Day 7 at Black Nights takes us through loopholes of government and law, and asks the question: what makes a country, really?
It's hard enough to exist in the political turmoil some countries can be from time to time, but what if your country officially does not exist at all? In today's selection, we encounter more than a few films that engage in political or bureaucratic topics. From a documentary about an American family court to a complex portrait of a city torn between several societal movements, to a film about a place that exists only on a few maps.
Day 7 at Black Nights brings several European and one world premiere to Estonian audiences, as well as a screening with special guests. See our daily selection below, or find the full schedule for today here.
16:45 Coca-Cola Plaza 6
"Courtroom 3H" is a documentary, the director’s first, which is shot with a still camera but is emotionally turbulent. Plunging the viewer straight into Tallahassee’s family court, this questioning, challenging film will travel to wherever fine and nuanced cinema is celebrated.
A determinedly buttoned-down, no-frills affair, "Courtroom 3H" hums along to the clacking of transcription keyboards, to lawyers tapping on their cellphones or their laptops, and the doors swinging open as parents, social services and prospective adopters come in and out of the room.
17:30 | Apollo Solaris 3
20:30 Virtual Hall
Academy Award nominated filmmaker Steve James’ fascinating and complex portrait of contemporary Chicago delivers a deep, multifaceted look into the soul of a quintessentially American city, set against the backdrop of its history-making 2019 mayoral election, and the tumultuous 2020 summer of COVID-19 and social upheaval following the police killing of George Floyd.
City So Real is the only public screening of TV Beats! The best of new cinematic TV series.
18:15 | Coca-Cola Plaza iSense
21:15 | Virtual Hall
"Beasts" focuses on victims caught in the bureaucratic cogwheels of the agricultural sector, where life is lived to the beat of the activity support handed out by political powers. Where there’s power, there’s fire. In "Beasts", the fire blasts out as the flames of passion which engulfs the peaceful life of a small family company.
Constance is a delicate 25-year-old woman with a quiet nature and sky-blue eyes. Her father has squandered all the income of the family business based on cattle-breeding and the young woman has to take the reins both in the household and the male-centred world around her.
Part of our Official Selection - Competition
20:30 | Apollo Solaris 4 + Q&A with Grégoire Colin, Nora Martirosyan
Should the Wind Drop" unfolds against the backdrop of Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-proclaimed republic of the Caucasus, located between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Alain, a French auditor, has arrived to appraise the airport of Nagorno-Karabakh and greenlight its eventual reopening. This airport, with no planes or passengers, opens its doors every morning and welcomes the staff mimicking real activity. The airport crystallizes itself, the hope of an entire territory, fighting for international recognition.
As the audit progresses, through interviews with airport employees and his travels, Alain discovers a country that may only exist on certain maps, but yet constitutes a real nation with its population, its government, its constitution, its economy and its culture.
Part of our First Feature Competition
21:15 | Coca-Cola Plaza 7
“As Far as I Know” is based on a true-life story and talks of the complicated process of criminal proceedings initiated due to rape from the perspective of the victim’s spouse Dénes. Years of failed attempts to get pregnant lead Nóra and Dénes to the decision of adopting a child who would unite them as a family and save their crumbling marriage.
After another dinner full of arguments, where the message of joy is dampened by pity from friends, Nóra decides to take a city bus home alone from the restaurant. When Dénes wakes up in the morning, the bed beside him is empty. Nóra, who finally staggers home after a frantic search, claims that she has been raped. In the absence of any tragic injuries and actual evidence, Dénes gets an ever-deepening feeling that his wife’s claim is yet another desperate cry for help in order to gain attention.
Part of our First Feature Competition
21:45 | Apollo Solaris 3
This is the story of 12-year-old Ali and his three friends. Together they work hard to survive and support their families, doing small jobs in a garage and committing petty crimes to make fast money. In a turn of events that seems miraculous, Ali is entrusted to find a hidden treasure underground.
He recruits his gang, but first, to gain access to the tunnel, the children must enroll at the Sun School, a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and child labourers, close to where the treasure is located.