EVENT PÖFF Back to the (New) Normal

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(the New) Normal

Last November’s 25th edition of Tallinn Black Nights (PÖFF) saw the film festival returning to something like pre-pandemic times.

By William Smith Photos by Erlend Štaub and Liis Reiman

The lobby of the Nordic Hotel Forum was once again a bustling hive of activity with filmmakers, journalists and industry professionals from around the world meeting up again in the real world and sharing their passion for cinema. The bravest of guests even dipped their toes in the Baltic Sea, during the festival’s bracing morning winter swims. Perhaps most importantly, cinema-goers returned in numbers to Estonian cinemas, to see the best festival films on the biggest of screens. 2020 saw a hybrid festival hosted, leaning heavily on PÖFF’s freshly launched online cinema platform, which was developed together with Festival Presenter Elisa. Hybrid was here to stay and the tradition continued in 2021, but with a smaller online programme running after the festival and featuring some of the winners and most acclaimed films selected. The films were, again, available to film fans throughout Estonia, but acknowledging the organisers’ central goal of getting cinemagoers back into cinemas, of course, as safely as possible.

Festival organisers were assisted by a number of innovative and high tech Estonian health and safety sponsors: Respiray personal air-purifiers were worn by filmmakers, professionals and staff; BioBlock nasal sprays were issued in guest goody bags, testing service/app Certific smoothly checked anyone with potential symptoms and the Hotel Nordic Forum had recently been outfitted with the very latest COVID-proofing measures. In the end, no infections were detected in the festival’s testing centre.

PÖFF’s very special 25th birthday edition featured a few special events (including a Tarkovsky opera performance!), even in trying pandemic times, but the festival mainly saw business as usual, with a schedule including 795 screenings and a packed industry programme for the 700+ industry guests in attendance in person and online. In total, 71,200 people watched films at the festival. PÖFF’s main programme included 182 feature films, 2 shorts and 12 TV series; with Just Film encompassing 51 long and 29 short films; and the PÖFF Shorts’ programme comprising 244 films. Local talent was on display in the 82 films from Estonia.

For the first time, in collaboration with the European Film Academy (EFA), PÖFF screened the nominees for the European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI, including eventual winner Promising Young Woman. Directors Valdimar Jóhansson (Lamb), Laura Wandel (Playground), and Ninja Thyberg (Pleasure) attended festival screenings as well as

Festival organisers were assisted by a number of innovative and

high tech Estonian health and safety sponsors.

participating in the Discovery Campus’ Discovery Showcase.

PÖFF’S WINNERS The Official Selection jury, headed by EFA Chairman Mike Downey, selected director Andreas Kleinert’s historical biopic Dear Thomas as their favourite, handing the film the PÖFF Grand Prix. Far from following biopic conventions, the film takes biography and makes a manifesto for art and its power for change. The Best Director award went to Wojciech Smarzowski for The Wedding Day: a rich, provocative and brutally incisive portrait of Polish society and history. Smarzowski also received the Best Screenplay award in recognition of The Wedding Day’s script.

The Best Cinematography award was presented to Emre Tanyildiz for The List Of Those Who Love Me, in the eyes

of the jury “16mm filmmaking at its very best”. The Best Actress award went to Russia’s Sofia Krugova for No Looking Back for her portrayal of a daughter caught between comically ultra violent mother and grandmother. Albrecht Schuch received the Best Actor award for his “extraordinary and multifaceted” performance as German writer and man of letters Thomas Brasch in Dear Thomas. The Best Original Score prize went to Finland’s Esa-Pekka Salonen for his evocative score for The Wait, described by the jury as both “emotionally raw” and “spiritually liberating”. Hungary’s Anna Nyitrai picked up the Best Production Design award for Perpetuity’s vividly-realised futuristic dystopia.

In the First Feature Competition, the jury led by Jayro Bustamante gave Germany’s Other Cannibals, directed by Francesco Sossai, the Best First Feature award. The twisty thought experiment combines black comedy, Western and a deep dive to the heart of human desire. Two Special Jury Prizes were handed out to Chilean director Nicolás Postiglione for Immersion, an exquisitely tense water-bound psychological thriller, and Cécile Ducrocq for Her Way, offering new perspectives on both prostitution and motherhood.

Lithuania’s Runner, from Director Andrius Blaževičius, picked up the Baltic Competition prize, presented by jury head Marjorie Bendeck. The fast-paced drama finds Marija chasing after her mentally ill and missing life partner. The Rebels with a Cause jury, led by Kazik Radwanski, chose Piotr Stasik’s The Moths for the Rebels with a Cause prize. The experimental piece follows a youth group detached from their virtual lives in a Polish forest. The jury also presented the Rebels with their Shorts award to Faeze Karimpour’s They Were to Cross the River.

Lifetime achievement awards were presented to Estonian actress Elle Kull and to legendary Spanish director Carlos Saura, who also screened his latest fea-

A new tradition began at the recently inaugurated PÖFF Park, with commemorative trees planted for winners and festival guests.

ture at PÖFF. The DDA Spotlight Awards for inclusion and diversity in film were presented to Liesl Tommy for her film Respect and Sebastian Meise for his film Great Freedom.

A new tradition began at the recently inaugurated PÖFF Park, with commemorative trees planted for winners and festival guests including EFA President and main jury head Mike Downey; DDA Chairman Dennis Davidson; Discovery Campus headliner Baltasar Kormákur; as well as the Grand-Prix-winning Dear Thomas’s director Andreas Kleinert and The Wedding Day’s Wojciech Smarzowski. The park is in the grounds of the soon-to-be-built studio complex in Northern Tallinn and will serve as a lasting celebration of world cinema.

SUB-FESTIVAL SUCCESS The PÖFF Shorts jury selected Teresa Juksaar’s King as its Estonian National Competition winner. In the international animation section, Hugo Covarrubias’s Beast triumphed, with Guillaume Lorin’s Vanille picking up best children’s animation. In the New Talents competition, With Love, Father (animation) and Reflecting on the Weather (live action) prevailed. The best live action short prize was given to Sunrise in My Mind, directed by Danech San. The Just Film Children’s Jury picked Even Mice Belong In Heaven as their winner, while the Youth Jury chose Good Old Times. The ECFA Award for Best European Children’s Film went to My Dad is a Sausage. Finally, the Just Film Grand Prix was presented to Playground.

LOOKING TO THE INDUSTRY’S FUTURE Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event (I@T&BE) also celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2021. Around 550 local and international guests attended industry events in person, with another 150 attending online. The organisers were pleasantly surprised by the strong attendance, even having to close onsite accreditations early. Attendees were not let down by the variety and quality of the more than 110 masterclasses, roundtables and presentations organised or by the strength of the 66 projects on show.

The Script Pool prize went to Dreaming of Lions. In the Works in Progress section, the Asymmetric Studios Best Visual Effects Award went to Parade. The Baltic Event Award was awarded to Bethlehem Light. The Just Film Award went to Paula. Baltic Event Co-Production Market winners included Lioness (Best Project) and You Can Dance (Screen International Best Pitch Award). Clara Larrin and Larisa Oleinik each picked up a Producers Network Prize for Promising Young Producers.

TV Beats, the series-focused strand of I@T&BE also hosted an in-depth programme and included a co-financing market for the first time. Troll Farm was chosen by an international jury as the Most Promising Project. Perfect Kids On/Off won the Hypewriter Award. Industry partners Midpoint chose ELEPHANT as it’s 2021 TV Launch winner.

In its special birthday year, I@T&BE welcomed the UK as its Focus Country, organised in association with the British Film Institute. A roundtable discussion of British-Estonian co-productions and co-production possibilities was one of the year’s standout events. The broader conference programme’s main focuses were green production and sustainability, with events including a panel discussion with filmmakers from carbon-neutral production The Wait, as well as a networking dinner prepared using recycled food.

For the first time, a new Discovery Campus brand was introduced, joining up talent programmes Music Meets Film, Black Nights Stars and Black Room, together with a new Future to Film programme. All will continue in 2022 and develop into year-round online training for composers, actors, production designers, writers, directors and more. Offline, a new training programme under this new umbrella, has been launched for technical film crew in Eastern Estonia and has already seen an unexpectedly large number of applications. The festival will also continue to develop its Creative Gate project this year: a web portal and shop window for discovering film services, talent and locations.

In 2022, the PÖFF team will be attending Berlin virtually and Cannes in person, including participating in the Goes To Cannes Works in Progress showcase for the second year running. At home in Estonia, preparations for the 26th edition of PÖFF and 21st of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event have begun in earnest, with festival dates set for November 11–24, 2022. Stay tuned to poff.ee for news about submissions, programmes and events. EF