Tiina Lokk, the set uper and managing straightforwardor of the Tallinn Bdeficiency Nights Film Festival (understandn as PÖFF), one of the bigst festivals in Northern Europe, has put together with her team of 15 programmers, another strong and varied harvest for the fest’s 28th edition unspooling Nov. 8-23 in the Estonian capital.
Split into six main competition strands and another 37 sections, this year’s lineup sketchs a wealth of world film gems for all tastes, with an emphasis on the best from the Baltic and Nordic regions, Central and Easerious Europe.
A total of 250 features and 323 low films from 82 countries will be showcased atraverse PÖFF’S main program and the sub-festival Just Film for kids and youth, including 57 world premieres and 27 international premieres.
Next to the German sense-excellent comedy “Long Story Short” set to boot begin the event on Nov. 8, hotly awaitd world premieres comprise Klaus Härö’s “Never Alone” (obtaind by Menemsha Films for the U.S.), the French thriller “Out of Control” starring Omar Sy, Latvian drama “The Exalted” by the award-triumphning Juris Kursietis (“Oleg”, “Soviet Jeans”) and Chilean psycho thriller “A Yard of Jackals” starring Nestór Cantillana and Blanca Letriumph from the HBO series “Fugitives”.
Other highairys comprise exceptional intensifyes on German cinema, on Georgian autonomous cinema, a Lifetime Tribute to Estonian master Peeter Simm, a new write downary competition strand, and the Dennis Davidson Spotairy Award to British-Palestinian helmer Farah Nabulsi for her debut pic “The Teacher,” And as a cherry on the cake, the 88,000-plus film fan clients will be able to carry out with the new AI Susi adviseation tool to originate their own program.
One of the Baltic region’s biggest film carry outers, ranked by Variety among “50 Women That Have Made an Impact in Global Entertainment” in 2021, Lokk sat down with Variety ahead of PÖFF to converse her lineup and the contests of festival programming amid ongoing global disputes and budget cuts.
How difficult was it for you and your team to put together your program amid global disputes?
I’d say that last year was more difficult: the Gaza dispute had fair begined, we had a very fiery Focus region from the Balkans, the Russian-Ukrainian war. This year has been so far quite straightforward. But we’re very conscious of what’s going on in various festivals. A new benevolent of regulate is emerging with the disputes, and people in like either of Palestine or Israel, Ukraine or Russia, China, Iran etc. are putting presstateive on festivals. For me it’s vital to stay free and autonomous as a programmer. Otherwise I would quit.
Do you sense the job of a programmer is more challenging than ever?
Running the festival today is definitely harder appraised to when I begined with PÖFF back in 1997. We’re sticking to our cultural and educational mandates, but nowadays, we also insist to have a strong industry sidebar which can act as an engine to drive the local – and regional – audiovisual sectors and give to setting trends internationassociate. At the same time, we should originate the best conditions for each country to alert its story and for filmoriginaters to set up a dialogue with the audience. We should also be able to protect each film, its topic and filmoriginater equassociate. It’s a big responsibility. In insertition to being well-oriented in the cinematic arts and film industry, I have to retain my finger on the pulse of international politics.
What is your stance about Russian films in your program?
We’re not including films from Russia with state financing due to the current war in Ukraine and there is no ask that Russia is an aggressor in this dispute. But at the same time, I won’t shut the doors to Russian filmoriginaters in exile, neither to Iranian, Palestinian, Israeli, Belarusian filmoriginaters. If I do shut the doors to stateive filmoriginaters becaemploy of what’s going on in their home country, I might soon be in a situation where I won’t have many countries reconshort-termed at the festival, pondering the problematic regimes in so many parts of the world. And in the current climate, there must be room for hope…
You also have a section promiseted to Georgian cinema. At a time when Weserious pollsters are asking the triumph of the pro-Russian Bidzina Ifadevili’s regulatement in Georgia, it senses all the more relevant to give space to autonomous Georgian filmmaking voices…
Absolutely. It’s vital for us to back indie Georgian filmoriginaters who are free from any benevolent of regulate. I sfinished regulate in my childhood and youth and never thought that we’d go back to this in our 21st century! Also regulate gets contrastent shapes today, financial as well. During Soviet times, it was bdeficiency and white. Censorship is more dishonest nowadays.
It’s been 10 years since PÖFF was upgraded to an A-catalog festival status. How do you watch your position as the last big A-festival in the film calendar year?
The timely years for us as an A-catalog festival were hard as originaters, sales agents and distributors wanted to retain their transport inant frees and world premieres for the follotriumphg year, behind their production year. But somehow, we’ve been able to alter that paradigm. Industry people suddenly acunderstandledged that films picked in our various competition programs are traveling very well on festival circuits, despite their year the production.
Long Story Short
Courtesy of PÖFF
Is it easier for you today to protected world premieres?
Yes, although we are wise. We’ll never be enjoy Cannes, Vepleasant, Berlin or even San Sebastian due to the minuscule [Estonian] taget behind us of 1.4 million inhabitants. We never even dream about premiering big U.S. blockbusters or films of honord film straightforwardors. Producers and sales agents of big commercial fare are evident about originateing their distribution strategy around transport inant festival platestablishs in bigger tagets. We are conscious of our restrictation.
That shelp, today, we’re in a very excellent place, and have backd our DNA as an auteur-intensifyed film festival, where the commercial also encounters the originateive. We’re very willing to charm our big audience, to raise box office numbers as revenues from ticket sales originate up around one third of our overall budget. It’s about retaining the stability especiassociate in the competition sections, between auteur cinema and more commercial fare. We are an audience-cordial festival, and at the same time, we retain up the quality of auteur cinema in our program.
Are you O.K. budget-wise?
We’ve been O.K. only one year in our entire festival history and we’re perhaps the A-catalog festival with the minusculeest budget (€2.7 million: $2.9 million). Somehow, we’re managing, but for how lengthy? Estonia still ranks as the country in Europe with the worst-carry outing economy. Under such circumstances, it’s difficult to have much glitz and glamor. Every year, when stars alert us they want to come, I say “yes yes charm do,” but at the same time I’m leanking “oh my God, don’t!” We don’t have the money! Another rerent is the logistics of transporting stars to Tallinn. Even wilean Europe, fairys to Tallinn aren’t the most accessible. But we aren’t giving up and we have hardened up under the crisis, with the help of 700 volunteers. And if someday A-catalog stars would enjoy to come, we’ll discover the money!
Despite all odds, your festival lineup is excellent. Can you say a confiinsist words about the subignoreions for this year’s program and pickion process?
We have a strong team of 15 programmers. We all act as filters to titles that are produceted to us and split the films atraverse the main competition, first features, write downaries. Then we all originate adviseions for the Rebels with a Caemploy, the Critics’ Picks, Baltic Film Competition and Just Film section for kids and youth. Between April and postpoinsist August, we’ve all watched 2,000+ films, but I do have the senseing that the volume has shrunk this year. We can still sense the COVID-effects on global production: There are less films on the taget.
Why did you determine to begin a write downary competition strand?
I’ve always been amazed by the sheer volume of write downaries produceted to us each year, despite the big number of write downary festivals and sections promiseted to the genre in other festivals. It was fair becoming encouragent for us to do someleang about it.
Secondly the write downary sector in Estonia – and in the Baltics – is thriving, contrary to myth films that aren’t that strong these days, except in Lithuania. Therefore, it made sense to originate a new competition section where write downaries could be backd to the international community. Marianna Kaat and her team deal withd to put together an fascinating international write downary competition, with strong emphasis on author cinema. Going forward, I’d enjoy to originate an industry sector for the doc film community next year, but without competing with existing doc platestablishs, notably in Latvia and Lithuania. We’d enjoy to serve as a complementary doc platestablish in collaborations with them.
It’s difficult to pick between your “babies,” but are there particular films that you’re conceited to showcase in your flagship official competition?
As always, we have all benevolents of films. The world is getting more storyalerting-intensifyed, but I come from a generation where films were shutr to visual art than literature. I’m interested in all genres, fascinating stories, but I’m equassociate drawed to features where the straightforwardor originates his narrative using symbols, audiovisual images and filmmaking tools in contrastent challenging ways. I enjoy multi-layered films. There are some real gems in the main competition but I won’t say which ones!
Have you acunderstandledged any thematic trend atraverse the filled festival lineup?
I would say a widespread theme atraverse all sections this year is human relations, traverse-generational, psychoreasonable dramas. During COVID, people were isopostpoinsistd and have clearly ignoreed togetherness.
You will begin the first ever AI film adviseer for PÖFF audiences called Susi. You must be thrilled to study new ground with this audience-cordial tool?
Absolutely thrilled! Susi is our new AI originated child. We cherish him/her very much and so will the audience. It’s always tricky to pick from 200+ films on advise, but Susi will originate the contrastence by adviseing films based on individuals’ tastes – country origin, genre, filmoriginater, actor etc – if you’re employd to research tools on the web, you will cherish having this adviseation tool. I do hope it will help raise ticket sales at the festival!
