Tallinn Black Nights Fest rolls out first features competition lineup

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has unveiled the first of its two official competition lineups, announcing the 13 titles that will make up this year's first features program, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.

The lineup includes five world premieres, including Stefano Amatucci's Caina, a drama set in a dystopian near-future, the bodies of dead refugees washing up on European shores has become a major industrial waste disposal problem for the locals.

Also celebrating their debut in Tallinn will be The Traveler, from director Hadi Ghandour about a happily-married traveling salesman who begins to question his values, and his loyalty to his wife, when on a business trip to Paris; Home Is Here from Austrian first-timer Tereza Kotyk, about a daughter of immigrants who begins to secretly visit a wealthy home where she rearranges the owner's prized possessions; Kira Kovalenka's experimental Sofichka, the story of a woman in the Abhkasian region on the Black Sea, whose life is caught up in the political whirlwind of history; and Navid Danesh's Duet, a drama about a divorced Iranian couple whose chance meeting in a bookshop sets off a wave of memories and emotions.

“We weren’t looking for flawless direction, rather a unique cinematographic vision, someone who makes you feel that you will definitely want to see her/his next film as well,” said Tallinn festival director Tiina Lokk, commenting on this year's selections. “What we have on our hands is an extremely satisfying mix of original stories presenting a wide range of genres, from very strong drama to sci-fi to crime thriller to, (my big surprise) action.”

Action is part of the lineup in the form of Holy Biker, the directorial debut of Brazilian filmmaker Homero Olivetto, described as a mash-up of Mad Max, 1960s B-movies and Alejandro Jodorowsky's cult 1970 western El Topo. Other genre efforts include The Red Captain from Czech producer-turned-director Michal Kollar, a crime thriller set in Prague shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union; and The White King from directors Alex Helfrecht and Jorg Tittel, an English-language adaptation of the dystopian sci-fi novel from Hungarian writer Gyorgy Dragoman about a fascist regime of the near future and the young people who rise up against it.

Also in the first features competition lineup this year are Chilean drama The Cockroach from directors Francisco Hevia and Vinko Tomicic; Augusto Sandino's Columbian feature Gentle Breath; Paris La Blanche from director Lidia Terki and Wedding Dance, a drama about the clash between the modern world and tradition in contemporary Turkey, from director Cigdem Sezgin.