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 [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Paolo Marinou-Blanco
fiche film] 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 [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Dechen Roder
fiche film] is a tale of Buddhist karma, doppelgangers and Dzongkha-language songs. Lithuanian directorial duo Lina Lūžytė and Nerijus Milerius present Jōhatsu [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film], a thriller based on the Japanese phenomenon of deliberate disappearances.

Prolific Kazakh filmmaker Adilkhan Yerzhanov returns to Tallinn with Moor [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], 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 [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] 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 [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] 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 [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Paolo Marinou-Blanco
fiche film] – Paolo Marinou-Blanco (Portugal/Spain/Brazil)
Fishgirl – Javier Cutrona (Ecuador)
Hani – Hou Dasheng (Canada)
I, the Song [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Dechen Roder
fiche film] – Dechen Roder (Bhutan/Norway/France/Italy)
Jōhatsu [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film] – Lina Lūžytė, Nerijus Milerius (Lithuania)
Moor [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] – Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan/France)
Nobody Likes Me [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] – Petr Kazda, Tomáš Weinreb (Czech Republic/Slovakia/France)
Streets of Glória – Felipe Sholl (Brazil)
The Body [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] – Vincenzo Alfieri (Italy)
The Brothers Kitaura – Masaki Tsujino (Japan)