Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival sadly informs that festival programmer, film researcher and critic Igor Gouskov passed away on the 8th of October.
 
Gouskov died  in Paris where he had lived for the last few years. He was 50 years old.
 
Festival director Tiina Lokk said: ‘Igor was one of those rare indispensable people who helped form the face of the festival’s programme, not only with his recommendations, but also his enormous passion and erudition. He was both kind-hearted and wise, and he lived in the name of film.’
 
Gouskov had worked as a programmer for Black Nights since 2015. His primary mission was to seek films from CIS countries and Eastern Europe.
 
This year’s Official Selection of Black Nights includes two films recommended by Igor. The festival catalogue will contain his last synopsis that he wrote less than a month ago.
 
One of Russia’s leading film critics Andrei Plahhov called Gouskov a film expert who’s passion for cinema is rare and who’s career was on the rise when illness struck. He never stopped working and stayed true to his calling until the end.
 
Igor was born in 1967 in the Far-Eastern town of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. He first studied journalism before later moving on to film theory. Between 2010 and 2013 he worked as the programme director for the Vologda International Film Festival Voices and later as a CSI consultant for Cannes’ Film Festival’s side-section „Quinzaine des Réalisateurs”.

The festival's team will hold a mourning ceremony on Friday at 4.30 pm at the office in Telliskivi Creative City and welcomes all who knew and valued him.