Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Black Nights >> 2023 >> Best Of Festivals
View other Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Films by strand: Baltic Film Competition, Children's Competition, Children's Rights Programme, Critics' Picks Competition, Doc@PÖFF, ECFA Competition, Estonian Olympic Committee Sports Film Programme, European Green Capital 2023 Presents: PÖFF Environmental Film Programme, First Feature Competition, Flowers Are Not Silent. Resistance Films Of Belarus, Focus: Serbia and SEE* Neighbours, International Youth Competition, Midnight Shivers, Offical Selection, Opening Film And Galas, Rebels With A Cause, Science360°, Screen International Critics' Choice, Special Screenings, Spotlight: Spanish High Five!, Youth Programme
Kidnapped and Perfect Days
Afire (Roter Himmel)
(Country: Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Christian Petzold; Writer: Christian Petzold; Stars: Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, Matthias Brandt)
Tensions and desire bloom among five people at a holiday home by the Baltic Sea.
Full Review
See:
Thomas Schubert on imposter syndrome and tonal ambiguity in Afire
, Christian Petzold in conversation on Afire (Roter Himmel), An Affair To Remember, summers, and pronouncing Walter Benjamin and Uwe Johnson
, Christian Petzold in conversation on Afire (Roter Himmel) and summer movies
, Christian Petzold in conversation on Afire (Roter Himmel), An Affair To Remember, summers, and pronouncing Walter Benjamin and Uwe Johnson
, Christian Petzold in conversation on Afire (Roter Himmel) and summer movies
Anatomy Of A Fall (Anatomie D'une Chute)
(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Justine Triet; Writer: Arthur Harari, Justine Triet; Stars: Sandra Hüller, Samuel Theis, Swann Arlaud, Jehnny Beth, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz)
A woman is accused of her husband's murder.
Baan
(Country: Portugal; Year: 2023; Director: Leonor Teles; Writer: Leonor Teles, Ágata de Pinho, Francisco Mira Godinho; Stars: Carolina Miragaia, Meghna Lall)
Past, present or perhaps future intertwine in a story that begins when L meets K.
Chuck Chuck Baby
(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Janis Pugh; Writer: Janis Pugh; Stars: Louise Brealey, Annabel Scholey, Celyn Jones, Sorcha Cusack)
Romance unfolds at a chicken packing factory.
Coup De Chance
(Country: France, US, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Woody Allen; Writer: Woody Allen; Stars: Lou de Laâge, Valérie Lemercier, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Schneider, Grégory Gadebois, Guillaume de Tonquédec, Elsa Zylberstein, Anne Loiret, Sara Martins, Arnaud Viard, William Nadylam, Jeanne Bournaud, Yannick Choirat, Philippe Uchan, Benoît Forgeard)
A perfect couple's idyll is threatened when the woman crosses paths with an old high school friend.
The (Ex)perience Of Love and Anatomy Of A Fall
Critical Zone (Mantagheye bohrani)
(Country: Iran, Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Ali Ahmadzadeh; Writer: Ali Ahmadzadeh)
Guided by the voice of his GPS, Amir navigates the underworld districts of Tehran to comfort the troubled souls of the night.
Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End of the World (Nu aștepta prea mult de la sfârșitul lumii, Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World)
(Country: Romania, Luxembourg, France, Croatia; Year: 2023; Director: Radu Jude; Writer: Radu Jude; Stars: Ilinca Manolache, Ovidiu Pîrșan, Nina Hoss, Dorina Lazăr, László Miske, Katia Pascariu)
Overworked and underpaid, Angela drives around the city of Bucharest to film the casting for a 'safety at work video' commissioned by a multinational company. When one of the interviewees reveals the company’s liability in his accident, a scandal erupts.
The Edge Of The Blade (Une affaire d'honneur)
(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Vincent Perez; Writer: Karine Silla Perez, Vincent Perez; Stars: Roschdy Zem, Doria Tillier, Vincent Perez, Guillaume Gallienne, Damien Bonnard)
Paris, 1887. Duels have been officially outlawed but are still regular practice. This historical drama is set against that backdrop.
El Paraíso
(Country: Italy; Year: 2023; Director: Enrico Maria Artale; Writer: Enrico Maria Artale; Stars: Margarita Rosa de Francisco, Edoardo Pesce, Maria del Rosario, Gabriel Montesi, Matea Milinkovic)
Drama about the relationship between a woman and her 40-year-old son.
The (Ex)perience Of Love (Le Syndrome Des Amours Passées)
(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2022; Director: Ann Sirot, Raphaël Balboni)
A couple who are unable to have children learn that because they suffer from Past Love Syndrome, the only solution is for them to sleep with all their exes again.
Omen and The Teachers' Lounge
Ezra
(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Tony Goldwyn; Writer: Tony Spiridakis; Stars: Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Robert De Niro, Rainn Wilson, Bobby Cannavale, Whoopi Goldberg)
The story of a man who destroys his successful career and marriage to become a somewhat less successful stand-up comic.
Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet Lehdet)
(Country: Finland; Year: 2023; Director: Aki Kaurismäki; Writer: Aki Kaurismäki; Stars: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen)
The course of potential love does not run smooth for a shelf-stacker and a metal worker.
Ferrari
(Country: US, UK, Italy, China; Year: 2023; Director: Michael Mann; Writer: Troy Kennedy-Martin, Michael Mann, Brock Yates; Stars: Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Jack O'Connell, Patrick Dempsey, Valentina Bellè, Massi Furlan, Gabriel Leone, Erik Haugen, Brett Smrz, Peter Arpesella, Tommaso Basili, Lino Musella, Andrea Dolente)
It's the summer of 1957 and Ferrari is in crisis, both in his business and personal life. He decides to take a gamble on a race, the Mille Miglia.
Forever-Forever (Navazhdy-Navazhdy)
(Country: Ukraine, Netherlands; Year: 2023; Director: Anna Buryachkova; Writer: Anna Buryachkova, Marina Stepanska; Stars: Zachary Shadrin, Oleksandr Yatsenko, Dasha Zhykharska, Yelyzaveta Tsilyk, Alina Cheban, Arthur Aliiev, Arsenii Markov, Klim Reva, Asia Pshenychna, Daria Malakhova, Daria Zhykharska)
Teenage coming-of-age tale.
Hesitation Wound
(Country: Turkey, France, Romania, Spain; Year: 2023; Director: Selman Nacar; Writer: Selman Nacar; Stars: Tülin Özen, Görkem Ipek)
A criminal lawyer faces difficult moral and emotional choices.
Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End of the World and Critical Zone
The Hypnosis
(Country: Sweden, Norway; Year: 2023; Director: Ernst De Geer; Writer: Ernst De Geer, Mads Stegger; Stars: Asta Kamma August, Herbert Nordrum, Andrea Edwards, David Fukamachi Regnfors, Moa Nilsson, Simon Rajala, Aviva Wrede, Alexandra Zetterberg, Kristina Brändén Whitaker, Karin de Frumerie, Julien Combes, Victor Iván, Björn Ekegren Augustsson, Sarah Viktoria Engman, Barry Hammar)
A transformational visit to a hypnotherapist sees Vera throw off the trappings of ‘civilised’ behaviour.
Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert (Ingeborg Bachmann – Reise in die Wüste)
(Country: Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg; Year: 2023; Director: Margarethe von Trotta; Writer: Margarethe von Trotta; Stars: Vicky Krieps, Ronald Zehrfeld, Tobias Resch, Basil Eidenbenz, Luna Wedler)
The story of the Austrian author and how she was shaped by a trip to Egypt.
Kidnapped (Rapito)
(Country: Italy, France, Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Marco Bellocchio; Writer: Marco Bellocchio, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Edoardo Albinati; Stars: Enea Sala, Leonardo Maltese, Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Filippo
Timi)
In 1858, a six-year-old Jewish boy is forcibly seized from his family by the Catholic church.
Lost Country
(Country: France, Serbia, Luxembourg, Croatia; Year: 2023; Director: Vladimir Perisic; Writer: Vladimir Perisic, Alice Winocour; Stars: Boris Isakovic, Jasna Djuricic, Marija Skaricic, Jovan Ginic)
The sensorial, emotional and political formation of a boy born at the beginning of the Eighties in Tito's Yugoslavia, growing up in a Yugoslav Communist family as the political system around him radically changes.
May December
(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Todd Haynes; Writer: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik; Stars: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Cory Michael Smith, Charles Melton, Piper Curda, Drew Scheid, Kelvin Han Lee)
20 years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.
May December and The Edge Of The Blade
Next Goal Wins
(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Mike Brett, Steve Jamison; Stars: Thomas Rongen, Jaiyah Saelua, Nicky Salapu, Gene Ne'emia, Larry Mana'o, Rawlston Masaniai )
The world's worst football team shoots for the stars.
The Old Oak
(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Ken Loach; Writer: Paul Laverty; Stars: Debbie Honeywood, Andy Dawson, Reuben Bainbridge, Col Tait, Rob Kirtley)
A musing on the future of The Old Oak, the last remaining pub in a village in Northeast England, where people are leaving the land as the mines are closed. Houses are cheap and available, thus making it an ideal location for Syrian refugees.
Omen (Augure)
(Country: DRC; Year: 2023; Director: Baloji; Writer: Baloji, Thomas van Zuylen; Stars: Marc Zinga, Lucie Debay, Eliane Umuhire, Yves-Marina Gnahoua, Marcel Otete Kabeya)
When a man who was cast out as a child after being considered a sorceror returns home, he faces prejudice.
One Life
(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: James Hawes; Writer: Lucinda Coxon, Nick Drake; Stars: Romola Garai, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonathan Price, Lena Olin, Adrian Rawlins)
The story of British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped to save hundreds of children from the Nazis on the eve of World War II.
Perfect Days
(Country: Japan, Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Wim Wenders; Writer: Takuma Takasaki, Wim Wenders; Stars: Kôji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Aoi Yamada, Yumi Asô)
The story of an urban renewal project which involves the creation of 17 public toilets in key locations in the Japanese capital.
Ferrari and Fallen Leaves
The Promised Land (Bastarden)
(Country: Denmark, Sweden, Norway; Year: 2023; Director: Nikolaj Arcel; Writer: Nikolaj Arcel, Anders Thomas Jensen; Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Gustav Lindh, Amanda Collin, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Magnus Krepper, Lise Risom Olsen, Søren Malling, Thomas W. Gabrielsson, Jacob Lohmann, Felix Kramer, Morten Hee Andersen, Simon Bennebjerg, Martin Feifel, Patricia Slauf, Arved Friese)
In 1755, the impoverished Captain Ludvig Kahlen sets out to conquer the harsh, uninhabitable Danish heath with a seemingly impossible goal; to build a colony in the name of the King.
Snow Leopard (Xue Bao)
(Country: China; Year: 2023; Director: Pema Tseden; Writer: Pema Tseden; Stars: Jinpa, Ziqi Xiong)
A dad and son argue about whether to kill a leopard that enters their home.
Solitude (Einvera)
(Country: Slovakia, Iceland; Year: 2023; Director: Ninna Pálmadóttir; Writer: Rúnar Rúnarsson; Stars: Anna Gunndís Guðmundsdóttir, Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Hermann Samúelsson)
An aging farmer moves to the city for the first time and forms a bond with a paper boy.
Stepne
(Country: Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Slovakia; Year: 2023; Director: Maryna Vroda; Writer: Maryna Vroda, Kirill Schuvalov; Stars: Oleksandr Maksiakov, Nina Antonova, Oleg Primogenov, Radmila Schegoleva)
A man who comes back home to take care of his dying mother finds a meeting with his brother and a woman he loves makes him reflect on the choices he made along the way.
Tatami
(Country: Georgia, US; Year: 2023; Director: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv; Writer: Elham Erfani, Guy Nattiv; Stars: Jaime Ray Newman, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Nadine Marshall, Arienne Mandi, Ash Goldeh, Sina Parvaneh, Mehdi Bajestani, Lir Katz, Elham Erfani)
An Iranian judo player is on the path to success at a championship with the Islamic Republic tells her to fake an injury leaving her faced with an impossible choice.
The Promised Land and The Old Oak
The Teachers' Lounge (Das Lehrerzimmer)
(Country: Germany; Year: 2023; Director: İlker Çatak; Writer: İlker Çatak; Stars: Leonie Benesch, Leonard Stettnisch, Eva Löbau, Michael Klammer, Anne-Kathrin Gummich)
When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.
Theater Camp
(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman; Writer: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman; Stars: Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Ayo Edebiri)
When the beloved founder of a run-down theatre camp in upstate New York falls into a coma, the eccentric staff must band together with the founder's crypto-bro son to keep the camp afloa
Touched
(Country: Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Claudia Rorarius; Writer: Claudia Rorarius; Stars: Angeliki Papoulia, Dimitra Vlagopoulou, Yousef Sweid, Camille Dombrowsky, Isold Halldórudóttir, Marie Tragousti, Stavros Zafeiris, Maj-Britt Klenke, Hannah Schutsch)
Maria, a caregiver, undergoes a transformative journey when she encounters Alex, a paraplegic resident. They embark on a forbidden relationship, fueled by their sexual discovery and deep connection.
The Universal Theory (Die Theorie von Allem)
(Country: Germany, Austria, Switzerland; Year: 2023; Director: Timm Kröger; Writer: Roderick Warich, Timm Kröger; Stars: Jan Bülow, Olivia Ross, Hanns Zischler, Gottfried Breitfuss, David Bennent, Philippe Graber, Imogen Kogge, Emanuel Waldburg-Zeil, Vivienne Bayley, Ladina von Frisching, Dirk Böhling, Marie Goyette, Paul Wolff-Plottegg, Peter Hottinger, Dana Herfurth)
1962. A physics congress in the Alps. An Iranian guest. A mysterious pianist. A bizarre cloud formation in the sky and a booming mystery under the mountain.
Waiting For Dali
(Country: Spain; Year: 2023; Director: David Pujol; Writer: Miguel García Navarrete, David Pujol; Stars: José Garcia, Ivan Massagué, Clara Ponsot, Nicolas Cazalé, Pol López, Alberto Lozano, Varvara Borodina, Francesc Ferrer, Vicky Peña, Paco Tous, José Ángel Egido, Bruno Raffaelli, Pep Cruz, Gal Soler, Anna Vicens)
A talented chef, arrives in the village of Cadaqués during the 70s, residence of the internationally renowned Salvador Dali. The paths of the chef and the artist will cross and cause the birth of a new culinary genius.
Hesitation Wound and Chuck Chuck Baby
Working Class Goes To Hell
(Country: Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia; Year: 2023; Director: Mladen Djordjevic; Writer: Mladen Djordjevic; Stars: Tamara Krcunovic, Leon Lucev, Momo Picuric)
A small-town labour union turns to the dark arts for empowerment against the corrupt forces in its community.
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
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