Tallinn greets ‘The Good Daughter’, ‘Hercules Falling’, Ukraine
Two weeks after a triumphant opening of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival with ‘They Will be Dust’, Catalan cinema, honored this year with a Focus in Tallinn, closed the major film event with a bang, taking home three awards, including the heavyweight top Grand Prix, for Julia de Paz Solvas’ family drama ‘The Good Daughter’.
The non-professional Kiara Arancibia won best actress for her ‘enchanting performance’, according to the jury, while the audience voted ‘The Good Daughter’ as the best festival choice – manna from heaven for sales agent Beta Cinema.
“This film is a strong and emotional drama about a teenage girl dealing with family conflict. Difficult themes are carefully handled, making the story feel real. The lead role is honest and sensitive and helps the audience understand her feelings. The simple cinematography and editing support the story without distracting from it. Overall, the film depicts family struggles in a realistic and meaningful way,” said the jury, consisting of director Teona Strugar Mitevska, costume designer of ‘Friends’ fame Debra Mcguire, producers Nomuunzul Turmunkh, Ingo Fliess and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer.
De Paz Solvas, co-author of the Series Mania winning show “Querer”, threw himself into the arms of Arancibia and thanked the jury, telling the packed audience: “I want to thank my co-author ‘mi amor’ [Núria Dunjó.] We started this film with the desire to regain fundamental rights such as the rights of children, while living in a relationship of violence.”
In its literal and figurative meaning, referring to the family of filmmakers, producers and craftsmen, family was very much the theme of the 29e Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival – also known as PÖFF – combined for the first time the festival and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event awards in a joyful, smooth and well-orchestrated ceremony.
Family was also the theme of all the major competition winners, including Turkey’s ‘LikeLike’, which won directing (Ali Vatansever) and original score (Erdem Helvacıoğlu), and Germany’s ‘The Frog and the Water’, in which actors Aladdin Detlefsen and Kanji Tsuda shared an acting award for their roles as unlikely brothers of choice.
In addition to family, the need for togetherness, humanity, healing and resilience against aggression were at the heart of many award-winning titles, with the war in Ukraine all too present in everyone’s minds and hearts.
“In times like these, comedy is part of our mental survival toolkit,” noted Norway’s Ståle Stein Berg at the awards ceremony on Friday evening, where he won the best screenwriter prize in the main competition for Petter Næss’ political satire ‘No Comment’. “When the world is on fire, we must continue to do what we love, together with the people we love. You are all beacons of love, people,” the audience shared.
Danish filmmaker Christian Bonke received both the Fipresci Award and Best Film in the first film competition for ‘Hercule Falling’ about PTSD and said in his acceptance speech: “The film is about the trauma of war; it shows that it does not end with war. The film started before Ukraine, and today we are in a situation where all countries are putting more money into this military conflict. In fact, it seems that we will send more people to war and that our world leaders have completely abandoned diplomacy and peace. I would recommend this one therefore want to dedicate the film to the victims of war,” he said and concluded his emotional speech with “Glory to Ukraine.”
“Glory to Ukraine” was indeed a rallying cry Friday evening at the Alexela Concert Hall in Tallinn, which sank painfully into the hearts of many Estonians, Lithuanians and Latvians who shared not-too-distant memories of the Russian occupation. “My film is about the war in Ukraine, which affects us all and our democracies. We must resist and create art that connects people,” argued Lithuanian Gabrielė Urbonaitė when he accepted the director’s prize for “Renovation” from the Baltic Film Competition.
Lithuania Rules
Lithuania attended PÖFF with a record 17 titles and took home the most wins – 9 – across all festival and industry awards, confirming the vitality of its new generation of talents, supported by strong producers, such as veteran Uljana Kim, behind ‘Renovation’, ‘Holy Destructors’ and the two-time work in progress winner ‘Dice-Ching-O-Mat and Marija Razgutė at M-Films, who the winners of the Baltic Film Competition produced ‘The Visitor’ and ‘Worden’.
Finland also put in a strong performance on Friday evening with Best Film at the Doc@PÖFF International Competition for “Days of Wonder”, Best Short Film by Rebels with a Cause for “Pay Day, and “The Well” by newcomer Siiro Halto, which won the tough Eurimages Co-Production Development Award worth €20,0000. Finland’s “Lex-Julia” scored the Baltic Work in Progress Public Award.
Last night there was also a celebration of animation with an emotional Lifetime Achievement for Estonian master Janno Põldma, co-creator of the iconic ‘Lotte’ character and children’s and youth films through the Just Film sub-festival. “Film literacy at school is essential and films for children and young people should not be ghettoized, even if they are still ignored in the film industry,” says Marge Liiske, head of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event.
Film education and training was also highlighted through a series of awards at the Discovery Campus in Tallinn. One of the program’s star mentors, two-time Palme d’Or candidate Jessica Hausner, received the festival’s first honorary award from Tiina Lokk, director of the Tallinn Black Nights festival. Quoting French director Julia Ducournau, who herself quoted Martin Scorsese, the Austrian director said: “Art is about asking the questions, not about giving all the answers.”
Between November 7 and 23, Tallinn Black Nights, one of the most important film festivals in the world alongside Cannes, Berlin and Venice, screened 252 feature films and 275 short films from no fewer than 79 countries, including 111 world premieres and 31 international premieres.
On the industry front, nearly 860 accredited guests from around 50 countries have registered for the annual can’t-miss event for content from the Baltics, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.
“Film as an art form is our focus, not glamour,” Lokk emphasized on stage on Friday evening. “I see producers, filmmakers and distributors finally understanding our DNA and sending us their cinematic gems so we can show them to our committed film audience. Next year will be a big anniversary, our 30e. I can’t wait to celebrate with my team and the audience,” she said.
Winners of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).
Official selection competition
Grand Prize
“The good daughter”, Júlia de Paz Solvas (Spain)
Best director
Ali Vatansever, “Lifelike” (Turkey)
Best Actress
Kiara Arancibia,” “The Good Daughter” (Spain)
Best Actor
Aladdin Detlefsen, Kanji Tsuda (The Frog and the Water, Germany)
Best script
Ståle Stein Berg, “No comment” (Norway)
Best Production Design
Chris Richmond, David Hand, “Think of England” (UK)
Best Original Score
Erdem Helvacıoğlu, “Lifelike, (Turkey)
Dear cameraman
Yutaka Yamazaki, ‘The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat’ (Japan)
Competition for first feature film
Best movie
“Hercules Falling”, Christian Bonke (Denmark)
Best director
Samuel Abrahams, “Lady” (UK)
Special jury prize, best editing,
Jan Van Der Weeks, “Sunday Ninth,” (Belgium)
Special Jury Prize
“Easy girl,” Hille Norden (Germany)
Critics’ Choice Competition
Best movie
China Sea”, Jurgis Matulevičius (Lithuania, Taiwan, Poland, Czech Republic)
Best director
Matías Szulanski, “A Summer Tale” (Argentina)
Special mention
“Oh, what happy days”, Homayoun Ghanizadeh (Iran)
Special mention
“Mo Papa,”Eeva Mägi (Estonia)
Rebels with a good cause Competition
Best movie, ‘The Baroness,”
Nabil Ben Yadir, Mokhtaria Badaoui (Belgium, Luxembourg, France)
Best director
Rógan Graham, “Blindsight” (Romania,Turkey)
Best short film by Rebel with a Cause
“Payday,” Päivi Hirsiaho (Finland)
Doc@PÖFF Baltic Competition
Best movie
“Holy destroyers,”Aistė Žegulytė (Lithuania, France, Latvia)
Special Jury Prize
“My family and other clowns”, Heilika Pikkov, Liina Särkinen (Estonia)
Doc@PÖFF International Competition
Best movie
“Days of wonder,” Karin Pennanen (Finland, Denmark, Norway)
Special Jury Prize
Raisa Răzmeriță and her team, “Election Mrs. Santa,” Raisa Răzmeriță (Moldova, Romania)
Dear cameraman
Max Golomidov, ‘Edge of the Night,”Vladimir Loginov (Estonia)
Baltic Film Competition
Best movie
“The visitor,” Vytautas Katkus (Lithuania, Norway, Sweden)
Best director
Gabriele Urbonaite, “Renovation” (Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium)
Best Baltic producer for co-production
Zhannat Alshanova, ‘Becoming’, Hannat Alshanova (France, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden)
NETPAC Jury Award (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema).
“The Muralist”, Sengedorj Janchivdorj (Mongolia)
Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (Fiprecsci).
‘Hercules falls,” Christian Bonke (Denmark)
PÖFF Audience Award
‘The good daughter,” Julia de Paz Solvas (Spain)
Just Film Youth and Children’s Film Festival
Grand Prize
‘They call me Danka,” Dovile Gasiunaite (Lithuania)
Prize for Best Film Junior Jury
“The secret of the songbirds,” Antoine Lanciaux (France)
Children’s Jury Prize for best film
“Leo & Lou”, Carlos Solano (Spain)
Youth Jury Prize for best film
“Wheelie,” Isis Mihrimah Cabolet (Netherlands)
ECFA Award
“Mira”, Marie Limkilde (Denmark)
#youngfilmmaker Award Sunflower,”Ketlin Koiv
Industry Awards, a selection:
Baltic event co-production market
Best project
“The Well” by Siiri Halko, produced by Silmu Films, Finland
Eurimages Special Co-production Development Prize
“Alice Wants to Live” by Denys Sobolev (prize awarded to a project from Ukraine)
-Producers Network Prize for promising young producers
“No Salvation Coming” (Czech Republic) and “Vesna” (Ukraine, France, Lithuania)
Baltic event co-production market Audience favorite
“The Queen of England Stole My Parents” by Ernestas Jankauskas (Lithuania, Poland)
Script Pool Award
White Ship by Teresa Väli (Estonia)
Script Pool Public Favorite Award: “Apoteos” by Christofer Nilsson (Sweden)
Prize for the European Genre Forum
“Little Bird” by Faye Jackson (UK)
Works in progress
Special award from TRT
“Dice -Ching-O-Mat” by Kristijonas Vildžiūnas (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia)
Best International Project
“Prince” by Federico Borgia (Argentina, Uruguay)
International Works in Progress Public Favorite
“The Convulsions” by David Gutiérrez Camp (France, Spain)
Best Baltic project
“Dice-Ching-O-Mat” by Kristijonas Vildziunas (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia)
Baltic event in progress Public favorite
“Lex Julia” by Laura Hyppönen (Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Poland)
Best Just Film Project
“Suiza” by Maria Fernanda Gonzales (Peru, Argentina)
Just Film Works in Progress Public Favorite: “Suiza” (Argentina, Peru)
