The traditional awards ceremony held at the Estonian National Opera wrapped up the 25^th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on Saturday 27 November. This year’s festival, which unspooled in the Estonian capital from 12-28 November, offered a rich programme consisting of 179 features (including 34 world, 32 international and 11 European premieres), 244 shorts through its PÖFF Shorts strand, and 18 series through its dedicated TV Beats initiative.

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The jury of the main competition, headed by EFA chairman Mike Downey, crowned Andreas Kleinert’s historical biopic Dear Thomas [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andreas Kleinert
scheda film] with the prestigious Grand Prix. Shifting deftly between reality and fever dream, and far from following the usual biopic conventions, Dear Thomas has taken a biography and made it into a manifesto for art and its power for change. In its official statement, the jury commended the film’s “powerful narrative and masterly execution of the biopic form and [the way it sheds] an essential light on one of the seminal figures of German letters”.

Meanwhile, the Award for Best Director went to Poland’s Wojciech Smarzowski for The Wedding Day [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Wojciech Smarzowski
scheda film]. Smarzowksi, who also won the Award for Best Screenplay this year, was praised by the jury for “his biting exposé of modern-day corruption, historical revisionism and deep-rooted hatred of the other, in a perfect revelatory concoction of abhorrent crimes, both past and present, in the heart of Europe”.

Next, the Best Actress Award went to young Russian talent Sofia Krugova for her turn in Kirill Sokolov’s No Looking Back [+leggi anche:
intervista: Kirill Sokolov
scheda film], whilst Albrecht Schuch received the Best Actor gong for his performance as German writer Thomas Brasch in Dear Thomas.

Moreover, the First Feature Competition jury, led by Jayro Bustamante, gave its main award to Other Cannibals [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Francesco Sossai
scheda film], directed by Francesco Sossai. The movie has been described as a “twisty thought experiment combining black comedy, a pinch of western and a deep dive into the heart of human desire”.

Among the other victors were Andrius Blaževičius’ Runner [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andrius Blaževičius
scheda film], the recipient of the Baltic Competition Award, and Piotr Stasik’s The Moths, the winner of the Rebels with a Cause section. Finally, the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) watched the First Feature Competition titles and crowned Aleksandra Terpinska’s Other People [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Aleksandra Terpińska
scheda film] as Best Film, describing it as “a fresh, energetic and rhythmic drama, orbiting around a wannabe rapper and a wealthy housewife”.

Here is a list of this year’s award winners:

Grand Prix for Best Film
Dear Thomas [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andreas Kleinert
scheda film] – Andreas Kleinert (Germany)

Best Director
Wojciech Smarzowski – The Wedding Day [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Wojciech Smarzowski
scheda film] (Poland)

Best Cinematography
Emre Tanyildiz – The List of Those Who Love Me (Turkey)

Best Script
Wojciech Smarzowski – The Wedding Day

Best Actress
Sofia Krugova – No Looking Back [+leggi anche:
intervista: Kirill Sokolov
scheda film] (Russia)

Best Actor
Albrecht Schuch – Dear Thomas

Best Original Score
Esa-Pekka Salonen – The Wait [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Finland)

Best Production Design
Anna Nyitrai – Perpetuity [+leggi anche:
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intervista: György Pálfi
scheda film] (Hungary)

Best First Feature Film
Other Cannibals [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Francesco Sossai
scheda film] – Francesco Sossai (Germany)

Special Jury Prizes
Immersion – Nicolás Postiglione (Chile)
Her Way [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Cécile Ducrocq (France)

Best Baltic Feature Film
Runner [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andrius Blaževičius
scheda film] – Andrius Blaževičius (Lithuania/Czech Republic)

Rebels with a Cause Competition

Rebels with a Cause Award
The Moths – Piotr Stasik (Poland)

Rebels with Their Shorts Award
They Were to Cross the River – Faeze Karimpour (France)

FIPRESCI Prize
Other People [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Aleksandra Terpińska
scheda film] – Aleksandra Terpinska (Poland)

Ecumenical Award
Mukagali – Bolat Kalymbetov (Kazakhstan)

Lifetime Achievement Awards
Carlos Saura
Elle Kull

DDA Spotlight Award
Liesl Tommy – Respect (USA)
Sebastian Meise – Great Freedom [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sebastian Meise
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PÖFF Shorts Nomination for the EFA Awards
Steakhouse – Špela Čadež (Slovenia)

Youth and Children’s Film Festival Just Film

Just Film Grand Prix
Playground [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Laura Wandel
scheda film] – Laura Wandel (France)

Just Film ECFA Award
My Dad Is a Sausage [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Anouk Fortunier
scheda film] – Anouk Fortunier (Belgium/Netherlands)