22/10/2024 - Ten world premieres from around the globe are on the agenda, including the new efforts by Adilkhan Yerzhanov, and duo Petr Kazda and Tomáš Weinreb

The 2024 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival will host the third edition of its Critics’ Picks competition. As was the case in previous years, the programming team is headed by Nikolaj Nikitin, head of SOFA (School of Film Advancement), who also brings decades’ worth of experience as a curator, film magazine editor-in-chief, journalist and author.

Nikitin finds the curatorial through line in “brilliantly executed genre films”, comparing the selection to a menu curated by an experienced chef. “You may have to wait longer for a table, but you'll never forget the culinary and sensual experience, and it can't be compared to a fast-food burger,” he stated, concluding: “Enjoy the cinematic delicatessen in this year's Critics’ Picks selection.” Festival director Tiina Lokk added that the Critics’ Picks strand complements the variety of genres and auteurs found in the festival’s Official Selection (see the news) and First Feature Competition (see the news), describing the programme as “chamber-like cinema”.

Paolo Marinou Blanco’s surreal comedy about euthanasia Dreaming of Lions [+see also:
film review
interview: Paolo Marinou-Blanco
film profile] is set to open the competition, while another black comedy, this time about patricide, The Brothers Kitaura by Masaki Tsujino, has been chosen to bring it to a close. In between, the audience will be able to see films by auteurs, both reputable and up and coming, from all over the world, hailing from a total of 14 countries on four continents.

From Ecuador, Javier Cutrona brings the cinematic fairy tale Fishgirl. Hou Dasheng’s Hani is a guerilla-style drama about the harsh realities of money-driven arranged child marriages in China. Coming from Bhutan, in co-production with Norway, Italy and France, Dechen Roder’s I, the Song [+see also:
film review
interview: Dechen Roder
film profile] is a tale of Buddhist karma, doppelgangers and Dzongkha-language songs. Lithuanian directorial duo Lina Lūžytė and Nerijus Milerius present Jōhatsu [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a thriller based on the Japanese phenomenon of deliberate disappearances.

Prolific Kazakh filmmaker Adilkhan Yerzhanov returns to Tallinn with Moor [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the story of a “Kazakh Rambo” coming back from the war to exact bloody revenge. Petr Kazda’s and Tomáš Weinreb’s Nobody Likes Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] portrays a struggle for physical love with no regrets, prejudice or instructions. In Felipe Sholl’s Streets of Glória, a passionate affair with an escort turns into a dangerous obsession. Finally, The Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Vincenzo Alfieri is a mystery featuring a missing body, a suspicious widower and a relentless investigator.

Here is the complete list of selected films:

Critics’ Picks

Dreaming of Lions [+see also:
film review
interview: Paolo Marinou-Blanco
film profile] – Paolo Marinou-Blanco (Portugal/Spain/Brazil)
Fishgirl – Javier Cutrona (Ecuador)
Hani – Hou Dasheng (Canada)
I, the Song [+see also:
film review
interview: Dechen Roder
film profile] – Dechen Roder (Bhutan/Norway/France/Italy)
Jōhatsu [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Lina Lūžytė, Nerijus Milerius (Lithuania)
Moor [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan/France)
Nobody Likes Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Petr Kazda, Tomáš Weinreb (Czech Republic/Slovakia/France)
Streets of Glória – Felipe Sholl (Brazil)
The Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Vincenzo Alfieri (Italy)
The Brothers Kitaura – Masaki Tsujino (Japan)