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

The directors of Respect and Great Freedom will each receive the second annual DDA SPOTLIGHT AWARD, which shines a light on diversity and inclusion in cinema.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and DDA today named filmmakers Liesl Tommy (Jessica Jones, The Walking Dead) for Respectand Sebastian Meise (Still Life, Outing) for Great Freedom as the recipients of this year’s DDA SPOTLIGHT AWARD.

Tallinn Black Nights initiated the annual award in 2020 to mark DDA’s 50th anniversary and celebrate the company’s close ties with the festival. The Award honours artists whose most recent work contributes to showcasing diversity, inclusion and representation in the cinematic arts. Last year’s recipients were directors Armando Iannucci for his inclusive cast adaptation of The Personal History of David Copperfield and Francis Annan for his anti-apartheid drama Escape from Pretoria. Annan is returning to serve on the jury this year.

Tommy will be honoured for her feature film directorial debut Respect, which follows the rise of legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin’s career, from her youth singing in her father’s church choir to her international superstardom. Starring Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls, Sing), Audra McDonald (Beauty and the Beast, The Good Wife) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland,The Butler), Respect is the remarkable true story of how the ‘Queen of Soul’ found her voice, overcoming immense misogynistic and racist hurdles. The film had its US premiere in August 2021 and was released in the UK in September. Hudson, who was personally chosen for the role by Franklin herself, has received critical acclaim for the role.

Meise will be honoured for his latest feature Great Freedom, which he co-wrote and directed. The film stars Franz Rogowski (Undine, A Hidden Life) and Georg Friedrich (Narcissus and Goldmund, Freud, Helle Nächte, frequent collaborator of Ulrich Seidl), and won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Set in post-war West Germany, Hans (Rogowski) is repeatedly imprisoned for being gay. Due to Paragraph 175, which was escalated during the Nazi regime and continued to be strictly enforced until 1969, his desire for freedom is systematically destroyed. The one steady relationship in his life becomes his long-time cellmate, Viktor (Friedrich), a convicted murderer, and what begins as revulsion grows into love. The film tells the story of the overwhelming need for human kindness and love in the most dreadful of times. The Match Factory is handling international sales.

South African-born Liesl Tommy found her start in stage work and was the first woman of colour to be nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction in a Play for the 2017 Broadway production Eclipsed. Since then, she has directed several episodes of highly-acclaimed TV series, such as Insecure, The Walking Deadand Jessica Jones. Respect marks her feature film directorial debut.

Sebastian Meise is an Austrian director and screenwriter. His acclaimed debut feature film Still Life premiered at San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2011 and won several awards such as Best Feature Film at Diagonale Film Festival. His documentary film Outing was presented at the Hot Docs Festival in Toronto amongst others.

Tiina Lokk, director of Tallinn Black Nights, commented: ‘We are excited to honour these two exceptional filmmakers and stories with Liesl Tommy’s impressive debut and Sebastian Meise’s touching tale. Respect has already made a huge impact in giving justice to Aretha Franklin’s story, thanks to Liesl’s incredible storytelling and Jennifer Hudson’s impactful performance. Sebastian has done us a great service by making the remarkable Great Freedom, which tells such an important story of the horrors that minorities faced in postwar Germany until the late 1960’s.’

DDA founder Dennis Davidson added: ‘Liesl and Sebastian are two inspiring talents who have shone a light on the two unbelievable and very different stories of historical abuse. It is all too easy to sweep these crimes under the table, which is why we are truly thrilled to honour them both with the second annual DDA Spotlight Award.’