The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) has announced the films that will compete in its Official Competition at the festival’s 30th edition, which will take place in Estonia from 6 to 22 November. The festival’s main competitive section will feature 12 films from 15 countries, including 12 world premieres.
The selection brings together filmmakers from different generations, combining established directors with filmmakers presenting their second features. According to PÖFF Artistic Director Triin Tramberg, discovery is at the heart of the Official Competition, with films characterised by a strong sense of storytelling and a desire to approach familiar subjects from unexpected perspectives.
Among the selected titles is Cuero, by Argentine filmmaker Joaquín Cambre, a psychological thriller about desire, obsession and revenge. The film follows Milena, a woman who is caring for her husband, who was left in a vegetative state after being run over by a drunk driver.
The man responsible for the accident, Tom, is released from prison and begins attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in search of redemption. Milena joins the same meetings to stalk him, but what initially appears to be a plan for revenge gradually becomes more ambiguous as the two begin to get to know each other.
The meetings take place beneath a room where malambo is rehearsed, a dance that awakens emotions and desires in Milena that she believed had long been dormant. The dance becomes a central element in the protagonist’s psychological transformation and in the development of the thriller.
The Official Competition will also include A Job Well Done, by Swiss filmmaker Frédéric Baillif, about social workers dealing with migration, asylum, homelessness and domestic violence; Caballé, by Spanish director Patricia Ortega, centred on soprano Montserrat Caballé; and No Me Without You, by Estonian filmmaker Janno Jürgens, a psychological thriller about two estranged sisters whose desires, guilt and rage resurface following a fatal event.
The selection is completed by One Sweet Hour, by Irish filmmaker Declan Recks; Sinless, by Hungarian director Attila Hartung; The Assignment, by Belgian filmmaker Patrice Toye; and The Matriarch, by German director Alison Kuhn. The announced titles represent a total of 15 countries across productions and co-productions.
The Official Competition jury will be chaired by British screenwriter and director Sir Christopher Hampton, a two-time Academy Award winner. He will be joined by Lebanese producer Myriam Sassine, US cinematographer and visual-effects specialist David Stump, French producer Julie Billy and Estonian actress Tiina Tauraite.
The Grand Prix for Best Film in the Official Competition comes with a €20,000 grant from the City of Tallinn. PÖFF has also announced its competition dedicated to first features as part of the programme for its 30th edition.
The Official Competition Lineup:
- A Job Well Done (Switzerland), dir. Frédéric Baillif
- Caballé (Spain, Belgium), dir. Patricia Ortega
- Drumskin (Argentina), dir. Joaquín Cambre
- I Just Want to Talk to My Mom (Iran, Türkiye), dir. Mohsen Rabiei
- No Me Without You (Estonia), dir. Janno Jürgens
- On Top of the Cliff (Mexico, Peru, Switzerland), dir. Enrica Perez
- One Sweet Hour (Ireland), dir. Declan Recks
- Sh*t Happens (Dominican Republic), dir. José María Cabral
- Sinless (Hungary), dir. Attila Hartung
- The Assignment (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands), dir. Patrice Toye
- The Matriarch (Germany), dir. Alison Kuhn
- Where Is My Son? (Kazakhstan), dir. Dias Bertis
First Feature Competition Lineup
- Black Slaughter (France, Israel), directed by Gigi Betito
- Exotic (Poland), directed by Sonja Orlewicz-Zakrzewska
- Happy Ending (Iran), directed by Atena Mahmoudi
- In Starland (United Kingdom, USA), directed by Ray Panthaki
- Lionheart (Denmark), directed by Nagieb Khaja
- Oblivion (Lithuania), directed by Danielius Minkevičius
- Princess (Ecuador, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia), directed by Christian Rojas
- Running Wild (Taiwan), directed by Wang Yi-Ling
- Status: Rejected (Philippines), directed by Vahn Leinard Pascual
- The Sweetness of Bitter Things (North Macedonia), directed by Andrey Volkashin
- When She Hears the Bells (France, Germany, Belgium), directed by Chabname Zariab
- White as Salt (Türkiye), directed by Murat Eroğlu