The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), one of the most important film events in Northern Europe, has announced the official selection for its First Feature Competition, a section dedicated to discovering and celebrating new voices in world cinema. The festival’s 29th edition, which will take place from November 7 to 23, 2025, will feature 13 films —nine world premieres and four international premieres— with all filmmakers confirmed to attend in the Estonian capital.

Program curator Triin Tramberg highlighted that this year’s selection “aims to challenge audiences and take them out of their comfort zone,” adding that several titles were developed within the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event program, a platform designed to foster new film projects. “It’s exciting to see more and more of our works in progress finding their way back to the festival. This year, Interior is a great example: it won the Audience Award in last year’s Works in Progress section and now returns to PÖFF to compete as a debut feature,” Tramberg noted.

Among the selected European titles is A Safe Place, by Romanian director Cecilia Ştefănescu, an intimate portrayal of a woman’s emotional unrest and longing for freedom under the relentless summer sun. From Germany, Hille Norden presents Smalltown Girl, a story that interweaves sensuality and trauma through two young women seeking to reclaim control over their bodies and desires. In Elena’s Shift, Greek filmmaker Stefanos Tsivopoulos follows a Romanian single mother’s fight for justice and dignity in Athens, blending realism with a hopeful gaze.

Danish director Christian Bonke will compete with Hercules Falling, starring Dar Salim, about a war veteran struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Combining documentary precision and narrative depth, the film explores the invisible scars of conflict. Representing Germany, Pascal Schuh’s Interior is a stylized psychological drama delving into obsession and empathy.

The United Kingdom will be represented by Lady, by Samuel Abrahams, starring Sian Clifford (Fleabag), a sharp and eccentric satire on privilege and loneliness wrapped in absurd humor. From Norway, Mari Storstein presents My First Love, a story of young love and the search for independence told from the perspective of a protagonist with a disability, offering rare authenticity. Belgian filmmaker Kat Steppe competes with Sunday Ninth, a tender and melancholic work about memory and reconciliation between two estranged siblings reunited in a nursing home. Finally, Polish director Artur Wyrzykowski completes the lineup with This Is Not Happening, an intense drama following a father desperate to protect his son after a shooting, reflecting on guilt, masculinity, and moral collapse.

First Feature Competition

Lady – Samuel Abrahams (UK)
Backstage Madness – Amanbek Adžõmat (Kyrgyzstan)
Hercules Falling – Christian Bonke (Denmark)
Juana – Daniel Giménez Cacho (Mexico)
Admission – Quentin Hsu (Taiwan)
Dump of Untitled Pieces – Melik Kuru (Turkey)
Smalltown Girl  – Hille Norden (Germany)
Interior – Pascal Schuh (Germany)
A Safe Place – Cecilia Ştefănescu (Romania)
Sunday Ninth – Kat Steppe (Belgium)
My First Love – Mari Storstein (Norway)
Elena’s Shift – Stefanos Tsivopoulos (Greece)
This Is Not Happening – Artur Wyrzykowski (Poland)