Freezing temperatures and rising tensions at Tallinn Black Nights

Estonia's premiere film festival proves a welcoming hub for cinephiles where the action on-screen couldn't be more explosive.

Nestled on the northern coast of Estonia – just across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki – is the small city of Tallinn. Among most cinephiles it might be best known as a filming location used in both Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, but since 1997 Tallinn has been eking out a reputation for its annual Black Nights Film Festival (known as Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival, or PÖFF, to Estonians), which sees the city transform into a hub of activity and excitement. Filmmakers and film lovers from around the world descend on the normally peaceful city, which has a population just over 450,000, making it about the size of Leeds.

The festival takes its name from the lack of sunlight the country sees during its winter setting (just eight hours a day in November) which gives it a distinct edginess over its western European cousins – there are no yachts or beach parties to be had here. Instead, festival patrons, staff and guests alike crowd into a local bar after hours to drink, dance, and discuss their festival viewing. Despite being one of the biggest film festivals in Europe, drawing over 93,000 admissions this year alone, Black Nights maintains a collegiate atmosphere that many film festivals lack. There is little hierarchy in Tallinn – filmmakers, programmers, journalists and fans mingle in bars, hotel lobbies, and (if they’re up for it) saunas and frozen lakes.

Its autumnal slot in the festival calendar also makes Black Nights an ideal place to catch up with highlights from the annual festival calendar. The 2024 edition brought screenings of Cannes, Venice and Telluride hits to the city, including Anora, All We Imagine As Light, Conclave and The Brutalist. But as any hardened festival veteran will tell you, the best films you’ll see at a festival like Black Nights are the ones you discover for yourself, led by nothing more than a promising log line and a sense of adventure.

As a first time visitor to both the Black Nights festival and to Tallinn, I spent my first evening in the city pouring over the programme, putting together a schedule for the next four days. With 185 films from 73 countries in the mix, it was hard to even know where to start – though arriving towards the end of the festival did narrow down my choices a little, which was a welcome relief in this instance. I opted for an interesting spread of films across different strands, including the South Korean time travel drama The Loop, directed by Sang Beom Koo, in which a high school student must relive the same day over and over, attempting to prevent a tragedy he is partly responsible for. Lead actor Lee Hyo-Ye was recognised with an award for his performance as a troubled teenager attempting to find his way out of a cycle of violence – although at times heavy-handed, it’s an arresting second feature which certainly pulls no punches.

Similarly bleak and bracing was Saulė Bliuvaitė’s Toxic, about two teenage girls living in a dilapidated Lithuanian industrial town who pursue careers in the cut-throat world of modelling. Here too it was the performances that struck me, with Vesta Matulionytė and Ieva Rupeikaite delivering a pair of heartbreaking performances, enemies turned friends who both enable and attempt to prevent each others’ destructive tendencies. The experience of watching the film was somewhat enhanced by the fact I was in a screening surrounded by teenagers (presumably invited by the festival) and I couldn’t help but wonder what they made of it, beyond the juvenile giggling at every expletive or mention of sex.

Because of the timing of my trip, I ended up mainly seeing films at public screenings, which were all bustling affairs held in Tallinn’s multiplexes. I was particularly impressed to see a packed house for the documentary Billy and Molly, produced by National Geographic, about the friendship that formed between a Scotsman (Billy) living in Shetland and the young, emaciated otter (Molly) who showed up on his doorstep one day. While entirely conventional in its execution, there’s no denying that Charlie Hamilton-James’ film is very sweet and beautifully shot, with plenty of stunning footage of Molly serenely larking around on the Scottish coast.

It may just be that I lucked out in attending such busy screenings, but there’s definitely the sense that Tallinn Black Nights is a beloved fixture of the city’s calendar. Every morning guests would get up bright and early to travel to a local sauna and ice swimming spot (I wasn’t quite brave enough, this year at least) and my hotel lobby seemed to be a hive of activity at every hour of the day and night.

On the morning of my departure, which was bright and freezing, fresh snow still on the ground, I made the – admittedly short – pilgrimage to the Linnahall, which served as the Kyiv Opera House in Tenet (sadly I did not have time to visit the Kumu Art Museum, where the Oslo Freeport scenes were filmed). I stood on the roof of the dilapidated building, a relic from Estonia’s days under USSR rule, and squinted out at the water, breathing in the fresh air that is hard to come by in London. My one regret was not staying longer, and discovering more of the programme, as well as the gorgeous city with its mix of Brutalist, modern and preserved medieval architecture. But I’m certain that if I do have the chance to return, PÖFF would greet me with open arms – despite the cold, it’s one of the warmest and welcoming festivals that Europe has to offer.

For more on this year’s festival visit poff.ee

Published 9 Dec 2024

Tags: Tallinn Black Nights