The 30th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), taking place from 6-22 November, has unveiled the line-ups for its Baltic Film Competition, Critics’ Picks and Rebels with a Cause competitive sections, bringing together regional filmmaking talent, international co-productions and unconventional approaches to cinema. The three selections comprise 31 films, including three world premieres and one international premiere in the Baltic Film Competition, ten world premieres in Critics’ Picks and nine in Rebels with a Cause.

The Baltic Film Competition features 12 titles from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, alongside international co-productions that reflect the growing reach of the region’s film industries. According to Edvinas Pukšta, curator of the competition, five films are directed by filmmakers from outside the Baltic countries, while Baltic professionals contributed to their production.

The selection spans political drama, comedy, film noir, punk-rock-driven drama and science fiction with Asian influences, offering a varied picture of contemporary Baltic filmmaking. Pukšta also points to the visible support for Ukraine across this year’s films. First introduced in 2008 and re-established in 2018, the competition forms part of Focus: Baltics, which places Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the spotlight at the festival’s 30th edition.

The winner of the Best Baltic Feature Film Award will receive a €5,000 grant sponsored by Piletilevi. The jury is led by producer Mariette Rissenbeek and includes Paul Gallagher, head of Programme at Glasgow Film Theatre and Glasgow Film Festival, and Istanbul-based filmmaker Ali Vatansever.

Meanwhile, the Nikolaj Nikitin-curated Critics’ Picks Competition (see the interview) presents ten world premieres by emerging and established filmmakers, with a focus on distinctive auteur cinema, genre experimentation and dialogue with film history. Among the European co-productions in the selection, Cypriot filmmaker Stelana Kliris (known internationally for Find Me Falling) presents Apart, Bulgarian director Maya Vitkova-Kosev (whose debut feature, Viktoria, premiered at Sundance and the Berlinale) returns with One Month, and Estonia is represented by Eeva Mägi’s Mo Amor. The jury comprises Heike-Melba Fendel, founder of talent and event agency Barbarella Entertainment; Lithuanian director Jurgis Matulevičius; and Moroccan film journalist, author, director and television producer Hakim Zejjari.

The third programme, Rebels with a Cause, returns with nine world premieres exploring unconventional approaches to filmmaking. Launched in 2017 and curated by Javier García Puerto, the competition champions filmmakers who challenge cinematic conventions through adventurous storytelling, visual expression and experimentation with the relationship between cinema and other art forms.

The selection brings together productions and co-productions from Europe, Asia and the Americas. Among the titles here are Beril_XXX by Turkish genre filmmaker Can Evrenol, known for Baskin and Housewife, alongside Sounds of the Desert by Lithuanian artist and filmmaker Emilija Škarnulytė, whose work combines documentary practice with experimental and immersive forms. The jury consists of Jason Wood, executive director of Public Programmes and Audiences at the BFI; BAFTA- and Webby-nominated writer-director Samuel Abrahams; and Catalan actress, screenwriter, creator and visual artist Mireia Vilapuig.

Here is the complete list of selected titles:

Baltic Film Competition

How to Divorce During the War – Andrius Blaževičius (Lithuania/Luxembourg/Ireland/Czechia)
Lex Julia – Laura Hyppönen (Finland/Poland/Estonia/Sweden)
The Bog – Reinis Kalviņš (Latvia/Germany/Estonia)
Dirt in Your Face – Jaak Kilmi (Estonia/Latvia)
Vesna – Rostislav Kirpičenko (France/Lithuania/Estonia)
3 Weeks Under the Sea – Martin Kuba (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Poland/Lithuania)
The Child – Linda Olte (Latvia/Lithuania)
The Flaw – Theophilos Papastylianos (Greece/Latvia)
Amathia – Dean Radovanović (Serbia/Estonia)
Kingpins – Kristiāns Riekstiņš (Latvia)
Supporting Role – Ana Urushadze (Georgia/Estonia/Türkiye/Switzerland/USA)
Dice-Ching-O-Mat – Kristijonas Vildžiūnas (Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia)

Critics’ Picks Competition

When I Existed – Alejandro Damiani, Martin Avdolov (Uruguay/Spain)
Apart – Stelana Kliris (Cyprus/UK/Greece)
Mo Amor – Eeva Mägi (Estonia)
The Great Family – Matías Meyer (Mexico/Italy)
Kidney – Aakarsh Sansanwal, Agrim Sansanwal (India)
Rahma – Faysal Soysal (Turkey/Bulgaria/Greece/Italy)
Jimoto Loop – Masaya Tsutsumi (Japan)
One Month – Maya Vitkova-Kosev (Bulgaria/Romania/Spain)
IOU – Steven Zhang Zhonghua (China)
Until Dawn – Mohamed Zineddaine, Rachida Saadi, Matilde Bonnes (Morocco)

Rebels with a Cause Competition

Arrow for a Stone Heart – Luiza Calagian (Brazil)
Lamb – Christian Checa, Sol Picó (Spain)
Beril_XXX – Can Evrenol (Turkey)
The Two Hornets – Dominik György (Slovakia)
Pop Pop – Dylan Stephen Levers (USA)
Irreparable – Klych López (Colombia)
Sounds of the Desert – Emilija Škarnulytė (Lithuania/Norway)
Aroma – Xue Ma (South Korea/USA/France)
Night Vision – Christopher Yates (Belgium)