The 28th edition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival broke several all-time records!

The first sneak peek of PÖFF29 has been revealed!

On Sunday, the 28th PÖFF will close with the best of the best - the winning films. Adventure through the misty magic of Mongolia, discover a world ruled only by women or travel back in time to the days of Bon Jovi and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Silent City Driver wins the Grand Prix for the Best Film of Official Selection Competition, also scooped the Best Production Design Award.

Sexuality, righteousness lost to lust, passionate dreams of David Bowie – today’s PÖFF films talk about things that aren’t being talked about.

The second lifetime achievement award of this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) will be given to one of Georgia’s most renowned directors, Lana Gogoberidze. The 96-year-old legend will be presenting two of her films at this year's festival.

What could be better for a Friday night than a delightful sip of nostalgia accompanied by the music of Dingo and a generous dose of healthy humor served up by Mika Kaurismäki, who will personally present it at PÖFF?

Today, you can let your blood run wild, try Riga balm mixed with satire, and discuss the world order, where you have to die at the age of 50 due to sustainability.

Today’s PÖFF is filled to the brim with meaningfulness to elevate existence over ordinary life. In addition, a number of acclaimed top actors show world-class performances.

Today, the cinema will hear the Argentines’ song of praise to Messi and the spirit of resistance during Latvian National Awakening that was inspired by Estonians.

Today’s programme lines up smugglers from Colombia, Juhan Liiv, a Cypriot woman, who enjoys one-night stands, and the ever brilliant basketball stars from the club Žalgiris.

The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival loves not only unforgettable film experiences but also new series! On November 20th, series enthusiasts have a unique opportunity to watch brand-new pilot episodes of top series from neighboring countries. After the screenings, there will also be Q&A sessions with members of the series' teams.

Dedicate the weekend to yourself and treat your senses to a pleasurable cinematic experience. Today's PÖFF programme takes you on a journey around the world!

In today's PÖFF, a colourful cast of characters search for a common language by first getting to know themselves.

This year’s awards ceremony promises to be an entertaining evening filled with dance!

Today’s film selection celebrates the art of filmmaking! PÖFF brings powerful auteur cinema to the big screen and nurtures the soul with heart-warming tales about the bitter-sweet life in which madness is the icing on the cake.

Lost heads at the vanity fair, the burning urgency of recent history, and the whirlwind of aging turned upside down – today’s PÖFF stirs emotions to the fullest!

Today’s film selection is full of inspiring stories that help us adjust our moral compass and the programme also surprises with one naughtily sinful Estonian film.

Today’s films will bring to the screen the stunning Swiss Alps, fearless whistleblowers from Russia, a cosmical love story and Iranian poetic realism that is served with a dose of Swedish absurdist comedy.

Love, blood, loyalty or egoism? Today's PÖFF explores the ties that bind people together as a family.

The powerful opening ceremony of the 28th PÖFF took place on the 8 November, at the Alexela Concert Hall

Today's film selection is fascinatingly intriguing, wonderfully sporty and explosively political.

Did you know that you can join the PÖFF Patron Wolves pack and help the festival grow even more special! By purchasing a Patron Wolf pass or a Wolf Pass you make a valuable contribution to film culture and the cultural sector.

Thirteen PÖFF films will compete for the European Film Academy Awards

Independent Voices from Georgia: A Spotlight on Georgian Cinema.

Are you a big fan of cooking and the world of film? In that case, “Kitchen Filled with Cinema” is just for you!

During the Black Nights Film festival a leading summit and trade fair for audiovisual industry professionals is also taking place since. Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, occuring from 15 to 22 November, hosts nearly 120 lectures, masterclasses and workshops and it might be tricky to find everything exciting that is going on. To help you navigate the schedule, here’s a selection of workshops and panel talks that might spark your interest.

One of the most influential figures in European club basketball, Paulius Motiejūnas, will be a guest at the Estonian Olympic Committee Sports Film Programme.

The award will be presented to Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher at the Closing Ceremony on Saturday, November 23rd. British-Palestinian director Nabulsi and British producer Sawsan Asfari will be on hand for the award presentation.

PÖFF28 – a storm warning in cinemas! The PÖFF lightning that flashes over Tallinn is striking, sharp and powerful!

Presenting the crème de la crème of fresh output from the festival’s home region, this year’s Baltic Competition programme consists of 16 works, including 6 world premieres and 2 international premieres.

Black Nights Film Festival’s formal opening ceremony takes place on Friday the 8th of November at 7 pm at Alexela Concert Hall. This year, in addition to the fancy photo shoot, ceremony and opening film, several special surprises await the guests. Come and celebrate the start of one of the most important cultural events of the year!

On the 8th of November, the documentary Garage People (Germany, Russia 2020) will be screened at Tallinn University as part of the international academic workshop “The History and Present of Socialist Car Culture.” The film’s director is Natalija Yefimkina, who has German and Ukrainian roots.

The side-competition, dedicated to films that push the boundaries of cinematic art, contains 6 world premieres and 4 international premieres.

PÖFF sets focus on German cinema and has chosen the world premiere of David Dietl's "Long Story Short" to open the festival.

The brand new AI assistant and film recommender Susi knows the PÖFF programme inside out. Susi is dedicated to helping you find the films in the festival programme that match viewer's unique preferences.

PÖFF reveals the selection for the Critics' Picks Competition. Launched two years ago, the carefully curated side competition programme comprises 10 exclusive world premieres from around the globe.

The flagship of the PÖFF programme comprises 18 titles, of which 11 are world premieres and 7 are international premieres. The jury is chaired by acclaimed German director Christoph Hochhäusler.

The strand, dedicated exclusively for the full-length film debutants, includes 7 world premieres and 4 international premieres. All of the authors will be present in Tallinn.

The 11-piece competition strand includes six world premieres and five international premieres.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival revealed the first 4 films from the Official Selection Competition 2024.

Secure your spot at the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival!

The schedule is out and tickets for the festive premieres are on sale - at a discounted price!

Ever wanted to step into the shoes of an international film critic? PÖFF is seeking participants from the Baltic countries to a film critics workshop!

Without volunteers, there would be no Black Nights Film festival (PÖFF). It's that simple. PÖFF is looking for everyone who is ready to help to organise one of the largest film events in Northern Europe.

What are the success stories that PÖFF has helped to create? Let's take a look back at some of the festival hits that premiered at PÖFF27 edition.

Tallinn Black Nights Festival adds the sixth competition programme, Doc@PÖFF, to it's 28th edition taking place in November 2024. Submissions are open until the 25th of August.

Discovery Campus, an international continuing education program by PÖFF and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, in collaboration with prestigious international partners, is searching for emerging screenwriters, directors and cinematographers as well as talents in film music and art department to participate in this year's edition.

Let's catch up and make plans for the upcoming festival year!

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event are proud to announce full plans during the Marché du Film this May. Meet our team and let's make plans for the upcoming festival year of 2024!

Discovery Campus invites musicians, composers, and music professionals as well as film and TV professionals who are interested in learning about licensing music for sync, to join a masterclass by renowned US music supervisor Thomas Golubic who has previously worked on series like *Breaking Bad*, *Better Call Saul*, *The Walking Dead*, among others.

All young film professionals in the field of acting, directing and technicians are welcome to join the 5-day workshop by highly esteemed cinematographer Philippe Ros. The workshop is designed to establish and perfect this relationship between the three sides of a creative triangle: directing, acting, camera.

We will present 5 film projects at Goes to Cannes showcase. The programme will take place at Marché du Film, the industry section of the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event invite screenwriters to the master class of top Italian screenwriter Nicola Lusuardi, which will take place on the 12th-13th July in Tallinn.

Submit your film and join the only FIAPF-accredited competitive film festival in Northern Europe!

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival supports Georgian autonomous filmmakers with a special programme.

Filmmakers willing to present their projects are encouraged to submit their entries by March 4th, 2024. Join us at the heart of the global film industry!

The teams of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Youth and Children's Film Festival Just Film and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event will attend the 74th Berlin Film Festival and EFM. Check out our activities!

PÖFF is looking for a project manager for the Discovery Campus Black Room program project manager. See if this opportunity is for you or recommend it to a friend!

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival wrapped up the numbers of the 27th edition

Awards of the 27th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival have been announced.

The prestigious award was presented to a legendary film director at the Closing Ceremony of PÖFF 2023.

The opening weekend of PÖFF will see a cat on the verge of becoming a hip-hop artist, a couple trying to escape a car crash in a marital crisis, and a series of hellishly powerful socially critical films.

His latest film "Heroes of Halyard" is part of PÖFF's focus program „Serbia and SEE* Neighbours”.

The awards will be given to Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and Jonathan Glazer (The Zone Of Interest).

Does placing unwavering trust eventually pave the way for a painful downfall? Today's cinematic selection unveils a intricate tapestry of familial bonds, interwoven with unconditional love, concealed secrets, and authentic revelations. Below, discover recommendations for Thursday's film lineup, distinguished by its compelling force and intimacy that seeps beneath the surface, leaving no viewer untouched.

At the heart of the latest films lies the human body—an exquisite blend of a sensory gateway to the external world and a protective chamber for the inner realm. It remains consistently unique. On the scales of the unprecedented, Wednesday's PÖFF program stands on its own, offering a spectrum that ranges from powerfully crafted artistic shots to a narrative that unfolds around an unexpected focal point: an erection that emerges as the central challenge in organizing a father's funeral.

Today's selection of films takes on a number of difficult subjects that are really too difficult to talk about, with a heartfelt dark humor. Is the breast milk industry the future and low wages the past? How long does it take to become a mother if you have to sleep with all your ex-partners? But how do you not end up in the bottomless pit when you have to finance your daughter's wedding? And can an ex-drug dealer become a good, good salesman in a mediocre office?

On Monday, the 22nd edition of the five-day summit Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event kicks off with over 100 lectures, masterclasses and workshops and greeting over 800 onsite and online participants.

Today's selection of films will make you forget about the week ahead and the weather, and spice up your mind with a spine-tingling thrill. In addition to the landmark premieres, today's programme includes two special events - a gala screening of "What Remains" and the premiere of season 3 of the crime series "Arctic Circle", which offers a chance to get behind the scenes of one of the most popular crime shows.

Today's film recommendations are led by women who can carry the world in the palm of their hand when needed. Here you will find characters who don't just shatter glass ceilings, but shatter the stereotypes that shackle them and write their own story. Let it be said that these stories will be anything but flowery.

Today’s picks are an ode to everything extraordinary that life has to offer. These stories offer relatable heroes and compassion, humorous self-irony and moments to really cheer on to.

Energy company Alexela, a recurring Friend of Culture award recipient and a top performer in several local fields has joined the PÖFF support crew this year.

Today's film selection takes a closer look at alienation in close relationships. Can asexuality be cured with a good homecoming? Why is it often the parent who leaves his family and leaves who seems to be the good one in the eyes of the child? How serious do the accusations have to be to jeopardise the eternal union of marriage?

Nordic Hotel Forum has been the heart of the PÖFF events and the home hotel for foreign guests since 2008 - 16 brilliant years! We asked Nordic Hotel Forum's Hotel Manager Feliks Mägus what makes PÖFF special in his eyes.

Today marks the beginning of the Official Selection - Competition programme at PÖFF, featuring the future grand prix laureate! Directors, actors, and other filmmakers have gathered to present their films during the premieres and share these iconic moments together. Thus, each PÖFF cinema ticket plays a crucial role - being a part of the life's work of those who entrusted their film premieres to the Estonian cinema audience.

The First Feature competition begins today with the world premiere of the Argentinian film "Vera And The Pleasure Of Others". This film will playfully take us back to the time, when forbidden thoughts became real actions. A hero from Argentina will also quietly cross the border in the film "The Delinquents", where he decides to free himself from the shackles of slaving away at work and claim his pension by robbing a bank.

If you already know that PÖFF is the right time of the year to enjoy crazy movies that stray away from the petty bourgeoisie then it’s a sin to not dive into the nightlife of the festival. This weekend will be all sunshines and rainbows with unbelievably good music.

The famous Estonian Composer received this year's first Lifetime Achievement Award

Cinema halls are full of festival fun and every day more and more guests from all over the world arrive to present their films at PÖFF.

PÖFF starts the week with films that talk about the importance of empathy and perseverance. A corageous spirit that refuses to give in to seemingly insurmountable difficulties. These are big stories about small actions, which sometimes are all it takes to save the world.

Check out the fabulous moments of PÖFF27 Opening Ceremony

Maarja Johanna Mägi earned this year’s Bruno O’Ya Scholarship for Young Actor.

The first Saturday of PÖFF invites you to be enchanted by cinematography. Films created by outstanding maestros are waiting for you in the cinema halls. They will charm you with originality, courage and stories that make you concentrate. Some of them are acutely delicate documentary overviews about being alive. Others' imagination has flown beyond the limits of possibility to discover all that life could be.

So much happened in the world in 1997. DVDs began to replace VHS tapes, Netflix started to hunt the throne of video rental, photo camera moved to mobile phone, and Tamagotchis became our pets.

These are cinematographic masterpieces with awards from hundreds of other A-class film festivals.

PÖFF27 makes an effort to make its ecological footprint as small as possible and we keep it in mind when making merch selections. This is how we started to work with Reet Aus and created amazing T-Shirts for this year. Read more, why and how this plan happened.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival announces the line-ups of seven juries that will be evaluating the five competition programmes. The awards will be announced at the festival’s Award Ceremony, which takes place on the 18th of November.

PÖFF invites you to dive into a special program dedicated to the remarkable Tilda Swinton, screening at Cinema Sõprus.

Tickets are available for 5 competition programmes and 14 side programmes. From retrospectives to freshest trends.

Presenting the crème de la crème of fresh output from the festival’s home region, this year’s Baltic Competition programme consists of 17 works.

The competition program includes 11 features, including 8 world premieres and 3 international premieres. The counterpart of the PÖFF Shorts sub-festival, Rebels With Their Shorts, consists of 12 works, including two world premieres.

Launched in 2022, this year's Critics' Picks presents 12 exclusive world premieres and 3 outstanding features.

This year's selection includes fresh titles from Europe, Asia and North-America.

Besides Serbia, the SEE countries include Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Check out the Opening Film of PÖFF 2023!

Tickets for the First Feature Competition premieres are on sale now! The early bird price is 7.50 euros.

Take a look on the teaser selection for the 2023 Official Selection Competition programme!

Without volunteers, there would be no Black Nights Film festival (PÖFF). It's that simple. PÖFF is looking for everyone who is ready to help to organise one of the largest film events in Northern Europe.

Discovery Campus, the international educational program organized by Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event during the Black Nights Film Festival, is returning this autumn with an innovative new sub-programme Frame Within a Frame. Aimed squarely at cinematographers, this latest addition joins the program's pre-established sub-programs, including Black Nights Stars, Black Room, Music Meets Film, and Script Pool.

The PÖFF Wolf has gathered energy all year to connect audiences to the film world.

The final boss of PÖFF Love Film Festival Tartuff is the cult classic "Grease"!

Tiina Lokk, the director of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, presents the Estonian cult classic "A Stolen Meeting" (1988) at Karlovy Vary. The last feature of Leida Laius (1923-1996), one of Estonia’s most unique female filmmakers, was selected for "Out of the Past" film legacy section. The film will be presented by Piret Tibbo-Hudgins (producer) and Tiina Lokk (script editor).

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival will invest 0.5 euros from each film submission fee in the preservation of European and Brazilian pristine forests. The amount raised will be donated to Single.Earth, an Estonian green tech start-up that directly funds landowners to save their biodiverse forests from deforestation pressure.

PÖFF and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event participate in Marché du Film - the film business top event of the year. In the heart of world's most prestigious film festival - Festival de Cannes, PÖFF is going to present promising film works in progress, attend networking events and discover today's new rising talents. Check out our plans and let's catch up!

The final deadline for submissions of Black Nights Film Festival and both of the sub-festivals is the 24th of August.

The team at the Black Nights Film Festival’s Digital Cinema Lab has extensive experience and ensures the technical quality of every film that screens at our main and side festivals. We offer a complete service of finalizing films, which includes the creation of cinema files (DCP), quality control, translation and subtitling work, KDM key generation and other additional services.

“PÖFF films around the world” is an expanding festival diary about the films that premiered at PÖFF and are later winning awards worldwide. What are the success stories that started from PÖFF? What is written about PÖFF in the global media? What’s cookin’ in the magnificent world of film festivals? Take a look below!

PÖFF 2021 Lifetime Achievement award recipient, the legendary 91-year old director Carlos Saura, passed away on February 10, 2023.

For the third time, Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) joins the well-established Marché du Film showcase "Goes to Cannes" with an aim to present 5 international film projects in progress. The market screenings take place on the 20th of May 2023. Filmmakers who are interested to present a project are invited to send in their submissions by March 5th 2023.

78 825 visits, 2000 foreign guests, over 7500 articles from 71 countries and 14 billion potential media contacts. These are the numbers that make up this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

At the Award Ceremony of the 26th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), awards were presented to the winners of the festival’s five competition programmes and PÖFF’s youth and children’s film sub-festival Just Film.

All PÖFF winners will be screened in cinemas today! Which films from the competition programs became winners of the 26th Black Nights Film Festival?

PÖFF is coming to an end on the big screen, but it is still possible to see audience favorites. The Saturday lineup includes Cannes winners, Oscar nominees and PÖFF Main Competition selections.

The closing ceremony of the 26th Black Nights Film Festival will take place on Saturday, November 26th at 7 p.m. at the Alexela Concert Hall.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival awarded the legendary German actor Udo Kier with the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award for decades-spanning artistic and cultural contribution to world cinema. Udo Kier’s impressive career has seen him play close to 300 roles, starring as Count Dracula, Adolf Hitler and Pope Innocent VIII to name a few, and worked with directors Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Lars von Trier, Dario Argento, Werner Herzog, Gus Van Sant, Guy Maddin, Wim Wenders, Walerian Borowczyk, Paul Morrissey and many others.

Can love circles be reshaped into relationship triangles? Today's PÖFF selection attempts to answer this and brings incredibly colorful characters to the screen, whose stories range from shameless satires to painful dramas.

Sarah Polley and Ali Abbasi to receive the DDA SPOTLIGHT AWARD at 26th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

Today's films oscillate between two extremes—on the one hand, silent acceptance of the mistakes you have made, and on the other hand, accusations pouring off your heart. How do you talk about something that happened without saying how much it hurts?

How would you act in a crisis? Today's PÖFF films examine whether it is possible to manage living in the countryside and a career in OnlyFans while keeping the fire of a relationship going.

Persist and conquer. These are perhaps the words that best define the current Brazilian cinema.

Today's program explores how prejudices and inflexible attitudes can destroy a person and their relationships. These powerful stories full of passion and crazy twists will keep you at the edge of your seat.

Today's PÖFF is full of love stories in very contrasting tones—from self-sacrificing to the affection that is stolen from the relationships of others. Can a mother's love be conditioned? And after a husband dies unexpectedly, how to deal with the fact that he left two widows?

The most intense Sunday of this year has arrived, which will be even more memorable with the live appearance of H.P. Baxxter at his film’s premiere. Today's film program offers, in addition to a deep thirst for life, incredible juicy perspectives on everything that connects or separates people.

The competition programme of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) opened on November 16 with „Stiekyt“, an exotic, Afrikaans-language film from South-Africa.

PÖFF TV is a special festival channel that complements the film program to bring people the emotions and meanings of the film world, interviews with festival guests and film recommendations. PÖFF TV programs and interviews are available to everyone, including those in foreign countries, for free on the Elisa Stage online platform.

Tuesday's selection of films is for big thinkers who we'll provide with rich intellectual food for thought. The recent films of directors Lars von Trier, Steven Spielberg and Sulev Keedus have found their place here, all of which make sense of the passage of time in their own way.

The international training program Discovery Campus organized by Black Nights Film Festival and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event invites young film professionals and students to take part in lectures, master classes and workshops by several internationally recognized mentors at the end of November. Famous mentors of the program include American composer William Goldstein, director Andrea Pallaoro, film artist Brunella De Cola and others.

PÖFF Monday closes its eyes to reality and plunges headfirst into the fantasy of love. Today's program recharges the energy reserves of the week that began through internal combustion, fueled by passions, ambitions and other indeterminate feelings across the cinema screens.

For the Dark Nights Film Festival, one of the most legendary silent films through the ages, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's horror film "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror" will be revived, with new music commissioned by the Pärnu City Orchestra and composed by Tõnis Kaumann.

The laureate of this year's second Lifetime Achievement Award of the Black Nights Film Festival is Polish film legend Krzysztof Zanussi.

Finally, the time has come to celebrate the beginning of PÖFF with the opening ceremony, but there are many different options available today. For example, David Bowie, Finnish karaoke or drifting accompanied by Tiësto. Everyone has their own tuning, on which to stretch the mind between moral dilemmas or just to empty the mind for a few moments.

At the Music Meets Film event dedicated to film music within the Black Nights Film Festival, all of you will have the chance to take part of something magical!

PÖFF puts Israeli cinematography under the microscope with screenings of 16 significant films showcasing unpredictably sharp emotions, expanding worldviews and making people laugh with unexpectedly black humor.

This coming Sunday, November 13, starting at 6 p.m., there will be a special dinner at the R14 restaurant, followed by a screening of the culinary film "Menu" at the Apollo Cinema in Coca-Cola Plaza.

Time Quartet marks the launch of the new PÖFF Expanded programme dedicated to artists’ and experimental films.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival unleashes its 2022 Rebels with a Cause.

Tallinn Black Nights announces its first ever Critics’ Picks.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival announces its 2022 Baltic Competition lineup.

Black Nights announces the full line up for its Official Selection.

PÖFF Shorts has unveiled the titles which will be a part of its six competitions, with a total of 131 films will screen across the festival running from 15 to 23 November.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival announces its 2022 First Feature competition lineup

PÖFF Festival Wolf is brave and prefers to use PÖFF pass. Find out more about passes.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) announces the first seven films to join its main Official Selection competition programme.

PÖFF is proud to announce its full plans during the Marché du Film this May. Central to this year’s plans is support for Ukrainian filmmakers.

Submissions for PÖFF26 are now closed. Thank you for all of your entries.

Starting from 9 May, a selection of Ukrainian films will reach the viewers for free, in order to raise support for filmmakers.

PÖFF presents Ukrainian projects at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival and shows a film program dedicated to Ukraine in its online cinema.

The entire Estonian film industry calls on their government to implement extraordinary temporary measures to ban the production and distribution of state-sponsored audiovisual films from Russia and Belarus in Estonia, and to suspend cooperation in filmmaking and culture with their autocratic regimes until the war in Ukraine stops and the subsequent situation satisfies the international community.

How many visits did the 25th Black Nights Film Festival receive, where it was written about, and how many million euros did it bring back to the Estonian economy?

It's not the first time that one film is nominated for an Oscar for Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary. It's happened several times. However, it had never happened before that one film would be nominated for an Oscar in the categories of Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Film and Best Animated Film.

In 2022, PÖFF will launch a new film training program in Ida-Virumaa for builders, electricians, seamstresses, and photographers, as well as people without a specific technical professional but active in various types of technical or administrative work in the film industry.

At the Award Ceremony of the 25th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), awards were presented to the winners of the festival’s four competition programmes and PÖFF’s youth and children’s film sub-festival Just Film. PÖFF Shorts announced its winners last week, but added an EFA nominee.

Self-taught Lithuanian enfant terrible Emilis Vėlyvis presents an impulsively suspenseful and unpredictable thriller, which you’ll wish to watch again exposing smartly hidden clues and looking for other traces in the legacy of a bloody past.

The PÖFF cinema marathon is coming to an end, but the unparalleled film experience continues today. It's time to indulge in the last sweet morsels that PÖFF wolves can savour this year. There is a powerful dose of film magic waiting here and that magic is always best seen on the big screen.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to great screenwriting. Malachi Smyth knows his craft as a master of screenwriting and, luckily for us, is not afraid to broaden his scope up to the fields of directing. His first feature film „The Score” had its world premiere here at the Black Nights Film Festival and proved to be far from an ordinary crime drama. Malachi shows that he marches to his own directorial beat right from the start.

The last week of an incredibly special PÖFF has reached its peak and continues to deliver the goods, before tomorrow's award ceremony.

Here you will find stories of how to keep your feet on the ground with barefoot dreams, reaching for dizzyingly heights and down to some dark lows. Thursday's sample offers especially thought-provoking pieces to all those who are not afraid to get lost, fall and pick themselves up, while adventuring on the deeper levels of being.

Today's film program climbs to the highest highs and peeks down to the lowest lows. The forecast is for shaking thrills, fine-tuned to the last detail, and just the right dose of comedy, as black as coal. Today, the scope of the topics ranges from mystical massacres to lost kittens - there will be no shortage of fascinating options. The choice is yours!

Today's cinema program sings songs of strong emotions, which turn an otherwise ordinary Tuesday night into a truly exciting adventure. This is a crazy cat-and-mouse game where you never know exactly who's who. These enchanting movies cover land and sea and a journey through a political minefield that stretches from the stormy late eighties to the present day.

The week begins with some real gems, whose dazzling reflections spread light to all the nooks and crannies of life. Here you can enjoy a musical number or two, transportive journeys through countries from Kenya to Chile, all underpinned by mind-sharpening social insights.

It is highly probable that before one’s own death, everyone has to organise someone else’s funeral. This is by far not an easy task. In addition to the searing grief, dying also brings a number of tasks that are at once utterly alien and intensely time-critical. Dovilė Šarutytė has made a strikingly captivating portrait of grief as a still-life of a person who once was.

None of the heroes of today's program will agree that it’s wiser to give up. Characters who are steadfast in their beliefs and will fight for them to the end are waiting here, those whose battlefields range from the high castles of Wall Street to the suffocating corridors of power in the Soviet Union.

Some emotions are so extreme, they’re hard to fit inside a person. Saturday's film selection will help you to discover the inner world where, in addition to love, there are plenty of fears. There are strong hearts here, afraid of losing their other halves. And there are those lost souls who are afraid of losing themselves.

The Friday raid has begun, during which everything misleading and deceptive is spread through our cinemas: challenges to a person's sense of reality. As the unstoppable spread of the cult of personality on social media no longer surprises anyone, in today's action no door will be closed to the raid.

What to do and how to behave when asked to not to be human? Today's program goes in search of answers, down to unprecedented depths, and brings many answers: to baffling questions, sparks of inspiration, conflicts and contradictions.

Iker Elorrieta makes an outstanding example that sometimes your own hands and a shoulder for the camera, two remarkable actors and a boom operator is enough to create unforgettably impactful scenes.

One of the most important turning points of the festival has arrived - the first competition films of the 25th edition will reach cinemas today.

Today's heroes are moving unstoppably towards their goals, perhaps leaving a few bloody noses in their wake, all in truly admirable performances.

It takes a brave soul to relive all your past heartbreaks and lay them out on the cinema screens to get the picture of what went wrong. Liliana Torres is not afraid of opening up her life for a more intimate and genuine cinematic experience.

By unreal we mean the unpredictable, that which when seen with our own eyes, is real or at least seems to be. The following works express ideas and phenomena that are indescribable, in the language of personal experience and the inexplicable feelings hidden in their shadows.

How do you know you're ready for life? Rebellious teenagers kick off this new PÖFF week and suddenly see themselves as adults. Next to them, new mothers who do not recognize themselves in their new role take brave but uncertain steps forward in life.

Every decision we make can become part of a story bigger than life itself. This is the case with many of the iconic figures in this sample, whose life story may be over today, but the impact of what happened leaves us much to ponder and complex feelings to pick through after the fact.

Sunday's cinemas are filled with stories of people who have made mistakes in their lives. Some of them have learned unexpected lessons and, for others, drinking works as well as learning.

True love never dies, they say. Here’s a selection of films to confirm the rumours and a few that, on the contrary, try to wipe their hands free of love. Be it one side or the other, the characters here are all fighting for or with love somehow.

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, together with the Black Nights Film Festival, will launch a new international continuing education programme Black Nights Discovery Campus that encourages young film professionals to pursue and complement their studies in filmmaking. A new banner unites the established programmes like Black Nights Stars, Music Meets Film and Black Room together with refreshed and new stands Future to Film and Young Critics.

Today's movie program is full of madness. But instead of a great evening or party, the characters here are driven crazy by blood thicker than water, dusty rolls of film, a ski track running without snow and a dead aunt on the kitchen floor.

Here are some choice pieces for the bravest of wolves, who are not afraid to head down blind alleys, thrown into the twists and turns of psychological thrillers. This sample is anything but an array of run-of-the-mill horror flicks.

Photo galleries from the opening ceremony of PÖFF25, celebrating our 25th anniversary at the Alexela Concert Hall, where the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Bruno O'Ya Young Actor Stipend were presented.

The opening day of the festival does not hold back and covers the entire spectrum of emotions, ranging from charmingly sly nostalgia to emotionless black blacks. These are films that do not simply make you feel, but ignite your mind to think and make sense of such great issues as morality, belonging, authenticity and purpose.

A selection of warm-hearted movies, perfect for the dark days of November.

We take the most meaning away from the most difficult stories. The emotional lives of the most vulnerable people in society, whose battles with the regular world will move even the coldest of hearts, are highlighted in this selection

Flipping from intimate and intricate visual language into full blown song and dance numbers, like subtle verses and exploding choruses, this bunch of PÖFF films dig deep for feelings and understanding them.

Liesl Tommy and Sebastian Meise will receive the DDA Spotlight Award at the 25th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

We start the week by introducing a few of PÖFF's most unique characters: films that juggle biting satire, mind-bending thought experiments and absurdist escapism.

PÖFF's most visually enchanting films will lead you on an entrancing and exciting aesthetic journey, reaching unseen pinnacles of cinematic vision.

It is a huge pleasure to announce the juries who will oversee the Official Selection and First Feature competition programmes for this very special 25th birthday edition of PÖFF.

We take great care of our visitors and want the festival experience to be as pleasant, comfortable and safe as possible for everyone. PÖFF lasts two and a half weeks, and in order for us all to reach a successful conclusion, we have compiled the following guidelines and rules.

The darkness of November arrives just on time and it’s time to ask yourself if your mood is as dark as PÖFF’s programme this year.

PÖFF tickets are on sale in all their glory! This year, 181 films from five different continents will be in the program, but there is no need to panic. Instead of counting your days off and stocking up caffeine tablets, an experienced wolf knows that a well-organised film marathon begins with clever planning.

Is PÖFF still happening? How does the festival celebrate its 25th birthday? Are foreign visitors expected in Tallinn? What is exciting about this year's program?

Who would ever have thought that a Wolf Pass will one day be such hot stuff!

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival brings New German Cinema to Estonian cinemas

Pärnu City Orchestra will present a concert screening of Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1932 horror film "Vampyr", with music written by Tõnu Kõrvits.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) announces the line-up for Rebels With A Cause, an international competition programme screening 14 feature films, alongside a short films competition that includes 13 entries this year, split across two programmes.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) announces Hungary as the Focus Country for this year’s 25th edition of the festival. The festival’s Opening Film will be Ildikó Enyedi’s The Story of My Wife.

12 films to compete in Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival’s Baltic Competition

The festival’s main competition programme adds one more world premiere, ten international premieres, three European premieres, and two Estonian premieres to the six world premieres previously announced.

Black Nights Film Festival, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has announced building a park in their name.

The selection includes ten world premieres, nine international premieres and one European premiere, among the slate of 20 debuts.

Black Nights Film Festival celebrates its 25th birthday with the long-awaited contemporary opera “Tarkovsky - The Eighth Film” by Eesti Kontsert.

The festival celebrates its 25th with an especially strong selection of author films, including returning favourites and emerging talents from all corners of the cinematic world. 

Black Nights Film Festival has launched it passes earlier than usual and is adopting the most modern solutions - developed right here in Estonia - for ensuring infection safety and coronavirus testing. There are exactly two months until the start of the festival.

PÖFF is looking for an international marketing and communications team member for this year's festival!

The aim of the cooperation is to further develop film literacy in European countries by providing schools with an effective online tool supporting the inclusion of the art of film in the classroom. The project is focused towards general schools, students aged 11 to 18 and their teachers, of the member states of the Creative Europe programme.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival will take part in a Baltic Focus at this year’s Marché du Film in Cannes. Together with the Estonian Film Institute, Latvian Film Center and Lithuanian Film Centre, a variety of new projects, professionals and initiatives will be presented to the international industry and press.

For the first time Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) joins the well established Marché du Film showcase "Goes to Cannes" with an aim to present 5 international film projects in post-production stage at the Marché du Film in July. “Black Nights Goes to Cannes” is part of the PÖFF’s 25th birthday celebrations, in a year where PÖFF’s industry platform Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event also celebrates its 20th anniversary. Film industry professionals who are interested to present a project at the event are invited to send in their submissions by May, 7 2021.

Tallinn Black Nights fulfils its 2020 pledge to donate a part of its film submission fees toward the preservation of local forests, alongside Estonian green tech company Single.Earth and the newly formed forest fund Estonian Wildlife.

PÖFF is looking for a Black Night Stars project manager to join its team. See if it's a fit for you or recommend to a friend!

PÖFF has announced dates for its 25th-anniversary edition and opens submissions for the main festival and sub-festivals PÖFF Shorts and Just Film.

Variety, being the most authoritative and trusted source of entertainment business news, named Tiina Lokk as a woman who has influenced the global entertainment industry.

When the 17-day-long festival rollercoaster reached its destination at the end of November, it was clear that it had been a ride to remember!

Opening this month, Tallinn Black Nights (PÖFF) launches an online cinema where films can be watched all year round throughout Estonia's territory.

Starting today, it is possible to buy passes for the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival at a discounted price.

**The culture desk of the news service Postimees has given the annual Engine of Culture award of 2020 to Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival lead by Tiina Lokk.**

**The festival estimates that 101 833 physical and virtual attendances took place setting a record for the industry events which saw over 35 000 virtual attendances, resulting from a record of 1600 accredited professionals.**

From the aversion of over-romanticizing to the right socks and plastic bags that make all the difference. Interview with three filmmakers and an actor.

This year's winners have been announced and you still have the chance to see some of them in cinemas, and online.

This year, a record amount of films were shown in and out of competition at the festival. Tonight we celebrated the (almost) end of a successful hybrid festival at Vene Theatre in anticipation of the jury verdict. Now, we are very happy to announce this year’s winners!

On the day of the Award Ceremony, we invite you for the final three premieres of our Official Competition - Selection, to have them fresh in your memory and share in the joy when the winners are announced in the glorious Vene Theatre tonight.

This week, pioneering female filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. We called her to speak about the award, some highlights in her career, her ongoing work, and her advice to young filmmakers.

On the 27th of November, the 24th edition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival will have its festive finale during the award ceremony. Join us for the LIVE-stream and share in the excitement, as we enjoy several performances and announce this year's winning movies!

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the prettiest of them all? Who is the fastest of them all? And who is the richest of them all? Be ready to face yourself, and all your vanities in today's films.

On the 27th of November, the 24th edition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival will have its festive finale during the award ceremony. Join us for the LIVE-stream and share in the excitement, as we enjoy several performances and announce this year's winning movies!

Wednesday is a good day for rebels if you ask us. The workweek is halfway done, and we are in the need of some distraction, some shaking up. Find your rebel in the programme of Black Nights.

Join us again today for a cinematic trip around the world. Find out what day 12 at Black Nights Film Festival has in store for you.

It’s a saying in Estonia, that a bear’s coat does not fear the cold. In the past days, we have learned that so does not the coat of a real PÖFF wolf. What started as a quick plan, made by a few enthusiasts on the first night of the festival, has grown into a daily morning routine of cold water swimming. Join us for the challenge - wherever you are - and win a prize!

Today, the 19th edition of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, taking place virtually this year, kicks off with its online programme including over 50 workshops, panels and seminars, hundreds of 1:1 meetings, and more than 800 accredited film industry professionals. Accreditation is still opened, and now at an all-time attractive price of 25,- euro.

The things that connect us can vary from love to death, from a mysterious painting to ritualistic music, to a strong belief in UFO sightings. Immerse yourself in the worlds of today's films, be amazed, bewildered, or find recognition and feel understood.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) awards the Venice Golden Lion-winning director Margarethe von Trotta, one of the key figures of the New German Cinema movement, with the festival’s second Lifetime Achievement Award.

How far will you go, to lay bare the truth? And is reality to be idealized at all, or should we rather take comfort and pride in our imagination or utopian dreams? Dive into today's stories, where fairytales, hopes, and harsh truths intertwine.

In the selection of this Saturday's films, we find odes to youth and the youthful, but also films that are dedicated to memories - for one cannot exist without the other. In our selection is also a special film presented in the memory of its director, Zaza Urushadze, the loved Georgian director that left us far too soon, last year.

The selection includes seven new Russian series, the latest work by two-time Academy Award nominee Steve James and the world premiere of Estonian thriller In the Line of Fire.

The second Friday of Black Nights is ablaze with several world premieres, international guests, films that shed light on environmental issues, and lots of other gems in competition and side programmes. Get the best start to your weekend here!

An interview with Tristan Priimägi before the presentation of his book '101 Estonian films'. For PÖFF, Tristan has curated a side programme of Estonian films, some of them never before shown for big audiences, the oldest one of them from the 1920’s.

Day 7 at Black Nights takes us through loopholes of government and law, and asks the question: what makes a country, really?

The special programme ‘Remembering Zaza Urušadze’ brings the Georgian filmmaker’s last work, ‘Anton’, to the big screen. Anton was released in the autumn of 2019 and has only been shown a select number of times since then, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Many filmmakers can't come to the festival this year, but: did you know you can have a chat with many of them online and ask your personal questions? Check out how.

There’s a new programme added to the list of Black Nights Film Festival's film programmes. The programme, centering around environmentally themed films, is presented by the Environment Agency.

The main part in today's selection is played by the man in all his shapes and sizes. Wander through the inner lives and adventures of these boys in a set of beautifully crafted films.

Satisfaction lies in mindful repetition, the discovery of endless richness in subtle variations on familiar themes. Find out what day #5 at Black Nights has in store!

At yesterday's ceremony Dennis Davidson, the founder of the DDA Group accepted the inaugural DDA Spotlight Award on behalf of Armando Iannucci and Francis Annan who received the new award honouring diversity and inclusion in cinema.

ScreenDaily hosts live talks with film industry professionals. Upcoming is a talk with our own director Tiina Lokk and the directors of Berlin and Rotterdam film festivals, on planning their festivals in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Join the talk on Wednesday the 18th!

Who said Monday's are dull? Why not take a different perspective, and see the slow, drooly Monday as the perfect day to indulge in some dreams.

An interview with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Alar Kivilo. About his cosmopolitan identity, working in Hollywood, pulling a fast one on Bruce Willis, and the enormous shot in the arm that the production of “Tenet” brought to the Estonian film industry. Originally published on North Start Film Alliance. By Liisi Rohumäe.

Join the free online PÖFF Black Room seminar by Karen K Burns; on the basics of brand identity and trends in both marketing and presentation.

This year's opening night was a masqued ball in a whole new sense of the word. Of course it did not stop real PÖFF wolfs to show off their shiniest of coats. Check out last night's galleries and get into the festive mood.

The 24th, hybrid, Black Nights Film Festival is off to a spectacular start. Read along for some special recommendations in today's screenings.

The directors of The Personal History of David Copperfield and Escape from Pretoria will each receive the new award by Black Nights Film Festival, honouring diversity and inclusion in cinema.

The new Estonian Film Magazine 2020 is out now. Read along for several interviews and stories on films from this year's festival.

Tonight we celebrate the launch of the 24th edition of the festival. Join us at 19:00 live, from your homes, where you are.

Meet the people, who have been crowned this year’s jury for the different competition programmes at PÖFF.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) awards Estonian-Canadian DOP Alar Kivilo with the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tallinn Black Nights (PÖFF) announces new programmes and adds world premieres to the programme of the 24th edition.

For the first time in the festival’s history viewers based in Estonia can now watch films from your home, at the time that suits best for you. Find out how.

Opening Press Conference of the 24th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival announces collaboration with three medical companies to ensure the safety of its events and guests.

We invite you to celebrate the start of this year's Black Nights Film Festival in style. The opening ceremony brings together a timely theatrical performance, an audiovisual spectacle, young stars, and much more!

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) announces the line-up for Rebels With A Cause, an international competition programme screening 13 feature films, alongside a short films competition that also includes 13 entries this year, split across two programmes.

Showcasing the fresh cinematic output of the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – the Baltic Competition will screen 14 films, including world premieres of two Estonian documentaries.

Germany will be the Focus Country for this year’s hybrid 24th edition of the festival. The festival’s Opening Film will be Oskar Roehler’s Fassbinder biopic Enfant Terrible. Fourteen more German films will screen online and onsite as part of the In Focus: New German Cinema selection.

Polish up your film knowledge and participate in Visit Estonia's movie quiz! Not only will you be lauded honour. Three knowledgable wolfs will also be awarded a tailor-made trip to Estonia and tickets to a film festival of choice.

The Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event’s training programme explores visual language of cinema through the craft of production design, with art production masters of films like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, Lady Macbeth and The Lobster.

Black Nights Stars, the initiative of the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, has announced eight young actors from the Baltic Sea region to participate in the programme this November, also inviting young talents from Russia to attend for the first time within the RUSSIA IN FOCUS program.

Geographically, stylistically, and culturally diverse: Final 17 films added to the Official Selection Competition. Five of the new films have their world premieres in the Official Selection Competition of the 24th edition of the festival.

The DDA will honour an artist or filmmaker whose recent work helps to improve diversity and inclusion in the film industry and cinema culture.

Eighteen plus three budding filmmakers take the stage in this year's First Feature Selection, bringing freshness and quirky, new views.

Estonian funk band Lexsoul Dancemachine released video directed by Ugandan director Godfrey Geoffrey aka Nabwana I.G.G, who they discovered via the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.

From legendary veterans to emerging new voices – here are the first eight films of this year's Official Selection – Competition, that will be competing for the festival's main prize.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival will invest one euro from every film submission fee collected to combat intensive clear-cuts in Estonia. The platform created by the Estonian startup Single.Earth gives money to forest owners for switching from clear-cutting to alternative forest management methods.

The audience of the Tartu Love Film Festival that wrapped on Sunday picked the Italian dramedy The Goddess of Fortune as their favourite film. The festival, affected heavily by the COVID-related restrictions saw an attendance of around 6300 (including 1200 online viewers) which marks a big drop from previous editions.

The team of Black Nights celebrates the news its the sub-festival, international short film and animation festival PÖFF Shorts has now become an Academy Qualifying film event.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival holds physical and virtual screenings while the international industry and press will be granted virtual access to films and events regardless of their location.

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, the industry strand of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has decided to move online completely due to likely travel restrictions caused by the resurgence of COVID-19.