunxing’s Feast centres on Miss Wang, a tale of a woman deciding to shoot her life into the film, meeting in mystical woods with „directors“ to tell her tale. The directors soon grow unsatisfied and start demanding more, to meet the high standards of modern art.

Director Paul Soriano presents the world premiere of Mañanita, a sombre tale of a female soldier, who, after being discharged from the military service due to an injury, embarks on a journey back to her hometown where she searches for the man who killed her parents. The film has been written by the prominent Philippino filmmaker Lav Diaz, who’s worked with Paul Soriano before, as he produced Diaz’s A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016), which won the Alfred Bauer Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Soriano’s internationally most successful film Kid Kulafu screened at festivals such as Raindance IFF and Tokyo IFF. 

Russian director Kseniya Ratushnaya presents the world premiere of Outlaw, that introduces interweaving storylines set in two time periods. The story, touching some controversial topics in current Russian society, centers on an 11th-grader in present-day Moscow who is struggling to align his burgeoning homosexuality with his desire for acceptance by the mainstream, his school mate who represents that heteronormative mainstream, an outsider revelling in her role as a social outcast, and a middle-aged transsexual schoolteacher, with secrets in the past that continue to haunt him.

A Family, an absurdist black comedy, is a story is about Emerson, a man living in solitary who seeks emotional refuge in the organising and documenting of family moments using low-grade impersonators. When his fake sister becomes inspired to
follow his method, their relationship struggles between the forged and the genuine. This is the first feature film for director-producer-writer Jayden Stevens and fifth work as DOP for writer-producer-cinematographer Thomas Swinburn. The film will have its international premiere in Tallinn.

Presenting a playful, melancholic nocturne, director-scriptwriter Carmen Stadler’s first feature film Sekuritas is set in an office building that will soon be demolished. At the twilight of its existence, the building becomes the stage for the encounters of six people with very different backgrounds. Stadler has won the Golden Leopard of Tomorrow at Locarno IFF for her short film Nightfluttering.

Presenting his first feature, director Ramin Fahrenheit presents the international premiere of Killer Queen, a campy lo fi thriller of two transients, a drug dealer and a lonely girl meet over a drug meetup, their similarities leading to an unusual affair that leads to a carefully planned robbery.

Labelled by the director Rax Rinnekangas, as a film noir, a thriller and a creative documentary, Once Upon A Time in a Sad Hill is a tale about how women claim their freedom in a cemetery named Sad Hill, known as the final scene of Sergio Leone’s iconic spaghetti western film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Four artists are finishing a workshop about women’s role on the patriarchically run planet, in a palace in Northern Spain, as they recall a strange incident that happened to two long-time married couples who got lost nearby years before.

Directing his second film, Alexey Kamynin presents the International premiere of Russian Spleen, a poetic and satiric comedy about modern Moscow and its inhabitants. A true story about three friends renting a flat together. During one day they live through a number of both strange and funny adventures with one end looming ahead – they will mature.

Directing-producing-scriptwriting duo Fabian Velasco and Miloš Mitrovič manage tp capture the mundane emptiness of life, depression and human failure in a realistic yet comical manner as they study the lives of losers and misfits intersecting in bleak Winnipeg, a city isolated and often overlooked like the offbeat characters who call it home. Tapeworm will have its international premiere in Tallinn.

First time director Artiz Moreno presents the European premiere of Advantages of Travelling by Train, labelled as a conspiracy thriller that hides a drama, black comedy and love story. An editor is approached during a train journey by a psychologist, who tells her about one of his patients and the colourful stories of those around him, enacting a fascinating delirium, full of obsession, perversion, sarcasm, fun and dementia.

Japanese director Naoki Murahashi presents the European premiere of Extro, a warm-hearted mockumentary that goes behind the scenes of the Japanese film and TV industry to introduce the people working as extras.

Working with a score of well-known actors headed by Anthony Hopkins and Madeline Brewer, and two-time Academy Award-nominated DOP Dante Spinotti, directors Valentina De Amicis, Riccardo Spinotti presents the European premiere of Now Is Everything. The story, exploring the theme of masculine intimacy, follows an esteemed fashion photographer, who struggles with his creative sentience while questioning everything he thinks he knows in the midst of detaching himself from reality and from his muse and lover.

Director Sujeewa Priyalali presents Suparna, the sci-fi eco-thriller with 1980’s trash aesthetics, that tells the tale of a young woman who’s half-alien half-human, living in a rural village in Sri Lanka. With the help of two friends, she tries to save their village from a multinational environment release corporation, while struggling to make up her mind about returning to the planet of her origin.

Feature Films Out Of Competition

Director Valentyn Vasyanovych presents Atlantis, set in near-future Eastern Ukraine that has become a desert unsuitable for human habitation. Sergiy, a former soldier suffering from PTSD, is having trouble adapting to his new reality as his life is in pieces and the land in ruins. Making his third feature film as a director, Vasyanovych’s career highlights include the International success story The Tribe (2014) where he worked as a producer and DOP.

Director Ronny Sen presents the European premiere of Cat Sticks, following a group of heroin addicts filtering through the streets of Kolkata in search of brown sugar, an impure form of heroin, desperate to get their next fix. The film won the jury award of honourable mention at Slamdance FF.

Having staged several drama performances in Estonian theatres and worked with Estonian theatre actors in Iran – has won the Best Debut Award at the Iran Film Festival this year – director Homayoun Ghanizadeh showcases his wild imagination and tweaked story-telling skill with A Hairy Tale. The story circles a barber dreaming of becoming an actor and an investigation of murders where the victims’ hair was removed.

Shot in luminous black-and-white and blending documentary and fiction, director Takashi Nishihara presents Sisterhood, an incisive portrait of the shifting political and power dynamics surrounding gender in a post-MeToo age. Making a film within a film, we meet a Tokyo-based director who wants to make a film about feminism in present-day Japan.  He interviews women, asking them to speak in their own voice to the camera. A young singer, a university student, and a nude model among others discuss their experiences of the demands imposed upon women by society.

Acting as director, co-writer and lead actor Bruno Vanden Broecke, Ruth Beeckmans and Matteo Simoni present Trio, a comical tale of two half-brothers spending time with a prostitute who was supposed to be the birthday gift to one them, but catches the attention of both of them.

Onur Ünlü weaves a universal tale of persistence in the face of adversity in The Adventures of Sukran the Lame, presenting the tale of Şükran, who faces several hardships in her life, becoming lame in a childhood accident, losing her love interest and failing to develop a loving relationship with her father and sister. Ünlü is a multiple awards winning Turkish film director, writer, poet, musician and actor whose films have won numerous awards and been screened at festivals such as Karlovy Vary IFF, Toronto IFF and Moscow IFF. He won the Jury Special Award at Goa IFF.

Features In Competition 

Advantages of Travelling by Train (Ventajas de viajar en tren), Spain-France, director: Ariz Moreno | European premiere
A Family, Ukraine-Australia, director: Jayden Stevens | International premiere
Bad Honey (A Colmeia), Brazil, director: Gilson Vargas | World premiere
Cook F** Kill, Czech Republic / Slovakia, director: Mira Fornay | World premiere
Extro, Japan, director: Naoki Murahashi | European premiere
Feast, China, director: Yunxing Nie | World premiere
Killer Queen, Canada, director: Ramin Fahrenheit | International premiere
Mañanita, Philippines, dirctor: Paul Soriano | World premiere
Now is Everything, USA-Italy, director: Riccardo Spinotti, Valentina De Amicis | European premiere
Once Upon a Time in Sad Hill, Finland-Spain, director: Rax Rinnekangas | International premiere
Outlaw (Аутло), Russia, director: Ksenija Ratušnaja | World premiere
Russian Spleen (Хандра), Russia, director: Aleksei Kamõnin | International premiere
Suparna, Sri Lanka, director: Sujeewa Priyal Yaddehige
Sekuritas, Switzerland, director: Carmen Stadler | World premiere
Tapeworm, Canada, director: Miloš Mitrović, Fabián Velasco | International premiere

Features Out Of Competition

Atlantis (Атлантида), Ukraine, director: Valentyn Vasyanovych
Cat Sticks, India, director: Ronny Sen | European premiere
Hairy Tales (Maskharehbaz), Iran, director: Homayoun Ghanizadeh
Sisterhood, Japan, director: Takashi Nishihara | European premiere
Trio, Belgium, director: Bruno Vanden Broecke, Ruth Beeckmans, Matteo Simoni
The Adventures of Sukran the Lame (Topal Şükran'ın Maceraları), Turkey, director: Onur Ünlü 

Shorts In Competition

Counterpoint, Bosnia and Herzegovina, director: Ivan Koroman
Heatstroke, Portugal, director: Edgar Morais
I, Wretched Man, Austria, director: Bastian Wilplinger
ЮНАК, Bulgaria, director: Georgi Stamenov
The Father, The Child and the Mother, Italy, director: Luca Arcangeli
The Silence of Dying Fish, France, director: Vasilis Kekatos
Wild Will, Australia, director: Alan King

The film stills and presskits of the programme can be found HERE. 

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.

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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. 

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