PÖFF 2025 Unveils Bold Competition Line-Up and International Jury

The 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) has unveiled the line-up and international jury for its 2025 Official Selection Competition, presenting 17 feature films, including 16 world premieres and one international premiere.

This year’s selection follows an impressive number of submissions: 1,900 for the main programme, 433 for Just Film, and over 5,600 for Shorts. Films were submitted from more than 100 countries, with around 80 nations represented in the festival’s final programme. In total, PÖFF, Just Film, and Shorts will showcase 110 world premieres and 30 international premieres.

Many of this year’s entries came from Spanish-speaking countries, South America, Asia, Central Asia, and Europe, while submissions from the Middle East and Africa were fewer.

Festival Director and Head Curator Tiina Lokk described this year’s competition as a reflection of the world’s anxieties and resilience: “It’s difficult to pinpoint a single common thread this year, but once again, the selection holds up a mirror to our world. Everything that worries and pains us is there — wars, the environmental crisis, political arrogance, migration, women’s rights, and, above all, the fragile ties of family life,” said Lokk.

She noted strong submissions from Asia, Latin America, and Spain, the only country with two films in competition:
“With Catalan Films in Focus, we were pleased to include emerging Catalan female talent Júlia de Paz Solvas with The Good Daughter.”

The Official Selection Competition jury will be chaired by acclaimed Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska, whose award-winning films God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya and The Happiest Man in the World have premiered at Berlin, Venice, and Toronto.

Joining her on the jury are:

Debra McGuire (USA) – Emmy-nominated fashion and costume designer (Friends, Phil Spector, The Morning Show).

Nomuunzul Turmunkh (Mongolia) – Producer and screenwriter (Silent City Driver, The Sales Girl), board member of the Mongolian National Film Council and NETPAC.

Roberto Schaefer, ASC/AIC (USA) – Cinematographer (Finding Neverland, Quantum of Solace), recipient of the Golden Frog Award.

Ingo Fliess (Germany) – Producer (The Teachers’ Lounge), professor at the University of Television and Film Munich.

The Grand Prix for Best Film in the Official Selection Competition will receive a €20,000 grant from the City of Tallinn.

The 29th edition of PÖFF will take place 7–23 November 2025, while the industry platform Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event runs 14–21 November 2025.

18 Holes to Paradise (Portugal, Italy, Argentina), dir. João Nuno Pinto

Duality (Iran), dir. Abbas Nezamdoost

Hungarian Wedding (Hungary), dir. Csaba Káel

LifeLike (Turkey, Greece, Romania), dir. Ali Vatansever

Mira (Morocco), dir. Nour Eddine Lakhmari

No Comment (Norway), dir. Petter Næss

Sisa (Philippines), dir. Jun Robles Lana

The Dashed Lines (Spain), dir. Anxos Fazáns

The Frog and the Water (Germany), dir. Thomas Stuber

The Good Daughter (Spain), dir. Júlia de Paz Solvas

The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat (Japan), dir. Yukihiro Morigaki

The Moon is a Father of Mine (Luxembourg, Turkey, Georgia, Germany, Czechia, Bulgaria), dir. George Ovashvili

The Muralist (Mongolia), dir. Sengedorj Janchivdorj

The Stories (Austria, France, Belgium, Egypt, Sweden), dir. Abu Bakr Shawky

Think of England (United Kingdom), dir. Richard Hawkins

Veins (Canada), dir. Raymond St-Jean

Versalles (Mexico), dir. Andrés Clariond