28/11/2022 - Among other victors were The Land Within by Kosovo's Fisnik Maxville, crowned Best First Feature, and Iran's Ahmad Bahrami, winner of the award for Best Director for The Wastetown

Director Hilmar Oddson on stage accepting the Grand Prix for his film Driving Mum (© Erlend Štaub)

It's a wrap for the 26^th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. The traditional awards ceremony held at the Estonian National Opera on Saturday 26 November brought to a close the Estonian gathering that ran from 11-27 November.

The jury of the Official Selection Competition, headed by Ildikó Enyedi, picked Hilmar Oddsson’s dark comedy Driving Mum [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hilmar Oddsson, Hera Hilmar
film profile] (Iceland) as their favourite, handing the film the Grand Prix of the festival. The picture was praised for “its graceful sense of humour, with its unpretentious way of speaking about burning questions of personal life.”

Next, the prize for Best Director went to Ahmad Bahrami for The Wastetown (Iran). The jury statement supporting this decision reads: “Using a sad and destroyed place, the director shows an archaic, universal drama akin to a Shakespearean tragedy. Additionally, the performances of the actors are intriguing. One can never forget the metaphoric atmosphere with poetic imagery as if in a dream. This film is a celebration of cinema and art.” Meanwhile, the award for Best Script went to Shahar Rozen and Dudu Busi for their work on DUCKS – An Urban Legend (Israel).

Gurban Ismailov received the Best Actor award for “his powerful and nuanced performance as the mean and manipulative father in Cold as Marble [+see also:
film review
film profile] [Azerbaijan/France],” whilst the Best Actress award went to Antonia Zegers for her portrayal of Ana in The Punishment (Chile/Argentina).

Finally, the First Feature Competition saw the triumph of Fisnik Maxville's The Land Within [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fisnik Maxville
film profile] (Switzerland/Kosovo). In his debut, the jurors stated that Maxville “jumps to a scary past in emotional flashbacks to recall gorgeous pieces of Kosovo’s culture, traditions, customs, history, destroyed by hatred, blame, jealousy, and silenced guilt.”

Here is the list of this year's award winners:

Competition

Grand Prix for the Best Film
Driving Mum [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hilmar Oddsson, Hera Hilmar
film profile] - Hilmar Oddsson (Iceland/Estonia)

Best Director
Ahmad Bahrami - The Wastetown (Iran)

Best Cinematography
Adrian Teijido - River of Desire (Iran)

Best Script
Shahar Rozen and Dudu Busi - DUCKS – An Urban Legend (Israel)

Best Actor
Gurban Ismailov - Cold as Marble [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Azerbaijan/France)

Best Actress
Antonia Zegers - The Punishment (Chile/Argentina)

Best Original Score
Tõnu Kõrvits - Driving Mum

Best Production Design
Michael Schindlmeier - Servus Papa, See You in Hell [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christopher Roth
film profile] (Germany)

First Feature Competition

Best Film
The Land Within [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fisnik Maxville
film profile] - Fisnik Maxville (Switzerland/Kosovo)

Special Jury Prizes
Pelican [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Filip Heraković
film profile] - Filip Heraković (Croatia)
Amar Colony - Siddharth Chauhan (India)

Baltic Film Competition

Best Film
The Poet [+see also:
trailer
interview: Giedrius Tamoševičius
film profile] - Giedrius Tamoševičius and Vytautas V. Landsbergis (Lithuania)

Best Baltic Producer for Co-production
Inna Sahakyan - Aurora's Sunrise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Inna Sahakyan
film profile] (Armenia/Lithuania/Germany)

Rebels with a Cause Competition

Best Film
Rebelión - José Luis Rugeles (Colombia/Argentina)

Critics' Picks Competition

Best Film
About Us But Not About Us - Jun Robles Lana (Philippines)

Other awards

FIPRESCI Prize
Upon Entry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alejandro Rojas and Juan Se…
film profile] - Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez (Spain)

Audience Award
Amusia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Marescotti Ruspoli (Italy)

Lifetime Achievement Award
Udo Kier (Germany)
Krzysztof Zanussi (Poland)
Peeter Urbla (Estonia)

DDA Spotlight Award
Ali Abbasi - Holy Spider [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Abbasi
interview: Ali Abbasi
interview: Zar Amir Ebrahimi
film profile] (Germany/Denmark/France/Sweden)

DDA Spotlight Award
Sarah Polley - Women Talking (USA)

PÖFF Shorts nomination for the EFA awards
Nest/Pesa - Hlynur Pálmason (Denmark/Iceland)

Just Film Grand Prix
Six Weeks [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Noemi Veronika Szakonyi
film profile] - Noémi Veronika Szakonyi (Hungary)

Just Film ECFA Award
How I Learned to Fly - Radivoje Andrić (Serbia/Croatia/Bulgaria/Slovakia)

Just Film Youth Jury Best Film Award
Virginity - Maor Zaguri (Israel)

Just Film Children's Jury Best Film Award
The Little Gang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Salvadori
film profile] - Pierre Salvadori (France)

Just Film #youngfilmmaker Award
Everlasting Single Man - Aaron Thor Härm, Mattias Nurga (Estonia)