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Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival · 2020

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2020

First Feature Competition

Programme

15 films · 3 reviews

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Black Light (Bit-Gwa Cheol)

A grieving wife whose husband died in a traffic accident, which left another man in a coma is surprised to learn the second man's wife is working at the same factory she is leading to revelations.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Bae Jong-dae; Writer: Bae Jong-dae; Stars: Kim Sieun, Yeom Hyeran, Park Jihu)

The Enemies

A woman living with her elderly mother and recently widowed daughter finds herself targeted by leaflets after the disappearance of her son... but all is not quite how it seems.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2020; Director: Ali Derakhshandeh; Writer: Bardia Yadegari; Stars: Roya Afshar, Neda Jebraeili, Ghorban Nadjafi, Roya Afshar, Neda Jebraeili, Ghorban Nadjafi)

The Flood

Review preview for The Flood

It doesn’t follow the familiar rules of the revenge movie and doesn’t provide the same type of satisfaction. McIntyre is more interested in finding real solutions.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An indigenous Australian family is torn apart by powerful white landowners, prompting fierce resistance.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2020; Director: Victoria Wharfe McIntyre; Writer: Victoria Wharfe McIntyre; Stars: Alexis Lane, Shaka Cook, Dean Kyrwood, Dalara Williams, Karen Garnsey, Peter McAllum, Simone Landers, Aaron Jeffery, Socratis Otto, Eddie Baroo, Anni Finsterer, Rob Flanagan, Sarah Woods, Tysan Towney, Benedict Wall, Scotty, Flick, Shuffle, Cino)

Full review See: Interview with Victoria Wharfe McIntyre about The Flood

Fortuna - The Girl And The Giants

Fortuna is a little girl who lives with her mother in a seemingly entirely ordinary apartment building. However, something is not how it seems at first glance.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2020; Director: Nicolangelo Gelormini; Writer: Nicolangelo Gelormini, Massimiliano Virgilio; Stars: Valeria Golino, Pina Turco, Libero De Rienzo, Cristina Magnotti, Giovanni Ludeno, Marcello Romolo, Anna Patierno, Luciano Saltarelli, Denise Aisler, Leonardo Russo, Valeria Golino, Pina Turco, Libero De Rienzo, Cristina Magnotti, Giovanni Ludeno)

Goodbye Soviet Union (Hüvasti, NSVL)

Story of a young boy and his family set against the backdrop of the last days of the Soviet Union.

(Country: Finland, Estonia; Year: 2020; Director: Lauri Randla; Writer: Lauri Randla; Stars: Ülle Kaljuste, Tõnu Oja, Niklas Kouzmitchev, Nika Savolainen, Pääru Oja)

Great Happiness

Ensemble film following the ups and downs in the lives of three friends from the generation born at the time of China’s one-child policy.

(Country: China; Year: 2020; Director: Wang Yiao; Writer: Wang Yiao; Stars: Zhou Xiang, Yang Xiaohuo, Shen Jiajun, Tao Yuqiong, Hu Xiaoguang)

Karnawal

Review preview for Karnawal

First-time feature director Juan Pablo Félix takes the same energetic, forthright approach to his filmmaking that his protagonist does to his beloved malambo dance.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A teenage malambo dancer finds his life complicated by the arrival of his long-incarcerated dad.

(Country: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Norway; Year: 2020; Director: Juan Pablo Félix; Writer: Juan Pablo Félix; Stars: Alfredo Castro, Diego Cremonesi, Mónica Lairana, Martin Lopez Lacci, Alfredo Castro, Diego Cremonesi, Mónica Lairana, Martin Lopez Lacci)

Full review See: Juan Pablo Félix interview about Karnawal

Longing Souls (El Alma Quiere Volar)

Matriarchal saga seen through the eyes of a ten-year-old girl.

(Country: Colombia, Brazil; Year: 2020; Director: Diana Montenegro; Writer: Diana Montenegro; Stars: Laura Castro Artúz, María Fernanda Puyo, Lilia Córdoba, Luis Merino, Sissy Garcés)

Madly In Life (Une Vie Démente)

A couple planning to have a child find their plans complicated when one of their mother contracts semantic dementia and begins acting like an unmanageable kid.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Raphaël Balboni, Ann Sirot; Writer: Raphaël Balboni, Ann Sirot; Stars: Lucie Debay, Jo Deseure, Jean Le Peltier, Gilles Remiche, Lucie Debay, Jo Deseure, Jean Le)

Model Olimpia

A young man suffers from a destructive fantasy life revolving around death and violence. In order to change these disturbing obsessions, he engages in his mother’s self-devised therapy programme.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Frédéric Hambalek; Writer: Frédéric Hambalek; Stars: Kerstin Agger, Mira Benser, Mathilde Bundschuh, Luca Hohner, Denis Larisch, Peter Meister, Alban Mondschein, Karoline Reinke, Anna Steffens, Regine Vergeen, Kerstin Agger, Mira Benser, Mathilde Bundschuh, Luca Hohner, Denis Larisch)

The Penultimate (Den næstsidste)

A water inspector finds himself trapped in a building and facing a maze of obstacles to escape.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2020; Director: Jonas Kærup Hjort; Writer: Jonas Kærup Hjort; Stars: Jesper Balle, Joen Bille, Rasmus Braun, Steen Dahl, Ane Marie Elsted, Ebbe Engmark, Noah Phillip Breding Flaier, Anne Fletting, Claudia Gregersen, Jonas Munck Hansen, Tom Lang Hansen, Joen Højerslev, Stine Schrøder Jensen, Kirsten Jørgensen, Silas Kappendrup)

Poppy Field

Review preview for Poppy Field

Merricoffer's performance will keep you rivetted.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The struggle of a closeted young genderme.

(Country: Romania; Year: 2020; Director: Eugen Jebeleanu; Writer: Ioana Moraru; Stars: Conrad Mericoffer, Alexandru Potocean, Radouan Leflahi, Cendana Trifan, Ionut Niculae, Alex Calin, Rolando Matsangos, George Pistereanu, Florin Caracala, Ela Ionescu, Mihaela Sirbu, Valentina Zaharia, Gabriel Rauta, Stefan Huluba, Bogdan Nechifor)

Full review See: Interview with Eugen Jebeleanu about Poppy Field

Sententia

The last days of the life of a writer in a desolate home for the elderly. At every allowed opportunity, he is visited by a literary scholar, a dedicated fan of the poet’s talent, who considers Varlam a genius.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2020; Director: Dmitry Rudakov)

Should The Wind Drop (Si le vent tombe)

An auditor tries to help an isolated territory to open up as he appraises its airport.

(Country: France, Belgium, Armenia; Year: 2020; Director: Nora Martirosyan; Writer: Guillaume André, Nora Martirosyan, Emmanuelle Pagano, Olivier Torres; Stars: Grégoire Colin, Hayk Bakhryan, Arman Navasardyan, David Hakobyan, Vartan Petrossian, Narine Grigoryan, Amalya Ohanjanyan, Marianna Vorskanyan, Artak Mkrtchyan, Marat Hakobyan, Hayk Papyan, Rimma Kocharyan, Alla Arutyunyan, Veronika Yakubyan, Grigoriy Gasparyan)

Tailor

Set in a tailor shop in contemporary Athens, Nikos is continuing his family's tailoring tradition but finds himself on the verge of losing everything.

(Country: Greece, Germany, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Sonia Liza Kenterman; Writer: Sonia Liza Kenterman, Tracy Sunderland; Stars: Dimitris Imellos, Tamilla Koulieva, Thanasis Papageorgiou, Stathis Stamoulakatos, Daphne Michopoulou, Samouil Akinola, Georgia Alexopoulou, Panagiota Bimpli, Giorgos Biniaris, Tetyana Glovachova, Korina Gougouli, Vaso Iatropoulou, Eva Kaminari, Sakis Kiousis, Luba Krivochissa)