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Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival · 2020

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2020

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Programme

40 films · 17 reviews

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50 Or Two Whales Meet On The Beach (50 (o dos ballenas se encuentran en la playa))

(Year: 2020; Director: Jorge Cuchi; Writer: Jorge Cuchi; Stars: José Antonio Toledano, Karla Coronado, Gerardo Trejoluna, José Antonio Toledano, Karla Coronado, Gerardo Trejoluna)

Ammonite

Review preview for Ammonite

The good work in Ammonite is so good that one longs for it to pick up the pace, to function more successfully overall.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
In 1840s England, acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.

(Country: UK, Australia, US; Year: 2020; Director: Francis Lee; Writer: Francis Lee; Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Kate Winslet, Sarah White, Liam Thomas, Sam Parks)

Full review

Bad Tales (Favolacce)

Review preview for Bad Tales

The D'Innocenzos let the mood do the heavy lifting, stewing us along with the families.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Trouble brews over a long hot summer on the outskirts of Rome.

(Country: Italy, Switzerland; Year: 2020; Director: Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo; Writer: Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo; Stars: Elio Germano, Barbara Chichiarelli, Gabriel Montesi, Max Malatesta, Ileana D'Ambra, Lino Musella, Massimiliano Tortora, Barbara Ronchi, Sara Bertelà, Justin Korovkin, Cristina Pellegrino, Giulia Melillo, Giulietta Rebeggiani, Federico Majorana, Giulia Galiani)

Full review

The Barcelona Vampiress (La vampira de Barcelona)

When the daughter of a rich family goes missing, suspicion falls on a woman known as "The Barcelona Vampiress", but a journalist ventures into the Ravel and discovers the dark truth.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2020; Director: Lluís Danés; Writer: Lluís Arcarazo, María Jaén; Stars: Bruna Cusí, Sergi López, Alejandra Howard, Francesc Orella, Pablo Derqui, Nora Navas, Núria Prims, Roger Casamajor, Anna Alarcón, Francesca Piñón, Miranda Gas, Nina Rosés, Mario Gas, Albert Pla, Lluïsa Castell)

Beginning (Dasatskisi)

Review preview for Beginning

The lengths of time the shots last and the camera angles that hide more context than they reveal are what formally is most striking about Beginning. But it is the story that sticks with you.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
In a sleepy provincial town, a Jehovah Witness community is attacked by an extremist group. In the midst of this conflict, the familiar world of Yana, the wife of the community leader, slowly crumbles.

(Country: Georgia, France; Year: 2020; Director: Dea Kulumbegashvili; Writer: Dea Kulumbegashvili, Rati Oneli; Stars: Ia Sukhitashvili, Rati Oneli, Kakha Kintsurashvili, Saba Gogichaishvili)

Full review See: Dea Kulumbegashvili on the story of a woman and the importance of filming Beginning in Georgia with international collaborators

Charlatan

Review preview for Charlatan

Though the director and stars bring a frisson to the relationship between Palko and his boss - the most fictive element of the plot - the script falls short in terms of fleshing out what lies beneath.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Drama based on the life of herbalist Jan Mikolášek

(Country: Czech Republic, Ireland, Slovakia, Poland; Year: 2020; Director: Agnieszka Holland; Writer: Marek Epstein; Stars: Jan Vlasák, Joachim Paul Assböck, Juraj Loj, Ivan Trojan, Jan Budar, Marek Epstein, Josef Trojan, Jaroslava Pokorná, Martin Mysicka, Jana Kvantiková, Jana Olhová, Claudia Vaseková, Miroslav Hanus, Tomás Jerábek, Václav Kopta)

Full review

The Club Of Angels (O Clube dos Anjos)

A group of friends who meet for a supper club find their evenings reinvigorated by the arrival of a mystery cook... but each time they meet, another of them dies.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2020; Director: Angelo Defanti; Writer: Angelo Defanti, Luis Fernando Verissimo; Stars: Matheus Nachtergaele, António Capelo, Marco Ricca, Augusto Madeira, Otávio Müller, Samuel de Assis, Paulo Miklos, Ângelo Antônio, André Abujamra, Arthur Asson, Cesar Mello, Matheus Nachtergaele, António Capelo, Marco Ricca, Augusto Madeira)

Come

During the cherry blossom season, the skeleton of an old woman is found near the centre of Osaka. A detective investigates the skeleton’s relation to a series of real estate scams by surveying the neighbourhood and interviewing its inhabitants.

(Country: Malaysia, Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Lim Kah Wai; Writer: Lim Kah Wai; Stars: Lee Kang-sheng, Manami Usamaru, Seiji Chihara)

Conference

A nun is sent to Moscow to organise a memorial evening 17 years after a terror attack, through the course of the film we learn the details of her personal story.

(Country: Russia, Estonia, United Kingdom, Italy; Year: 2020; Director: Ivan I Tverdovskiy; Writer: Ivan I Tverdovskiy; Stars: Filipp Avdeev, Natalya Tsvetkova, Natalya Pavlenkova, Natalya Potapova, Yan Tsapnik, Aleksandr Zlatopolskiy, Natalya Batrak, Olga Lapshina, Anna Slyu, Aleksandr Semchev, Kseniya Zueva, Oleg Feoktistov, Aleksandr Golubkov, Roman Shmakov, Elena Nesterova)

Dear Comrades! (Dorogie Tovarischi)

Review preview for Dear Comrades!

A tribute to the fallen, and so fine an example of cinematic craft that it ensures they will not quickly be forgotten again.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A devout communist witnesses a government shooting during a strike - which changes her life forever.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2020; Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy; Writer: Elena Kiseleva, Andrey Konchalovskiy; Stars: Yuliya Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Alexander Maskelyne, Yuliya Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Alexander Maskelyne)

Full review

The Disciple

Review preview for The Disciple

We are given time, which is wonderful, to count and study the painted ceiling fans and observe the hand-movements of the attentive music listeners.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Chaitanya Tamhane's masterfully composed second feature examines a lifetime journey devoted to the art of Indian classical music.

(Country: India; Year: 2020; Director: Chaitanya Tamhane; Writer: Chaitanya Tamhane; Stars: Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid, Sumitra Bhave, Deepika Bhide Bhagwat, Kiran Yadnyopavit, Makarand Mukund, Prasad Vanarse)

Full review

The End

Director Mitya escapes from the set of the next television series. In this, he is helped by the ghost of Marcello Mastroianni... and the move unleashes a chain of events.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2020; Director: Vladimir Kott; Writer: Vladimir Kott; Stars: Valentin Samokhin, Egor Beroyev, Jana Troyanova, Natalia Surkova, Viktor Horinyak)

Falling

Review preview for Falling

Mortensen seems to draw particular focus to the aggression, fear and pejoratives associated with neurological disorders - a side only ever faintly explored in cinema.

Stephanie Brown · 3 out of 5
A man invites his conservative father to live with him and his husband in Los Angeles, but his progressing dementia becomes problematic for them both.

(Country: Canada, UK; Year: 2020; Director: Viggo Mortensen; Writer: Viggo Mortensen; Stars: Lance Henriksen, Viggo Mortensen, Terry Chen, Sverrir Gudnason, Hannah Gross, Laura Linney)

Full review

Forgotten Roads (La Nave Del Olvido)

Review preview for Forgotten Roads

Ríos is superb in the lead, revealing a natural sensuality that we rarely get to see in older actresses yet never allowing us to doubt the strength that lies behind it.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A lonely widow from the countryside moves in with her daughter in a small, conservative town, and falls in love with an independent married woman who sings in a bar.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2020; Director: Nicol Ruiz Benavides; Writer: Nicol Ruiz Benavides; Stars: Romana Satt, Gabriela Arancibia, Claudia Devia, Raúl López Leyton, Cristóbal Ruiz)

Full review

Fugitive Dreams

Review preview for Fugitive Dreams

If Waiting For Godot's Vladimir and Estragon had a couple of American cousins, they might look a little like Mary and John.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
In this allegorical road movie touching on issues of homelessness, mental health, and addiction, two lost souls embark across a dreamscape America. Their darkly strange journey confronts them with their traumatic pasts, and bonds them in compassion and love.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Jason Neulander; Writer: Jason Neulander, based on the play by Caridad Svich; Stars: April Matthis, Robbie Tann, Scott Shepherd, O-Lan Jones)

Full review See: Fugitive Dreams interview with director Jason Neulander

The Garden (Gullregn)

Indíana Jónsdóttir lives in a large apartment block full of immigrants, whom she despises, and makes her living by preying upon the public welfare system. In her small private garden, she tends to her award-winning laburnum tree. When her only son turns up with a foreign girlfriend, Indíana’s world is upended.

(Country: Iceland, Poland; Year: 2020; Director: Ragnar Bragason; Writer: Ragnar Bragason; Stars: Sigrún Edda Björnsdóttir, Eyþór Gunnlaugsson, Karolina Gruszka, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Grace Achieng, Auðunn Blöndal, Anna Claessen, Jón Gnarr, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Halldór Gylfason, Helga Kristín Helgadóttir, Birgitta Hreiðarsdóttir, Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir, Oddur Júlíusson, Ingibjörg Reynisdóttir)

Havel

Review preview for Havel

Dvorák is well cast in the central role, couching Havel's charm and general enthusiasm with an air of uncertainty, especially when he faces tough choices and the loss of his freedom.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Biopic of Vaclav Havel, focusing on his life and increasing political activism in the Seventies.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2020; Director: Slávek Horák; Writer: Slávek Horák, Rudolf Suchánek; Stars: Anna Geislerová, Barbora Seidlová, Martin Hofmann, Stanislav Majer, Jirí Bartoska, Viktor Dvorák, Miroslav Hanus, Anton Tataru, Adrian Jastraban, Jan Kolarík, Michelle Hansenová, Michal Isteník, Anna Geislerová, Barbora Seidlová, Martin Hofmann)

Full review

Holler

In a forgotten pocket of Southern Ohio where American manufacturing and opportunity are drying up, a determined young woman finds a ticket out when she is accepted to college. Alongside her older brother, Ruth Avery joins a dangerous scrap metal crew in order to pay her way.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Nicole Riegel; Writer: Nicole Riegel; Stars: Jessica Barden, Gus Halper, Austin Amelio, Grace Kaiser, Pamela Adlon, Becky Ann Baker)

Honeymood

Review preview for Honeymood

Although the thrust of the film focuses on the couple's foibles and relationship, there is also some sly skewering of wider Israeli society.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Following a fight in their honeymoon suite on the night of their wedding, a bride and groom embark on a surreal urban odyssey through the streets of Jerusalem.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2020; Director: Talya Lavie; Writer: Talya Lavie; Stars: Ran Danker, Avigail Harari)

Full review

Jakarta, City Of Dreamers

Modern portrait of Jakarta.

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2020; Director: Ertanto Robby Soediskam)

Josep

Animation charts a Spaniard's escape from an internment camp in France.

(Country: France, Spain, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Aurel; Writer: Jean-Louis Milesi; Stars: Sergi López, Emmanuel Vottero, Xavier Serrano, David Marsais, Valérie Lemercier, Thomas Vandenberghe, Gérard Hernandez, Bruno Solo, François Morel, Alain Cauchi, Bamar Kane, Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Alba Pujol, Sophia Aram, Sergi López)

Jumbo

Review preview for Jumbo

It's a far from perfect film, but it's a lot better than the critical consensus suggests, and at the heart of it is a fascinating character study.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Jeanne, a shy young woman, works in an amusement park. Fascinated by carousels, she still lives at home with her mother. That’s when Jeanne meets Jumbo, the park’s new flagship attraction...

(Country: France, Luxembourg, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Zoé Wittock; Writer: Zoé Wittock; Stars: Noémie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Sam Louwyck)

Full review

Kokoloko

In a tropical seaside village, Marisol pursues personal freedom while navigating between the two men in her life - her lover, and her violent cousin who is keeping her captive.

(Year: 2020; Director: Gerardo Naranjo; Writer: Gerardo Naranjo)

Magnesium

A talented gymnast makes a life-changing discovery as she prepares for an important tournament, which is her last chance to reach the top.

(Country: Netherlands; Director: Sam de Jong; Writer: Shady El-Hamus)

The Macaluso Sisters (Le sorelle Macaluso)

The childhood, adulthood and old age of five sisters born and raised in an apartment on the top floor of a small block in the suburbs of Palermo, where they live alone, without their parents.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2020; Director: Emma Dante; Writer: Emma Dante, Giorgio Vasta, Elena Stancanelli; Stars: Alissa Maria Orlando, Susanna Piraino, Anita Pomario, Eleonora De Luca, Donatella Finocchiaro, Viola Pusateri, Serena Barone, Simona Malato, Laura Giordani, Maria Rosaria Alati, Rosalba Bologna, Ileana Rigano, Alissa Maria Orlando, Susanna Piraino, Anita Pomario)

The Man Who Sold His Skin

Review preview for The Man Who Sold His Skin

Given that one of the central tenets of Ben Hania's latest film is a debate about form... it's a joy that this extends to almost every frame of the film, many of which are so carefully composed they could hang in a gallery themselves.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Sam Ali, a young sensitive and impulsive Syrian, left his country for Lebanon to escape the war. He finds himself turned into a work of art by a tattoo artist...but at what cost.

(Country: Tunisia, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden; Year: 2020; Director: Kaouther Ben Hania; Writer: Kaouther Ben Hania; Stars: Monica Bellucci, Koen De Bouw, Rupert Wynne-James, Husam Chadat, Saad Lostan, Najoua Zouhair, Dea Liane, Marc de Panda, Adrienne Mei Irving, Nadim Cheikhrouha, Yahya Mahayni, Jan Dahdoh, Wim Delvoye, Montassar Alaya, Monica Bellucci)

Full review See: Yahya Mahayni on The Man Who Sold His Skin , Kaouther Ben Hania in conversation on Wim Delvoye, casting for The Man Who Sold His Skin, and Shirin Neshat , Kaouther Ben Hania in conversation on the Oscar-nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin, Alfred Hitchcock and François Truffaut

My Blood & Bones In A Flowing Galaxy

When a boy steps in to help a fellow student who is being bullied, the pair grow close... but trouble looms on the horizon.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Sabu; Writer: Yuyuko Takemiya; Stars: Tomoyo Harada, Kai Inowaki, Anna Ishii, Hana Kino, Takumi Kitamura, Kaya Kiyohara, Airi Matsui, Taishi Nakagawa, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Akiko Yada, Tomoyo Harada, Kai Inowaki, Anna Ishii, Hana Kino, Takumi Kitamura)

Oasis (Korisnici)

Upon her arrival at an institution for people with mental disabilities, Maria becomes fast friends with the equally fiery Dragana. When it becomes clear that they are both in love with the more withdrawn Robert, their relationship gradually grows into a dangerous game of hide-and-seek.

(Country: Serbia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France; Year: 2020; Director: Ivan Ikic; Writer: Ivan Ikic; Stars: Goran Bogdan, Marusa Majer, Marijana Novakov, Tijana Markovic, Valentino Zenuni, Milica Djindjic, Sasa Strugar, Draginja Voganjac, Goran Bogdan, Marusa Majer, Marijana Novakov, Tijana Markovic, Valentino Zenuni, Milica Djindjic, Sasa Strugar)

The People Upstairs (Sentimental)

A get together between two sets of neighbours has unexpected emotional consequences.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2020; Director: Cesc Gay; Writer: Cesc Gay; Stars: Belén Cuesta, Javier Cámara, Alberto San Juan, Griselda Siciliani, Belén Cuesta, Javier Cámara, Alberto San Juan, Griselda Siciliani)

Quo Vadis, Aida

Review preview for Quo Vadis, Aida

Zbanic's measured approach ensures that we can't look away from the unfolding horror - something that she makes clear many at the time, both peacekeepers and non-Muslim residents, found all too easy to do.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A UN translator in Srebrenica when the Serbian army takes over the town faces a difficult choice.

(Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Romania, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, Norway, Turkey; Year: 2020; Director: Jasmila Zbanic; Writer: Jasmila Zbanic; Stars: Jasna Djuricic, Johan Heldenbergh, Raymond Thiry, Boris Isakovic, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Joes Brauers, Reinout Bussemaker, Izudin Bajrovic, Teun Luijkx, Alban Ukaj, Ermin Bravo, Ermin Sijamija, Sol Vinken, Juda Goslinga, Sanne den Hartogh)

Full review

Servants (Sluzobnici)

Czechoslovakia in the early 1980s. The Communist regime threatens to subjugate the Catholic Church. Will young seminarians Michal and Juraj remain true to their ideals?

(Country: Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland; Year: 2020; Director: Ivan Ostrochovský; Writer: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Marek Lescák, Ivan Ostrochovský; Stars: Vlad Ivanov, Martin Sulík, Samuel Skyva, Milan Mikulcík, Zvonko Lakcevic, Vladimír Zboron, Tomas Turek, Vladimír Strnisko, Vladimír Obsil, Samuel Polakovic, Vlad Ivanov, Martin Sulík, Samuel Skyva, Milan Mikulcík, Zvonko Lakcevic)

Sun Children (Korschid)

Story of three kids, who work to support their families, and their quest to find treasure in a tunnel... but first they have to enrol in a school near its entrance.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2020; Director: Majid Majidi; Writer: Nima Javidi, Majid Majidi; Stars: Ali Nassirian, Javad Ezati, Tannaz Tabatabaei, Safar Mohammadi, Ali Ghabeshi, Roohollah Zamani, Shamila Shirzad, Abolfazl Shirzad, Mohammad Mahdi Mousavifar, Mani Ghafouri, Ali Nassirian, Javad Ezati, Tannaz Tabatabaei, Safar Mohammadi, Ali Ghabeshi)

Thanks For Everything (Merci pour tout)

Sisters Marianne and Christine have been on bad terms for a year. When their crooked businessman of a father dies, they are forced to take a road trip to spread his ashes.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Louise Archambault; Writer: Isabelle Langlois; Stars: Julie Perreault, Magalie Lépine Blondeau, Robin Aubert, Sacha Charles, Estelle Esse, Louis-Georges Girard, Patrick Hivon, Michael Kelly, Sasha Migliarese, Guy Nadon, Jean-François Pichette, Aliocha Schneider, Gilbert Sicotte, Tammy Verge, Julie Perreault)

Tsoi

15 August 1990. Viktor Tsoi, the Soviet Union’s most famous rock star, leader of the band Kino, a symbol of freedom and change, dies in an accident on a Latvian highway. The bus driver who was involved in the tragic accident will bring his body back to Leningrad... and for the party of mourners, it's going to be a along trip.

(Country: Russia, Latvia; Year: 2020; Director: Aleksey Uchitel; Writer: Aleksandr Gonorovskiy, Savva Minaev, Aleksey Uchitel; Stars: Evgeniy Tsyganov, Paulina Andreeva, Maryana Spivak, Igor Vernik, Nadezhda Kaleganova, Inga Tropa, Arturs Skrastins, Ilya Del, Vitaliy Kovalenko, Lilita Ozolina, Mikhail Troynik, Maksim Stoyanov, Maria Peresild, Valeriy Sklyarov, Evgeniy Tsyganov)

Walnut Tree

After his family fall victim to mustard gas, a man struggles to keep them alive.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2020; Director: Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian; Writer: Ebrahim Amini, Hossein Hassani; Stars: Payman Maadi, Mina Sadati, Minu Sharifi, Mehran Modiri, Payman Maadi, Mina Sadati, Minu Sharifi, Mehran Modiri)

The Wasteland (Dashte Khamoush)

Review preview for The Wasteland

Bahrami's approach is deceptively simple, drawing us in with its easy rhythms and repetitions as the more complex picture of emotions, workplace exploitation and community tensions begins to be revealed.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A hard-working brick factory worker faces the closure of his workplace and the fading of his dreams

(Country: Iran; Year: 2020; Director: Ahmad Bahrami; Writer: Ahmad Bahrami; Stars: Ali Bagheri, Farrokh Nemati, Touraj Alvand, Majid Farhang)

Full review

Wishlist (La lista de los deseos)

While having medical tests done, Eva and Carmen strike up a friendship in the waiting room. Soon they are organising an adventure.

(Year: 2020; Director: Álvaro Díaz Lorenzo; Writer: Álvaro Díaz Lorenzo; Stars: María León, Victoria Abril, Silvia Alonso, Boré Buika, Salva Reina)

The World To Come

Review preview for The World To Come

Overall, the story is a familiar one, with a predictably, one could even say, cliched tragic sweep - a well-trodden pioneer trail that while watchable for the fine performances, still feels overly stuck in a rut.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
In upstate New York in the 1850s, Abigail begins a new year on the rural farm where she lives with her husband Dyer. But a friendship with the wife of a new neighbour leads to trouble.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Mona Fastvold; Writer: Ron Hansen, Jim Shepard; Stars: Vanessa Kirby, Katherine Waterston, Casey Affleck, Christopher Abbott, Andreea Vasile, Ioachim Ciobanu, Karina Ziana Gherasim, James Longshore, Sandra Personnic-House)

Full review

Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness

Maryam accidentally killed her husband Nasser and is sentenced to death. The only person who can save her is Mona, Nasser's daughter. All Mona has to do is appear on a TV show and forgive Maryam. But forgiveness proves difficult when they are forced to relive the past.

(Country: Iran, France, Germany, Switzerland; Year: 2020; Director: Massoud Bakhshi; Writer: Massoud Bakhshi; Stars: Sadaf Asgari, Behnaz Jafari, Babak Karimi, Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee, Forough Ghajebeglou, Fereshteh Hosseini)

Yellow Cat (Sary mysyq)

Review preview for Yellow Cat

There's such a warmth to the comedy here that the inevitable tragic sweep of the film feels all the more steeped in sadness.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An ex-con goes on the run with his new-found love, while chasing his dream of opening a cinema.

(Country: Kazakhstan, France; Year: 2020; Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Writer: Inna Smailova, Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Stars: Azamat Nigmanov, Kamila Nugmanova, Sanjar Madi, Azamat Nigmanov, Kamila Nugmanova, Sanjar Madi)

Full review