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 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.

Directed by the Turkish director Ferzan Özpetek and shot in Italy, The Goddess of Fortune sees a gay couple in crisis, forced to babysit the children of their friends, while emotionally reflecting on their relationship that is falling apart.

The film will receive the miniature sculpture Kissing Students, a copy of the original sculpture located on the Tartu Town Hall Square where the screenings of Tartuff take place.

The most popular film in terms of the number of viewers was the Finnish film **The Force of Habit **that was seen by around 700 people. The most popular film online was The Final Portrait by director Stanley Tucci which gathered over 300 views.

Tartuff’s director Kristiina Reidolv commented: „We are very grateful for the audience who followed all restrictions and didn’t stress over the different organisation this year. Big applause to our partners with who we managed to organise over 30 events this year!“ she added.

The 15th edition of Tartuff ran from the 10th until the 15th of August, having art as its central theme. The festival was forced to implement a lot of restrictions due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Tartu, including moving a part of the programme online. Most of the festival films will also be screened in the Film Museum in Tallinn from the 19th until the 22nd of August.