Tallinn announces First Feature Competition line-up

Selection includes 10 world premieres

by Amber Wilkinson

Klokkenluider
Klokkenluider Photo: Courtesy of London Film Festival

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) has announced its First Feature Competition titles.

The selection includes ten world premieres and eight international premieres in competition, with two international premieres screening out of competition, among the slate of 20 debuts.

Among the premieres are Fisnik Maxville’s The Land Within, which sees the direct move from documentary to fiction with the tale of the exhumation of a mass grave. Also moving from docs to fiction is Ivan Gergolet, who brings The Man Without Guilt, which the festival says is "a thoughtful and challenging appraisal of moving past tragic events".

There's one UK-made film in the line-up, comedy-thriller Klokkenluider, directed by actor-turned-director Neil Maskell (Kill List), which will make its international bow after premiering at the London Film Festival this month. It tells the story of a hapless government whistleblower and his partner who are hiding out in a remote Belgian cottage.

Festival Director Tiina Lokk commented, “Every year, I look at the programme we have assembled and feel we’ve taken a huge step forward as a festival. It’s an unfortunate reality of working at this level that we always have too many good films to squeeze them all into our competitions. What that does mean is that the new voices we have selected for this year’s First Features section are truly special. We can’t wait to introduce these films to the world.”

Black Nights Film Festival holds its 26th edition in 2022 and runs from November 11-27 in Tallinn & Tartu, Estonia. The full programmes of films will be announced at the start of next month.

First Features - In Competition

  • Amar Colony (India) - world premiere Dir. Siddharth Chauhan
  • The Unbalanced (Czech-Slovakia) - world premiere Dir. Zuzana Piussi
  • Pelican (Cro) - world premiere Dir. Filip Heraković
  • The Accident (Bra) - world premiere Dir. Bruno Carboni
  • The Land Within (Switz-Kosovo) - world premiere Dir. Fisnik Maxville
  • The Man Without Guilt (Ita-Slo-Cro) - world premiere Dir. Ivan Gergolet
  • Parade (Lithuania) - world premiere Dir. Titas Laucius
  • Upon Entry (Spa) - world premiere Dirs. Juan Sebastián Vázquez, Alejandro Rojo
  • The Other Widow (Israel-Fra) - world premiere Dir. Maayan Rypp
  • Amusia (It) - world premiere Dir. Marescotti Ruspoli
  • Klokkenluider (UK) Dir. Neil Maskell
  • The Hatcher (Pol) Dir. Grzegorz Molda
  • Punch (NZ) Dir. Welby Ings
  • Everybody Wants to Be Loved (Ger) Dir. Katharina Woll
  • Double Life (Jap) Dir. Enen Yo
  • Until Branches Bend (Can-Switz) Dir. Sophie Jarvis
  • The Other Child (S. Korea) Dir. Kim Jing-young-IV
  • Storm (Nor) Dir. Erika Calmeyer

First Features - Out of Competition

  • Phi 1.618 (Bul-Can) Dir. Theodore Ushev
  • Barren (Israel) Dir. Mordechai Va

Share this with others on...
News

The division belle Suzannah Herbert on facing the US' troubled history and making Natchez

Spin-off alchemy Claude Schmitz on bringing back cop pairing for Conrad & Crab – Idiotic Gems

Past crime Christoffer Boe on creating a world for his period mystery Special Unit - The First Murder

The hidden river Helen MacDonald and Philippa Lowthorpe on adapting H Is For Hawk

This wild channel David Shadrack Smith and Jake Fogelnest on the content creation revolution and Public Access

Sundance announces winners Josephine, Nuisance Bear, Shame And Money and To Hold A Mountain take top prizes

More news and features

Interact

As we move into 2026, don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.

With awards season in full flow, you can keep track of the latest news on that here:

César nominations Nouvelle Vague leads the race for France's biggest awards

BAFTA nominations One Battle After Another and Sinners almost neck and neck

Golden Eddies Nominations for editing brilliance announced

OFCS Awards One Battle After Another triumphs; Sinners dominates