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 [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Paolo Marinou-Blanco
scheda 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 [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Dechen Roder
scheda film] is a tale of Buddhist karma, doppelgangers and Dzongkha-language songs. Lithuanian directorial duo Lina Lūžytė and Nerijus Milerius present Jōhatsu [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], a thriller based on the Japanese phenomenon of deliberate disappearances.

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