EVENT
Photo Liis Reiman
Lighting up the Black Ni Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival is about to kick off its 26th edition. With no obvious signs of a hangover from the 25th birthday party last year, the festival organisers come to the end of 2022 with pure minds and fingers crossed for something like a normal festival after several editions affected by the COVID pandemic. By William Smith
B
ut for all the challenges an A-category film festival and a massive cultural event might face, Black Nights goes from strength to strength: growing, improving and adapting. Festival Director Tiina Lokk put it this way: “Every year is the same and
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ESTONIAN FILM
every year is starting over. One thing that is consistent at PÖFF is that we grow. Growing is also both a blessing and a curse. The wheel of a huge vessel is hard to turn, and it takes time to turn as well. But we must take these opportunities to change with open arms.” From small beginnings, the festival has grown into an internationally re-
nowned showcase and meeting place for film. As this transition has taken place, the festival has always prided itself on perhaps being less stuffy and more agile than its peers at the top of the film festival hierarchy. This year, this pride is manifested in newly reconfigured and adjusted competitive and non-competitive programme sections: the central goal always being to find the very best ways to introduce the best of world cinema to PÖFF’s voracious audience. A NEW COMPETITION - CRITICS’ PICKS
The 26th edition of Tallinn Black Nights will introduce one new competition programme, Critics’ Picks, led by critic and programmer Nikolaj Nikitin. Critics’ Picks joins the established Official Selection, First Features, Baltic Competi-
