31 projects lined up for the Pitching Competition, 50 projects included in the Market; Almost 200 attendees from 27 countries including decision-makers from ARTE, BBC and DR Sales

The 28th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival kicks off on the 8th of November and, together with its sub-festivals, will present a total of 249 feature films and 323 short films from 81 countries. In addition to the six previously announced competition programmes, the festival will also present a number of non-competition programmes featuring dozens of freshest award-winning films.

The 20th anniversary edition of the Free Zone Festival will be held from November 6 to 11, 2024, across four Serbian cities: Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, and Kragujevac. The program includes 77 feature and documentary films from 37 countries across 14 selections, four of which are competitive (International Selection, Regional Selection - Balkan Horizons, First Two Steps, and EU Teen Zone).

Tiina Lokk, the founder and artistic director of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), announces that the 2024 Dennis Davidson Spotlight Award will be presented to Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher at the Closing Ceremony on Saturday, November 23rd. British-Palestinian director Nabulsi and British producer Sawsan Asfari will be on hand for the award presentation.

The National Film Institute Hungary acquired all media rights for the documentary film Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, directed by David Hinton, for Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Poland. The film will be screened on November 7th during the 15th American Film Festival in Wroclaw.

 

Works in Progress, which presents films in production or post-production looking for sales agents or festivals for international premieres, presents 17 projects in three categories: Baltic Event Works in Progress, International Works in Progress and Just Film Works in Progress. The selected projects include first features by Student Academy Award winners and a European Film Award winner and new titles by established directors. 

All projects will be screened during Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event on 21-22 November in the cinemas of the Coca-Cola Plaza.

Marge Liiske, head of Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event, described this year’s selection as very strong, exciting, and diverse, with a record number of submissions making the selection process more competitive than ever. 'We have slightly fewer projects from the Baltics this year, as many international co-productions faced delays due to longer financing periods, but we hope to see those catching up next year,' she noted. Across all categories, we decided to select fewer projects this year, allowing us to give each one double the presentation time compared to previous years. This change ensures that sales agents and festival programmers gain a deeper understanding of each film’s visual style and tone.”

International Works in Progress

The International Works in Progress selection features seven film projects, including four debuts. Among them is the Greek social drama Late Shift by Stefanos Tsivopoulos, a Greek film director, screenwriter, and video artist with over 30 short and medium-length films made across various countries. Wolves, a Swiss social drama, marks the first feature by Jonas Ulrich, whose short film People on Saturday (2020) won the Golden Leopard at the 73rd Locarno Film Festival and was shortlisted for the European Film Award 2020. The German thriller, reflecting on the festival’s Focus Country,  Interior is the debut feature from Pascal Schuh, whose bachelor’s film Auf Platte was a finalist at the 2022 Student Academy Awards. Rounding out the slate of debuts is Aquarium by Tornike Bziava, an actor-director-writer from this year’s spotlight country, Georgia, known for his award-winning short films.

The showcase also presents the German road movie Balance by Björn Schürmann, which tells a very heartfelt story of an estranged father and daughter who take an unexpected journey together. The Panama-Spain-Uruguay co-production Papers, directed by award-winning Arturo Montenegro, takes audiences to the heart of the Panama Papers scandal that shook the world.
 

Baltic Event Works in Progress

This year's Baltic Event Works in Progress showcase presents four powerful social dramas that touch on the common theme of societal expectations and reveal the paradoxical reality of our times - are we allowed to live freely, regardless of age, time and place? 

Our Erika, a co-production of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, is the first feature film by German Golub, winner of the Student Academy Award in the International Short Film category for My Dear Corpses. The story is inspired by the life of young Estonian track cyclist Erika Salumäe, who became a 1988 Olympic gold medallist and "light of the nation".  Another co-production, Call me Calendar (Latvia, Lithuania), is a tragicomedy based on the bestselling Latvian debut novel. The film is directed by acclaimed director Juris Poškus and produced by Madara Melberga, whose interest lies in stories balancing on the edge and her favourite theme - the dilemma. 

The programme also includes two titles from Lithuania. The drama Sand in Your Hair explores whether love can overcome loneliness and resist social taboos, following the love story of the elderly couple Malvina and Kipras. The film is the second feature by director Mantas Verbiejus, whose first, the romantic comedy Divorce, was well received by audiences in Lithuania. Renovation, a debut feature by Lithuanian writer-director-editor Gabrielė Urbonaitė, was part of the EKRAN+ and Mediterranean Film Institute's Script 2 Film training programme. The story explores themes of identity, questioning social expectations and the pressure to conform to traditional roles through the eyes of 29-year-old Ilona. The film is produced by Uljana Kim, whose productions have premiered at major international film festivals and enjoyed domestic box office success.

Just Film Works in Progress

Just Film Works in Progress presents six children and youth films that tell stories about people in different places and times – two of them are created for children. Little Elephant in the Woods is a Dutch-Belgian co-production directed by Belgian-Dutch filmmaker Meikeminne Clinckspoor, known for her Emmy-nominated toddler series Doopie (2020) and dedicated to making cinema for the young. In 2024, the European Children’s Film Association published her manifesto on why the youngest audience is the most important. Another children’s film, the hilarious Finnish family comedy Ella and Friends: Nature Calls is the debut feature from Elin Grönblom, who has written and directed several children's and youth TV series. 

Award-winning filmmaker Luis Campos comes to Tallinn with his debut feature Dirty Land, which follows a 12-year-old boy, Joao, who lives with his troubled father and caring female neighbours. An adventurous youth film, Secret Delivery, is based on a true story of great heroism by little heroes. The film is directed by Slovak director Ján Sebechlebský, who has made more than a dozen documentaries and series. South America is represented by the Argentinian-Uruguayan co-production Emi, directed by Ezequiel Erriquez Mena, which tells the story of 18-year-old Emi, who lives with his adoptive parents but wants to know more about his biological family. The selection concludes with another South American title, The River, a debut feature by Cristóbal García about five adolescents who lose their shack to rising waters during a winter in Santiago, prompting them to embark on an adventure along the Mapocho River to see the ocean.


Jurys and Awards

The jury of Baltic Event and international Works in Progress includes Casey Baron, US Programming Lead of Tribeca Film Festival, Julie Marnay, Program Manager at First Cut Lab and head of European Short Pitch in 2019 and 

Alexis Cassanet, EVP International Sales & Distribution at Gaumont Film Company. The best projects both in the Baltic and International Works in Progress, will be granted 7000 euros, consisting of 6000 euros worth of services by Studio Beep, together with 1000 euros travel allowance.

The jury of Just Film Works in Progress includes Janne Vierth, Commissioner of feature films, short films, and documentaries for children and youth at the Swedish Film Institute, Film and TV Scriptwriter,

Teresa Lima, Co-founder, programmer, and director of PLAY - International Film Festival for Children and Youth and Eva-Maria Schneider-Reuter, Media Educator and Artistic Director of the Sehpferdchen Film Festival for the generations. The best project of Just Film Works in Progress will receive 1000 euro monetary prize to help the film gain visibility by covering promotion and publicity costs. 

International Works in Progress

1. Title: Aquarium

Original title: Akvariumi

Countries: Georgia

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Mystic

Written by: Tornike Bziava

Directed by: Tornike Bziava

Produced by: Tornike Bziava, Elia Pharsadan, Nino Shengelaya

Production company: Reactormonkey Films, Buni Productions, 29plus7pictures, Shengelaya Productions

Arebato Films
 

2. Title: Balance

Original title: Balance 

Country: Germany 

Genre: road movie, drama

Directed by: Björn Schürmann

Produced by: Björn Schürmann

Production company: projekt:::film

Languages: German, Dutch, English

3. Title: Face to Face

Original title: A la cara

Country: Spain, Belgium 

Genre: drama

Directed by: Javier Marco

Produced by: Odile Antonio-Baez

Written by: Javier Marco, Belén Sánchez-Arévalo

Production company: Pecado Films

Languages: Spanish


4. Title: Interior

Original title: Interior 

Country: German

Genre: thriller, psychological drama

Written by: Timo Ackermann, Pascal Schuh

Directed by: Pascal Schuh 

Produced by: Timo Ackermann, Katrin Haase, Oliver Arnold

Production company: U5 Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. KG, Film University Babelsberg, KONRAD WOLF

Language: German

5. Title: Late Shift

Original title: Late Shift

Country: Greece

Genre: social drama

Written by: Nikos Smpiliris

Directed by: Stefanos Tsivopoulos 

Produced by: Nikos Smpiliris

Production company: Boo Productions

Languages: Greek, Romanian

6. Title: Papers 

Original title: Papeles 

Countries: Panama, Spain, Uruguay

Genre: crime film, drama, thriller

Written by: Arturo Montenegro

Directed by: Arturo Montenegro

Produced by: Andry José Barrientos

Production company: Andry José Barrientos

Language: Spanish, English, Turkish

7. Title: Wolves

Original title: Wolves 

Country: Switzerland

Genre: drama, social drama

Directed by: Jonas Ulrich

Produced by: Nicole Ulrich

Production company: Dynamic Frame GmbH

Language: English, Swiss, German

Baltic Event Works in Progress 
 

1. Title: Call Me Calendar

Original title: Kalendārs mani sauc

Countries: Latvia, Lithuania

Genre: adaptation, tragicomedy

Directed by: Juris Poškus

Produced by: Madara Melberga

Production company: Aigars Sermukss

Language: Latvian

2. Title: Our Erika

Original title: Meie Erika

Countries: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia

Genre: biographical, drama

Directed by: German Golub

Produced by: Marju Lepp

Production company: Filmivabrik

Language: Estonian, Russian

3. Title: Renovation

Original title: Renovacija

Countries: Renovacija

Genre: Lithuania

Directed by: Gabrielė Urbonaitė

Produced by: Uljana Kim

Production company: Studio Uljana Kim

Language: Lithuanian, Ukrainian, English

4. Title: Sand in Your Hair

Original title: Smėlis tavo plaukuose

Country: Lithuania

Genre: drama

Directed by: Mantas Verbiejus

Produced by: Živilė Gallego

Production companies: Creative Europe MEDIA, Lithuanian Film Centre, Fralita Films

Language: Lithuanian

Just Film Works in Progress

1. Title: Dirty Land

Original title: Terra Vil

Countries: Portugal, Italy

Genre: drama

Written by: Luis Campos

Directed by: Luis Campos

Produced by: Luis Campos

Production companies: Matiné, dispàrte

Language: Portuguese

2. Title: Emi

Original title: Emi

Countries: Argentina, Uruguay

Genre: drama, youth film

Directed by: Ezequiel Erriquez Mena

Produced by: Laura Mara Tablón

Production companies: Rita Cine, El Cielo Cine

Language: Spanish

3. Title: Ella and Friends: Nature Calls

Original title: Ella ja kaverit menevät metsään

Country: Finland

Genre: children's film, comedy

Written by: Katri Manninen

Directed by: Elin Grönblom

Produced by: Aleksi Hyvärinen

Production company: Don Films

Language: Finnish

4. Title: Little Elephant in the Woods

Original title: Olifantje in het Bos

Countries: The Netherlands, Belgium

Genre: live-action children’s film

Written by: Tijs van Marle, Meikeminne Clinckspoor

Directed by: Meikeminne Clinckspoor

Produced by: Gijs Kerbosch, Guusje van Deuren, Ingmar Conjarts

Production company: 100%

Language: Dutch or English

5. Title: The River

Original title: El Eio 

Countries: Chile, Argentina

Genre: drama, road movie

Written by: Cristóbal García

Directed by: Francisco Bisañez

Produced by: Cristóbal García

Production company: Vórtice Films

Language: Spanish

6. Title: Secret Delivery

Original title: Ticha Posta

Countries: Czechia, Slovakia

Genre: family film, adventure, historical film

Written by: Jiří Stránský

Directed by: Ján Sebechlebský

Produced by: Julietta Sichel

Production company: 8Heads Productions

Languages: Czech, German 


 

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, taking place on 15-22 November, is a week-long summit for film and audiovisual industry professionals held during the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. In 2024, the summit will provide a whole line of events covering the most sizzling questions in the sector. 

INFORMATION

For additional information please contact:

Egle Loor

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event communications coordinator

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

+372 56 906 376

More information about talents, projects and programme on Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event webpage.

 

Music Meets Film, part of Discovery Campus, the international education programme at Industy@Tallinn &; Baltic Event, welcomes eight emerging film music composers and producers from around the world to its programme. 

Music Meets Film has been running for over a decade, bringing together film music professionals worldwide. Since its upgrade last year, the programme has focused on young film composers - the next generation of film music talent. A total of 28 talents applied for this year's edition. 

The eight selected talents for Music Meets Film 2024 edition include a French film composer Agathe Lavarel, who recently received Honorable Mention at the European Talent Awards at Soundtrack Cologne, a French multi-instrumentalist musician and a composer Célyne Baudino, an experienced Finnish media composer Mikko Aaltio, German-Czech film composer, arranger and musician Natalie Schäfer, composer, Brooks Leibee from USA and music producer and composer Kristjan Ruus together with composers Villem Rootalu and Lauri Kadalipp from Estonia.  

The four-day programme, which takes place from 19 to 22 November, includes lectures and masterclasses by award-winning professionals and industry-leading companies and partners. These workshops offer practical tools and guidance for the participants’ careers and help them navigate the industry in the filmmaking process. There will also be various networking opportunities. 

One of the main themes of this year's programme is co-production and collaboration through music. The panel discussion closely examines two award-winning films Driving Mum and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, successful co-production projects between Estonia and Iceland. The discussion shedding light to these projects welcomes Driving Mum team including Hilmar Oddsson (director), Tõnu Kõrvits (composer), Matis Rei (sound designer) and Hendrik Mägar (editor), and Anna Hints (director) as well as Eðvarð Egilsson (composer) from Smoke Sauna Sisterhood.

The programme includes a creative competition workshop as practical skills are an important part of Music Meets Film. This time the participants will work with the music supervisor Kathleen Wallfisch, whose latest works include Gladiator 2 which will be released in 2024, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023), Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) etc. The workshop will take place at Selektor Studio in Tallinn, where the participants create a piece of score according to a sample brief. During this workshop, participants will experience what it's like to work with a music supervisor, and how to read and create for a brief in a fixed timeframe. The winner of the workshop will receive a recording session for the next day with selected musicians.

The programme also contains a workshop "Navigating the Industry", created by Tier Music Publishing and Orchestral Tools. Thea Zaitsev and Sandra Perens (Tier Music Publishing) with Graham Ball (Orchestral Tools) create a navigation map of suggested networks for the participants for them to find their next partners and projects. In this workshop the document will be introduced as well as practical exercises will be done on topics such as how to pitch yourself and your music.

In addition, there is a one-on-one discussion "Dialogue on Contracts: Before and After Signing" between film composer Liina Sumera and attorney and partner at TGS Baltic Priit Lätt, attorney at law, covering the tender topics of rights, negotiations and contracts, which are essential for everyone in the film industry. 

Check the full list of events here

Music Meets Film 2024 participants:

Agathe Lavarela film composer, flutist and singer who combines orchestral writing with vocal and electronic textures. Her work has been featured in short films, video games and virtual reality exhibitions. In 2024, she won an honourable mention at the European Talent Awards at Soundtrack Cologne for her collaboration with sound designer Nicolas vön Moreau. In 2023, she won the French New Wave Award for "Exploration". In 2022, she received the 1st ALLIA Award for Inspiring Female Artists in Canada.

Brooks Leibee born in South Carolina, USA,  found an early love for film and the music within the screen. He went on to pursue his interests in film, creating projects behind the camera and score. He performed in grade school orchestras for eight years before competing in All-County and All-State Orchestras. In undergrad, he began writing soundtracks for he and his friends' short films. Science then he has built his professional portfolio as a composer for film and media.

Célyne Baudino is a French multi-instrumentalist musician and composer who has written music for film, live entertainment, orchestral scores and radio. Her artistry has already enriched several short and animated films, as well as a first feature-length documentary. One of these, Kill the Horse, recently won the Best Animation Short Film Award at the 2024 Shanghai International Film Festival. Her musical works combine vocal, acoustic and electronic textures to create a rich and powerful universe.

Kristjan Ruus, Estonian music producer, composer, writer, artist and lifelong cinema fan. He has been making music for himself for years. Recently he has worked with or participated in writing camps for Universal Music Group, Roc Nation, Atlantic Records, Epic Records, The Hello Group, Loudkult, Soave Records, Nova Wav. He has also done some work in sync, working with Nissan, TBWA, NFL, placing music on ESPN+.

Lauri Kadalipp, Estonian composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, is the founder and current artistic director of the New Wind Jazz Orchestra. He has arranged music for Estonian pop artists, such as Anett, NOËP, Angus, Gameboy Tetris, Smilers and many more. His first bigger film music work for Vanamehe film (2019) received a nomination for the best film composer award in 2020 at EFTA (Estonian Film and TV Awards). 

Mikko Aaltio, former multi-instrumentalist for Finnish rock band Tiisu, Mikko Aaltio has become a media composer. His scores include YLE's drama series No Shame. His music can also be heard in the indie video games Birds Organised Neatly, Feed All Monsters and Dealer's Life Legend. As an arranger and orchestrator, Mikko has worked on many high-profile projects such as Netflix's Finding 'ohana, the Finnish F2P mega-hit mobile video games Clash of Clans and Merge Mansion, and BossLady, the musical for Jyväskylä City Theatre.

Natalie Schäfer is a German-Czech film composer, arranger, musician and teacher. She is currently studying composition for film and media with Nicklas Schmidt and Daniel Fjellström at the Malmö Academy of Music (Lunds Universitet). From September 2024 to June 2026 she will complete her concert exam in classical composition with Prof. Bent Sørensen at the Malmö Academy of Music. Her compositions are inspired by composers such as Karin Rehnqvist and John Williams.

Villem Roosalu studied jazz bass guitar at Otsakool and TÜVKA. He has been playing the bass for 18 years and has been a performing musician for about 15 years. During his studies he learned about sound engineering and started doing a lot of studio work, which led to working on theatre shows. Soon he was asked to compose for a show himself. For the last 8 years he has been composing for theatre shows, but has also worked on sound design and music for games and short films.

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, taking place on 15-22 November, is a week-long summit for film and audiovisual industry professionals held during the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. In 2024, the summit will provide a whole line of events covering the most sizzling questions in the sector. 

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, the business summit for film and audiovisual professionals, together with PÖFF Shorts, an Academy Award, BAFTA and EFA-qualifying short film festival, are launching Shorts Industry Shortcut, a guiding platform for emerging filmmakers. 

The two-day event, which takes place during the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, aims to support the careers of a new generation of filmmakers in the short film industry, while at the same time taking a closer look at current trends in (short) film and strengthening ties between the Baltic and international short film communities. The event will be filled with masterclasses, inspiring panel discussions with industry leaders and networking opportunities. 

Tara Karajica, head of Shorts Industry Shortcut, described the inaugural programme as the epitome of a film industry shortcut: "The PÖFF Shorts Competition programmes have always been strong, so it was high time the festival got its industry arm to guide emerging filmmakers and give them a nudge in the right direction. Whether you're just starting out in the film industry with your first short film or you've already moved on to feature films, the Shorts Industry Shortcut will provide you with the necessary tools, people and pointers to navigate the (short) film circuit in the easiest and coolest way possible. The Shorts Industry Shortcut is the perfect stepping stone not only for the festival circuit in general, but also for PÖFF and Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event. I hope everyone comes away with something useful, a handful of business cards and wonderful memories!"

Shorts Industry Shortcut's busy programme starts with a masterclass by Croatian filmmaker and artist Martina Meštrović, who will explore her extensive work in sculpture and animation, organised in collaboration with EKA. The "In Conversation" session will feature Anna Hints and Tonia Mishiali, two of today's most acclaimed directors, who will discuss their respective careers as women in today's film industry and moving between formats. The programme also includes the panel discussion "Short Films, a Click Away" with Sari Volanen from Yle, Amos Geva from T-Port and Alexandra Gramatke from the Hamburg Short Film Agency, focusing on the exhibition of short films in cinemas, on television and on streaming platforms. The presentation "Festival Ecosystem 101" will demystify the short film circuit in the presence of five movers and shakers from the short film industry, 

The Shorts Industry Shortcut programme also includes a speed-dating session between short film professionals and filmmakers. During the "Would You Buy This?" session, selected short film directors will be invited to screen the first three minutes of their films (already in competition at PÖFF Shorts) and receive live feedback from short film distributors and sales agents who will assess their market potential. This event simulates a realistic situation in the film industry and demonstrates how professionals evaluate films submitted to them.

In addition, Shorts Industry Shortcut joins forces with Go Long! to offer a lecture by script consultant Anna Ciennik, who will discuss important aspects of script development. 

Finally, the success stories of the Baltic short film industry will be highlighted - Rimantė Daugėlaitė (Lithuanian Shorts), Diāna Trope (Latvian Short Film Agency), Laima Graždanoviča (2ANNAS Short Film Festival) and Mirjam Mikk (Estonian Film Institute) will discuss some of the most successful Baltic short films of recent years, examine how the Baltic states have positioned themselves globally and explore the future of new Baltic talent.

The Shorts Industry Shortcut panel discussions and masterclasses will take place from 14 to 16 November. Check out the programme here. The events are open to everyone with a PÖFF badge, an Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event accreditation or a day ticket.