It’s a wrap for the 27th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, which unspooled from 3-19 November. This year’s award winners were announced at the closing gala, held at the Estonian capital’s Alexela Concert Hall on Saturday night.

Ten years on from Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Paolo Sorrentino
scheda film], Italy snagged the Grand Prix once again with Emma Dante’s Misericordia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Emma Dante
scheda film], the film adaptation of Dante’s 2020 stage play. The story follows three prostitutes who live in a wasteland where a village of outcasts has emerged. There, the only ray of light in their lives is Arturo, whom they care for together. The actor portraying Arturo, Simone Zambelli, scooped the Award for Best Actor. The jury described Misericordia as “a powerful film about how to stay supportive and, above all, exhibit humanity in a marginalised environment”.

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Meanwhile, the Best Director Award was handed to Manuel Martín Cuenca for Andrea's Love [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Manuel Martín Cuenca
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Next, both Lubna Azabal and Kim Higelin won the Award for Best Actress. Azabal was praised for “her powerful and stunning portrayal of an idealistic teacher struggling with preconceived ideas” in Jawad Rhalib’s Amal [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jawad Rhalib
scheda film] (Belgium), while Higelin received hers thanks to “her moving, multi-layered performance as a teenager, whose painful coming of age is caught up in a toxic relationship” in Vanessa Filho’s Consent [+leggi anche:
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In the First Feature Competition, the top prize went to Loren Taylor’s The Moon Is Upside Down (New Zealand), crowned Best Film. The jurors labelled it “a bittersweet, multi-layered combination of three stories intertwined in a perfect way, about people who try to find their place in the world”.

Finally, the two Lifetime Achievement Awards were granted to Estonian composer Rein Rannap and British helmer Mike Newell, whilst the two Dennis Davidson’s Spotlight Awards went to Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Suzy Bemba
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
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scheda film] (USA/UK/Poland).

Here is the full list of this year’s award winners:

Competition

Grand Prix for Best Film
Misericordia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Emma Dante
scheda film] - Emma Dante (Italy)

Best Director
Manuel Martín Cuenca - Andrea's Love [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Manuel Martín Cuenca
scheda film] (Spain)

Best Cinematography
Goert Giltay - Natasha's Dance [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Netherlands)

Best Script
Manuel Martín Cuenca, Lola Mayo - Andrea's Love 

Best Actor
Simone Zambelli - Misericordia

Best Actress (ex aequo)
Lubna Azabal - Amal [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jawad Rhalib
scheda film] (Belgium)
Kim Higelin - Consent [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] (France/Belgium)

Best Original Score
David Van Keer, Birger Embrechts - The Magnet Man [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gust Van den Berghe
scheda film] (Belgium/Luxembourg/France/Netherlands)

Best Production Design
Rezo Gigineishvili - Patient #1 [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Georgia)

First Feature Competition

Best Film Award
The Moon Is Upside Down - Loren Taylor (New Zealand)

Special Jury Prizes
Mo Mamma [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Eeva Mägi
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Tentigo - Ilango Ram (Sri Lanka/India)

Rebels with a Cause Competition

Best Film
Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tomas Vengris
scheda film] - Tomas Vengris (Lithuania/Latvia/Ireland)

Best Director
Agustín Toscano - I Trust You (Argentina)

Best Short
Element - Will Niava (Ivory Coast) 

Critics’ Picks Competition

Best Film
The Land Where Winds Stood Still - Ardak Amirkulov (Kazakhstan)

Best Director
Guel Arraes - Great Sertão (Brazil)
Special Mention
Maya Kenig - The Milky Way [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]  (Israel/France)

Baltic Film Competition

Best Baltic Film
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Anna Hints
scheda film] - Anna Hints (Estonia/France/Iceland)

Best Baltic Producer for Co-production
Slow [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marija Kavtaradze
scheda film] - Marija Kavtaradze (Lithuania/Spain/Sweden)

Audience Award
Once Again (for the very first time) - Boaz Yakin (USA)

FIPRESCI Award
Falling Into Place [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Aylin Tezel e Yvonne Wellie
scheda film] - Aylin Tezel (Germany)

NETPAC Award
Inpaintings - Ozan Yoleri (Turkey)

Lifetime Achievement Awards
Rein Rannap (Estonia)
Mike Newell (UK)

Dennis Davidson’s Spotlight Awards 
Yorgos Lanthimos - Poor Things [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Suzy Bemba
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
scheda film] (USA/UK/Ireland)
Jonathan Glazer - The Zone of Interest [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] (USA/UK/Poland)