The 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to Georgian director Lana Gogoberidze during the event’s closing ceremony on Nov. 23 at Tallinn’s Alexela Concert Hall.
Gogoberidze, 96, is widely recognized for centering her films on women who resist societal expectations and assert their independence. Her latest documentary, “Mother and Daughter, or the Night Is Never Complete” (2023), was screened today at the Apollo Coca-Cola Plaza. The film explores the life of her mother, Nutsa Gogoberidze, regarded as the first female film director in Georgia and one of the earliest in the Soviet Union.
“I probably started making films about women because of my mother, who has always been in my thoughts,” Gogoberidze has said.
As part of the festival’s ‘Old Gold: Classic Films Come to Life' retrospective, her 1978 feature “Some Interviews on Personal Matters” — widely seen as one of the first truly feminist films made in the Soviet Union — will screen Friday.
Each year, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival honors one international and one Estonian filmmaker with its top honor. Estonian director Peeter Simm is this year’s second recipient.
Gogoberidze’s filmography includes “I See the Sun” (1965), “When Almonds Blossomed” (1972), “A Day Is Longer Than Night” (1984), “Full Circle” (1986), and “Waltz on the Pechora” (1992). Her work has screened at major festivals, including Venice, Cannes and Berlin. She is a former president of the International Association of Women Directors, a former member of Georgia’s parliament, and a former ambassador to France.
The 2024 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival runs through Nov. 24. The closing ceremony will take place Nov. 23 at 7:00 p.m. local time, and will stream live at poff.elisastage.ee.