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Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival · 2019

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019

Doc@PÖFF

Programme

15 films · 9 reviews

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American Mirror

Susan Sarandon and Armenian painter Tigran Tsitoghdzyan discuss time and identity.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Arthur Balder; Writer: Arthur Balder; Stars: Susan Sarandon, Tigran Tsitoghdzyan, Florence Faivre, Hilary Rhoda, Ashley Hinshaw, Julianne Wainstein, Padma Lakshmi, Sirey Morán, Maria Colla, Bella Jazmin de la Guia, Nonna de Saint, Alexandra Edelman, Natalie Golba, Karin Hanssen, Nadia Kazakova)

California Dreaming

An exploration of California City - the 3rd largest city by area, but which is now more of a ghost town than a population centre.

(Country: Luxembourg; Year: 2019; Director: Fabrizio Maltese; Writer: Fabrizio Maltese; Stars: Jean-Paul Leblanc, Jennifer Wood, Norm Hill, Vic Carmona, Brenda Daverin, Richard Daverin, Carolinda Batiste, Ron Fleming, Jean-Paul Leblanc, Jennifer Wood, Norm Hill, Vic Carmona, Brenda Daverin, Richard Daverin, Carolinda Batiste)

The Cave (The Cave (Syria))

Review preview for The Cave

Fayyad carefully balances sound so that audiences are not overwhelmed by the thunder of the shelling but still get enough of a sense of it to understand what it does to those on the ground.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary about an underground Syrian hospital and its staff

(Country: Syria, Denmark, Germany, Qatar, USA; Year: 2019; Director: Feras Fayyad; Writer: Alisar Hasan, Feras Fayyad; Stars: Amani Ballour, Salim Namour)

Full review

Dive: Rituals In Water

Review preview for Dive: Rituals In Water

The sight of a four month old child standing upright on Snorri's hand, raised up above the water, will simultaneously awe and terrify many parents.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Portrait of Icelandic pioneer Snorri Magnusson, who has been patiently teaching babies to float and paddle for over 25 years.

(Country: Iceland; Year: 2019; Director: Elín Hansdóttir, Hanna Björk Valsdóttir, Anna Rún Tryggvadóttir)

Full review

Honeyland

Review preview for Honeyland

The directors let the humanism shine out without resorting to sentimentality, capturing moments of joy, such as the pleasure of shared, sticky honey with the same lack of artifice as moments of pain or grief.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
When nomadic beekeepers break Honeyland's basic rule (take half of the honey, but leave half to the bees), the last female beehunter in Europe must save the bees and restore natural balance.

(Country: Republic of Macedonia; Year: 2019; Director: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov)

Full review

iHuman

Review preview for iHuman

iHuman is worthy, and good, but not worthwhile, nor very good.

Andrew Robertson · 2.5 out of 5
Exploring the artificial intelligence revolution and its implications.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2019; Director: Satu-Lotta Rannisto; Writer: Niko Sjöholm; Stars: Janina Berman, Saija-Reetta Kotirinta, Henry Pöyhiä, Nea Corner, Janina Berman, Saija-Reetta Kotirinta, Henry Pöyhiä, Nea Corner)

Full review

The Kingmaker

Review preview for The Kingmaker

Greenfield keeps tight control, allowing Marcos to say what she wants, while busily illustrating the opposing perspective.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Documentary about the Marcos family and Imelda's continued influence on politics in the Philippines.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Lauren Greenfield; Writer: Lauren Greenfield; Stars: Imelda Marcos)

Full review

The Longest Wave

Review preview for The Longest Wave

You don't need to be a fan of board sports to enjoy the latest documentary from Joe Berlinger, but if you are you'll certainly get plenty of added value

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
World champion windsurfer Robby Naish aims to surf the world's longest wave.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2019; Director: Joe Berlinger; Writer: Joe Berlinger; Stars: Laird Hamilton, Gerry Lopez, Martin Lenny, Robert Richman, John DeCesare, Robby Naish, Jace Panebianco, Kai Lenny, Tyler Hamlet, Jason Polakow, Eric Sterman, Pete Cabrinha, Lilikoi Hazelaar-Naish, Randy Naish, Miguel Vegas Van Oordt)

Full review

One Child Nation

Review preview for One Child Nation

Wang and Zhang are to be commended for fitting as much in as they do, even if it does mean the film roams about rather than having a single focus.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China’s one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jialing Zhang and Nanfu Wang)

Full review

The Revenge Of The Diva

Soprano Siv Wennberg - who was accused of being a diva in younger years - plots a comeback in her seventies.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2019; Director: Gustav Ahlgren, Emelie Jönsson)

Scheme Birds

As her childhood turns into motherhood, teenage troublemaker Gemma comes of age in her fading Scottish steel town. But in a place where “you either get knocked up or locked up,” innocent games can easily turn into serious crime.

(Country: Sweden, UK; Year: 2018; Director: Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin; Writer: Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin)

Space Dogs

Review preview for Space Dogs

As in much Russian science fiction, the tone here is darker and yet vastly more alert to the wonders of the universe than is usual in the Western equivalent.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
According to myth, Laika, the first dog sent to space, returned to earth as a ghost that has roamed Moscow since... this film is told from the perspective of her descendants, two street dogs in today's city.

(Country: Austria, Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter; Writer: Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter; Stars: Aleksey Serebryakov, Aleksey Serebryakov)

Full review

State Funeral

Review preview for State Funeral

What the cumulative effect of masterfully restored newsreel may lack in action, it more than makes up for with the numbing, slow-burn sensation of being drawn under the spell of state-orchestrated mass mourning.

Matthew Anderson · 4 out of 5
Documentary based on footage from March 5 - 9, 1953, when the USSR mourned and buried Joseph Stalin.

(Country: Netherlands, Lithuania; Year: 2019; Director: Sergei Loznitsa; Writer: Sergei Loznitsa)

Full review

Talking About Trees

In an attempt to revive an old cinema in Sudan, four friends encounter insurmountable resistance.

(Country: France, Sudan, Chad; Year: 2019; Director: Suhaib Gasmelbari; Writer: Suhaib Gasmelbari; Stars: Suleiman Ibrahim, Ibrahim Shaddad, Suleiman Ibrahim, Ibrahim Shaddad)

Where Are You, Adam?

A look at the life of one of the monasteries of Holy Mount Athos.

(Country: Ukraine, Greece; Year: 2019; Director: Alexander Zaporoshchenko)