16/10/2020 - For this particular competition of its upcoming, hybrid edition, the Estonian festival has selected 18 films, ten of which are world premieres

Ten world, seven international and one European premiere will make it into the First Feature Competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) this year. In addition, three features will be shown out of competition, including Evi Romen’s Why Not You [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], recently crowned at Zurich, Nacho Álvarez’s My Heart Goes Boom! [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nacho Álvarez
film profile] and Joe Marcantonio’s Kindred [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. “It’s almost been said too many times that this is a challenging time for the film industry,” noticed festival director and head of programme Tiina Lokk. “It’s hugely reassuring that we can still present this selection of debut features this year: in cinemas in Estonia and also online. It’s a powerful, challenging and diverse collection, representing everything vital, fresh and revelatory in cinema. When the industry recovers, as it surely will, it will be filmmakers like these who carry the torch forward.”

Starting with the world premieres, Eugen Jebeleanu’s Poppy Field [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eugen Jebeleanu
film profile], shot on 16 mm film, will explore protest, religion, identity and more, as a gay street cop struggles to balance his prosaic professional duties and personal politics. In Longing Souls, Diana Montenegro will look at the world of women while delivering a coming-of-age drama, and with As Far as I Know [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Hungarian directors Nándor Lörincz and Bálint Nagy have, according to the festival, “created a real brain-worm: a morally complex narrative to think and rethink about, lingering long in the audience’s minds”.

The Translator [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf
film profile] by Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf will also be shown to the audience for the very first time, alongside Model Olimpia [+see also:
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film profile] by Frédéric Hambalek. Great Happiness, set in modern-day China and directed by Wang Yiao, is an ensemble piece following three friends, while Sententia by Dmitry Rudakov is a dramatisation of the end of Russian poet and Gulag survivor Varlam Shalamov’s life. Rounding off the world premieres, Karnawal [+see also:
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film profile] by Juan Pablo Félix focuses on the Malambo dance culture, Kærup Hjort's The Penultimate delivers some black comedy, and Tailor [+see also:
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interview: Sonia Liza Kenterman
film profile] by Sonia Liza Kenterman is “a quietly propulsive tale that doesn’t necessarily reveal all of its secrets: a perfect fit for these times of change, challenge and reinvention”.

Already shown in Finland, Goodbye Soviet Union [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lauri Randla
film profile] by Estonian-born Lauri Randla piles culture clash upon culture clash, and in Ali Derakhshandeh’s The Enemies, hairdressing, nasty letters from neighbours and lots of cats will come together, at last. Finally, Poland's 25 Years of Innocence. The Case of Tomek Komenda [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Jan Holoubek, which has been generating headlines ever since its local premiere, will show the man accused of a crime he claims he didn't commit. “It seems to me that this film is universal and that the story it contains is understandable everywhere. Moreover, such stories, unfortunately, happen everywhere,” director Holoubek told Cineuropa about the real-life case that inspired the film.

In Madly in Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raphaël Balboni & Ann Sirot
film profile] by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni, a couple's plans come to a halt once the man's elderly mother begins showing signs of dementia, and Bae Jong-dae's Black Light sees two women struggle through the stages of grief in the aftermath of a car accident. Should the Wind Drop [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Martirosyan
film profile] by Nora Martirosyan, granted a Cannes label earlier this year, charts the complexities involved in approving the opening of an international airport, and The Flood by Victoria Wharfe McIntyre, a revenge-thriller, will show Australia at its wildest. Also interesting is Fortuna – The Girl and the Giants [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolangelo Gelormini
film profile], where Nicolangelo Gelormini talks about a six-year-old with magnificent hair and a loose relationship with reality. Described as a “giallo with kids”, it will have its international premiere at PÖFF.

The complete line-up of the festival will be announced on 6 November.

You can find the full line-up of the First Feature Competition here:

First Feature Competition

The Translator [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf
film profile] – Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf (France/Switzerland/Syria/Belgium/Qatar/USA)
Poppy Field [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eugen Jebeleanu
film profile] – Eugen Jebeleanu (Romania)
Longing Souls – Diana Montenegro (Colombia)
As Far as I Know [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Nándor Lörincz and Bálint Nagy (Hungary)
Model Olimpia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Frédéric Hambalek (Germany)
Great Happiness – Wang Yiao (China)
Sententia – Dmitry Rudakov (Russia)
Karnawal [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Juan Pablo Félix (Argentina/Brazil/Chile/Mexico/Norway)
The Penultimate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Kærup Hjort
film profile] – Jonas Kærup Hjort (Denmark)
Tailor [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sonia Liza Kenterman
film profile] – Sonia Liza Kenterman (Greece/Germany/Belgium)
Goodbye Soviet Union [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lauri Randla
film profile] – Lauri Randla (Finland/Estonia)
The Enemies – Ali Derakhshandeh (Iran)
25 Years of Innocence. The Case of Tomek Komenda [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Jan Holoubek (Poland)
Madly in Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raphaël Balboni & Ann Sirot
film profile] – Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni (Belgium)
Black Light – Bae Jong-dae (South Korea)
The Flood – Victoria Wharfe McIntyre (Australia)
Fortuna – The Girl and the Giants [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolangelo Gelormini
film profile] – Nicolangelo Gelormini (Italy)
Should the Wind Drop [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Martirosyan
film profile] – Nora Martirosyan (France/Belgium/Armenia)

Out of Competition

Why Not You [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Evi Romen (Austria)
My Heart Goes Boom! [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nacho Álvarez
film profile] – Nacho Álvarez (Spain/Italy)
Kindred [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Joe Marcantonio (UK)