Introduction to the Festival
The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) in Estonia has announced its competition and first feature film competitions, as well as the international jury for its official 2025 selection. This year’s main competition features 17 feature films, including 16 world premieres and one international premiere.
Festival Selection and Submissions
The festival received an impressive number of submissions, with 1,900 for the main program, 433 for Just Film, and over 5,600 for shorts. Films from more than 100 countries were submitted, and around 80 nations were represented in the final program of the festival. A total of 110 world premieres and 30 international premieres will be showcased.
Reflection of the World’s Fears and Resilience
Festival director and chief curator Tiina Lokk described this year’s competition as a reflection of the world’s fears and resilience. According to Lokk, the selection holds up a mirror to the world, highlighting issues such as wars, environmental crises, political arrogance, migration, women’s rights, and the fragile bonds of family life.
Strong Submissions from Around the World
The festival saw strong submissions from Asia, Latin America, and Spain, with the latter being the only country with two films in competition. The Catalan Films in Focus section features rising Catalan talent, including Júlia de Paz Solvas’ "The good daughter" and Anxos Fazàns’ "The dashed lines".
International Jury
The chairman of the jury is Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska, who will be joined by other notable industry professionals, including Debra McGuire, Nomuunzul Turmunkh, Roberto Schaefer, and Ingo Fließ.
Festival Schedule
The festival will run from November 7-23, featuring a range of films and events.
Competition Lineups
The main competition lineup includes:
- 18 Holes to Paradise (Portugal, Italy, Argentina), dir. Joao Nuno Pinto
- Duality (Iran), dir. Abbas Nezamdoost
- Hungarian Wedding (Hungary), Dir. Csaba Káel
- LifeLike (Türkiye, Greece, Romania), dir. Ali Vatansever
- Mira (Morocco), Dir. Nour Eddine Lakhmari
- No commentary (Norway), directed by Petter Naes
- The rest of the (Philippines), directed by Cheers Lana
- The Dashed Lines (Spain), dir. Anxos Fazans
- The Frog and the Water (Germany), dir. Thomas Stuber
- The Good Daughter (Spain), directed by Júlia de Paz Solvas
- The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat (Japan), Dir. Yukihiro Morigaki
- The moon is a father of mine (Luxembourg, Türkiye, Georgia, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria), Dir. Georg Owaschvili
- The Muralist (Mongolia), Dir. Sengedorj janchivdorj
- The Stories (Austria, France, Belgium, Egypt, Sweden), directed by Abu Bakr Shawky
- Think of England (United Kingdom), dir. Richard Hawkins
- Veins (Canada), dir. Raymond St Jean
- Let’s say Versailles (Mexico), dir. Andres Clariond
The First Film Competition lineup includes:
- Admission (Quentin Hsu, Coolie Films Co, Taiwan)
- A Safe Place (Cecilia Ştefănescu, Point Film, Romania)
- Backstail Madnight (Amanova Belmberta, Brammata Uzbekistan, Support Management)
- Dump of Untitled Pieces (Melik Kuru, Lichtfilm, Parda Film, Türkiye)
- Easy Girl (Hille Norden, Leitwolf Filmproduktion, Germany)
- Elena’s Shift (Stefanos Tsivopoulos, Boo Productions, Greece)
- Hercules Falling (Christian Bonke, Bo Starling, Denmark)
- Interior (Pascal Schuh, U5 Filmproduktion GmbH & Ko. KG, Germany)
- Juana (Daniel Giménez Cacho, Talipot Studio, Mexico)
- Lady (Samuel Abrahams, MetFilm Production, UK)
- My First Love (Mari Storstein, Nordisk Film Norway, Norway)
- Sunday Ninth (Kat Steppe, Paradiso Filmed Entertainment, Belgium)
- That’s not happening (Artur Wyrzykowski, Bold Humans, Poland)
