After 16 days of PÖFF, it was time to give out the Black Nights Film Festival Awards 2024. The ceremony took place tonight in Tallinn. As I stated in my introductory piece, there are several festival sections, meaning there is no lack of awards.
Black Nights Film Festival Awards The Official Selection
In the most prestigious strand, the Grand Prix was given to Silent City Driver by Sengedorj Janchivdorj. The film was bestowed with a second award for Munkbhat Shirmen’s Production Design. This is the perfect choice for one of the most impressive films of the year. After watching the press screening on Thursday, I went back in the evening and watched the premiere as well. I am unsure when I saw a film twice the same day before, but it might have been Stalker in Stockholm in 1981. Incidentally, sections of Stalker were shot a stone’s throw away from the Apollo Cinema, where the bulk of the festival screenings are held.
The jury’s statement of the film is telling. “This dark fairy tale from Mongolia took us by surprise. From the very first shot on, we felt the sensation of a film breaking new ground. Silent City Driver is a very stylish film, but style here is substance; the formal choices are not used to divert but to deepen this very cinematic universe, populated by unique characters, bigger than life, but very, very human.” I couldn’t agree more.
The jury was headed by German director Christopher Hochhäusler. His latest film, La mort viendra, was screened in the German focus section. I was lucky enough to conduct an interview with him, which will be published shortly. That goes for the talk with the cinematographer and the scriptwriter of Silent City Driver as well.
Best Director went to Nir Bergman for Pink Lady. The prize for Best Actress was shared by Pirjo Lonka and Elina Knihtilä for their roles as sisters in the Finnish 100 Litres of Gold. Lee Hyo-Je was given the award for Best Actor for his part in The Loop. Seyefettin Tokmaks’ Empire of the Rabbits was the second film in the competition to win two awards. Best Cinematography went to Claudia Becerril Bulos, while the prize for Best Script was given to the director. Finally, the award for Best Original Score was given to Alyana Cabral and Moe Cabral for Some Nights I Feel Like Walking.
First Feature
No Dogs Allowed by Steve Bache won the Best Film award in this section. Diego Figueroa won the prize for Best Director for A Yard of Jackalls. A Jury Special Prize was given to the cast of Mongrels, whereas the Jury Special Prize for the director went to Edgardo Pistone for Ciao Bambino. Mongrels won the FIPRESCI Award as well.
Baltic Film
The Baltic Film strand has two awards. Southern Chronicles was named Best Film, while Laurynas Bareiša won for Best Director for Drowning Dry.
Rebel With A Cause
In one of the most exciting sections, the award for Best Film went to Protected Men by Irene von Alberti. Ruiqi Lu won the prize for Best Director for Contact Lens. A film that gives more than a nod to Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. The award for Best Short was presented to Additional Scenes by Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk.
Critics’ Picks
This section focused on genre films this year, but the jury managed to find some films to award. The prize for Best Film went to The Brothers Kitaura by Masaki Tsujino. It was a particular pleasure to watch Dechen Roder’s sophomore feature I, the Song, which was given a highly earned award for Best Director. Finally, Fishgirl by Javier Cutrona was given a Special Mention.
Doc@PÖFF
For the first time, Black Nights (locally named PÖFF) has a documentary competition curated by Marianna Kaat, the director of last year’s The Last Relic. Grand Prix for the Best Film went to The Watchman. The prize for Best Cinematography went to Linas Žiūra for Murmuring Hearts. The Jury Special Prize was given to Takashi Sugimoto for Black Gold.
Among other awards, one can’t fail to mention the Lifetime Achievement Award given to Georgian director Lana Gogoberidze. Some might find this award premature since the director reached the tender age of 96 one month ago and is actually working on a new project. Nevertheless, it was another amply earned award.
The festival ends tomorrow with screenings of several of the winners. Personally, I am excited about the Main Prize and some other awards as well. My view on these and other films will follow in later Black Nights Film Festival reports. Stay tuned for several reviews and interviews.
The full list of the winners with even more comments can be found on the festival’s webpage here.