The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PรFF) has announced the juries for its six competitive sections ahead of its 28th edition, which runs Nov. 8โ24 in Estonia. Winners will be revealed at the closing ceremony on Nov. 23.
This yearโs festival opens with the world premiere of โLong Story Short,โ a German drama directed by David Dietl, screening at the Alexela Concert Hall. With Germany as its focus country, PรFF will present 249 feature films and 323 short films from 81 nations. In addition to its competitions, the program includes three non-competitive sections โ โMidnight Shivers,โ โOld Gold: Classics Come to Life,โ and โBest of Festโ โ showcasing select acclaimed films from other international festivals.
Leading the jury for the Official Selection Competition is acclaimed German filmmaker Christoph Hochhรคusler. He is joined by Filipino producer Bianca Balbuena, Lithuanian producer Marija Razgutฤ, Belgian director Jawad Rhalib, and Lithuanian director Tomas Vengris.
The First Feature Competition will be chaired by U.K. film marketing strategist John Durie, alongside distributor Daniel Green, Spanish director-producer Carles Torras, and Estonian actress Karolin Jรผrise. The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) will present a separate award, with French critic Bernard Besserglik serving as president, joined by U.K. critic Rita Di Santo and Estonian critic Ralf Sauter.
For the Baltic Competition, Mikko Fritze, head of the Finnish Institute in Berlin, will lead a jury that includes British journalist Annika Pham and Argentine critic Fernando E. Juan Lima.
‘The Rebels with a Cause' section will be judged by Italian producer Marica Stocchi, Filipino producer Bradley Liew, and Estonian director Marko Raat. Serbian producer Miroslav Mogorovic presides over the ‘Criticsโ Picks jury,' with Belgian director Gust Van den Berghe and Guatemalan-Norwegian producer Elisa Fernanda Pirir also serving.
A new addition this year, the Doc@PรFF competition, will have Georgian director Tinatin Gurchiani as jury chair, joined by Polish cinematographer Kacper Czubak and Colombian-born filmmaker Carlos E. Lesmes.
With its sub-festivals Just Film and PรFF Shorts, along with the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event market, Black Nights Film Festival has grown into one of the largest film festivals in Northern Europe and a key platform for regional industry activity.