Tallinn Black Nights Festival Awards: Family Dramas ‘The Good Daughter’ and ‘The Well’ Win Big at a Still Growing Event
Two weeks after a triumphal opening to the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival with “They Will be Dust,” Catalan cinema, honored by a Focus at Tallinn this year, closed out the major film event with a bang, scooping 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 “mesmerizing performance,” said the jury, while the audiences voted the “The Good Daughter” its top 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. It handles difficult themes with care, making the story feel real. The lead performance is honest and sensitive, helping the audience understand her feelings. The simple cinematography and editing support the story without taking attention away from it. Overall, the film shows 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.
Throwing herself into the arms of Arancibia and thanking the jury, De Paz Solvas, co-writer of the Series Mania winning show “Querer,” said to the packed house: “I want to thank my co-author ‘mi amor’ [Núria Dunjó.] We started this film with the desire to reclaim such fundamental rights as children’s rights, living in a relationship of violence.”
In its literal and figurative meaning, in reference to the family of filmmakers, producers and craft creators, family was very much the theme of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival –also known as PÖFF – which for the first time combined the festival and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event awards, in a joyful, smooth and well-orchestrated ceremony.
Family was also the theme of all main competition winners, including the Turkish “LikeLike,” which scooped direction (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 by choice.
Beyond family, the need for togetherness, humanity, healing and resilience against aggression were at the core of many award-winning titles, with war in Ukraine all too present in everybody’s mind and hearts.
“In times like these, comedy is part of our mental survival toolkit,” noted Norway’s Ståle Stein Berg at Friday night’s prize ceremony, where he won best screenwriter in main competition for Petter Næss’ political satire “No Comment.” “When the world is on fire, we need to carry on doing what we love, together with the people we love. You’re all beacons of love, folks,” told the audience.
Receiving both of the Fipresci Award and Best Film in the First Film Competition for “Hercule Falling” dealing with PTSD, Danish filmmaker Christian Bonke said in his thank-you speech: “The film deals with the trauma of war; it shows that it doesn’t stop with war. The film started before Ukraine, and today we’re in a situation where all countries put more money into this military conflict. It even looks like we’ll send more people to war and our world leaders have completely abandoned diplomacy and peace talks. I would therefore dedicate this film to the victims of war,” he said, closing his emotional speech with “Glory to Ukraine.”
“Glory to Ukraine” was indeed a rallying cry Friday evening at Tallinn’s Alexela Concert Hall, which sank painfully in the hearts of many Estonians, Lithuanians and Latvians, sharing not too distant memories of Russian occupation. “My film deals with war in Ukraine, affecting us all and our democracies. We have to resist and make art that connects people,” argued Lithuania’s Gabrielė Urbonaitė when collecting the director award for “Renovation” from the Baltic Film competition.
Lithuania Rules
Lithuania attended PÖFF with a record 17 titles and went home with the most wins – 9 – across all festival and industry awards, confirming the vitality of its new generation of talents, backed 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 produced the Baltic Film Competition winners “The Visitor” and “Becoming.”
Finland also put in a strong performance on Friday night with Best Film at the Doc@PÖFF International Competition for “Days of Wonder,” Best Short from Rebels with a Cause section for “Pay Day, and “The Well” by newcomer Siiro Halto scooping the weighty €20,0000 ($23,000) Eurimages Co-Production Development Award. Finland’s “Lex-Julia” scored the Baltic Work in Progress Public Award.
Last night was also a celebration of animation with an emotional Lifetime Achievement to Estonian master Janno Põldma, co-creator of the iconic ‘Lotte’ character and children and youth films via the sub-festival Just Film. “Film literacy at school is essential and films for kids and youth should not be ghettoized, although they are still disregarded in the film industry,” said Marge Liiske, head of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event.
Film education and training were also highlighted via a raft of awards at Tallinn’s Discovery Campus. One of the program’s star mentors, two-time Palme d’Or contender Jessica Hausner, was handed the festival’s first Honorary Award by Tallinn Black Nights Festival Director Tiina Lokk. Citing French helmer Julia Ducournau who herself quoted Martin Scorsese, the Austrian director said: “Art is about asking the questions, not giving all the answers.”
Between Nov. 7-23, Tallinn Black Nights, one of the world’s “A-list” film festivals alongside Cannes, Berlin and Venice, showcased 252 feature films and 275 shorts from an impressive 79 countries, including 111 world and 31 international premieres.
On the industry front, nearly 860 accredited guests from around 50 countries signed up for the must-attend annual event for content from the Baltics, Nordics, CEE and beyond.
“Film as an artform is our focus, not glamor,” Lokk insisted on stage Friday night. “I can see that producers, filmmakers and distributors finally understand our DNA and send us their film gems for us to showcase to our engaged film audience. Next year will be a big anniversary, our 30th. I can’t wait to celebrate this with my team and the audience,” she said.
29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) Winners
Official Selection Competition
Grand Prix
“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” (U.K.)
Best Original Score
Erdem Helvacıoğlu, “Lifelike, (Turkey)
Best Cinematographer
Yutaka Yamazaki, “The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat,” (Japan)
First Feature Competition
Best Film
“Hercules Falling,” Christian Bonke (Denmark)
Best Director
Samuel Abrahams, “Lady”(U.K)
Special Jury Prize, Best Editing,
Jan Van Der Weken, “Sunday Ninth,” (Belgium)
Special Jury Prize
“Easy Girl,” Hille Norden (Germany)
Critics’ Picks Competition
Best Film
China Sea”, Jurgis Matulevičius (Lithuania, Taiwan, Poland, Czechia)
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 Cause Competition
Best Film, “The Baronesses,”
Nabil Ben Yadir, Mokhtaria Badaoui (Belgium, Luxembourg, France)
Best Director
Rógan Graham, “Blindsight” (Romania,Turkey)
Best Rebel with a Cause Short Film
“Pay Day,” Päivi Hirsiaho (Finland)
Doc@PÖFF Baltic Competition
Best Film
“Holy Destructors,”Aistė Žegulytė (Lithuania, France, Latvia)
Special Jury Prize
“My Family and Other Clowns,” Heilika Pikkov, Liina Särkinen (Estonia)
Doc@PÖFF International Competition
Best Film
“Days of Wonder,” Karin Pennanen (Finland, Denmark, Norway)
Special Jury Prize
Raisa Răzmeriță and her team, “Electing Ms Santa,” Raisa Răzmeriță (Moldova, Romania)
Best Cinematographer
Max Golomidov, “Edge Of The Night,” Vladimir Loginov (Estonia)
Baltic Film Competition
Best Film
“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 (Network for the Promotion of Asia Cinema) Jury Prize
“The Muralist,” Sengedorj Janchivdorj (Mongolia)
International Federation of Film Critics (Fiprecsci) Award
“Hercules Falling,” Christian Bonke (Denmark)
PÖFF Audience Award
“The Good Daughter,” Júlia de Paz Solvas (Spain)
Just Film Youth and Children’s Film Festival
Grand Prix
“They Call Me Danka,” Dovile Gasiunaite (Lithuania)
Juniors’ Jury Best Film Award
“The Songbirds’ Secret,” Antoine Lanciaux (France)
Children’s Jury Best Film Award
“Leo & Lou,” Carlos Solano (Spain)
Youth Jury Best Film Award
“Wheelie,” Isis Mihrimah Cabolet (Netherlands)
ECFA Award
“Mira,” Marie Limkilde (Denmark)
#youngfilmmaker Award Sunflower,”Ketlin Kõiv
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 Award
“Alice Wants to Live” by Denys Sobolev (prize given to a project from Ukraine)
-Producers Network Prize for Promising Young Producers
“No Salvation Coming” (Czechia) and “Vesna” (Ukraine, France, Lithuania)
Baltic Event Co-Production Market Public 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 Favourite Award: “Apoteos” by Christofer Nilsson (Sweden)
European Genre Forum Award
“Little Bird” by Faye Jackson (U.K.)
Works in Progress
Special Award by 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 Favourite
“The Convulsions” by David Gutiérrez Camp (France, Spain)
Best Baltic Project
“Dice-Ching-O-Mat” by Kristijonas Vildziunas (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia)
Baltic Event Works in Progress Public Favourite
“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)
