Croatian films at ‘Black Nights’ Film Festival in Tallinn
The ‘Black Nights’ Film Festival in Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn, running from November 13th to 29th will screen the animated minority co-production Life with Herman H. Rott by Chintis Lundgren in its official international competition, while additional programmes will feature Dalibor Matanić’s The High Sun, and the Croatian minority co-production Sparrows by Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson, as well as Matija Pisačić’s Choban. A few days later, Tallinn will also host the International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers, which will feature the animated short film The Marjan Hill Day, written and directed by Igor Jelinović, in the official competition.
The minority co-production Life with Herman H. Rott, featuring traditional animation, is about a rat named Herman H. Rott who lives alone in his messy flat. The film is being screened in the international competition, but also in the new Estonian animation programme. Chintis Lundgren directed and animated the film, as well as co-wrote the film with Draško Ivezić. The film is produced by the Estonian Chintis Lundgreni Animatsioonstuudio, Adriatic Animation from Pula, the Artistic Organisation Anima in Zagreb, and Danish GoodJobStudios. Life with Herman H. Rott has been screened at numerous international festivals and has won several awards and prizes from both the juries and the public.
Dalibor Matanić’s feature film The High Sun, and Croatian minority co-production Sparrows, by Icelandic film director Rúnar Rúnarsson, will be screened in the Panorama programme which features a selection of the best current festival films. Sparrows will also be shown in the Just Film programme. The animated film Choban, by Matija Pisačić, will be screened in the Animated Dreams programme under the section ‘Special screenings: Future Mythologies’.
The Marjan Hill Day, written and directed by Igor Jelinović and produced by Blank from Zagreb, will be screened at the International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers. The film focuses on the impossibility of communication between two people who, not so long ago, were close; the actors improvise through a directed yet uncontrolled film setting. The lead roles are played by Ana Ledenko and Josip Lukić, the cinematographer is Marko Jerbić, the editor Vedran Senjanović, and the producer is Dario Juričan. The film is co-financed by the City of Split, while Kino Klub Split and Metronom Association are the co-producers. The International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers, running from November 17th to 21st, has been held since 2000, and is a part of Tallinn’s Black Nights Festival. It is organized by the Baltic Film and Media School of Tallinn, and is the only short film and student film festival in Estonia.
The 14th edition of the coproduction market Baltic Event, which will be held from November 16th to 18th in Tallinn as a part of the Black Nights Festival, will feature the feature film project A Somewhat Better Ending, directed by Miha Knific and produced by Nukleus Film. The market will present 12 projects from 11 European countries. A Somewhat Better End is based on the book by Bekim Serjanović. The screenwriter is Marjan Alčevski and the producer is Siniša Juričić.
The 19th edition of the Black Nights Film Festival – the most important Baltic festival – will screen 227 feature films from 79 countries. The festival will open with the legendary film My Grandmother, directed by Kote Mikaberidze, and will close with renowned Japanese animator Mamoru Hosoda’s The Boy and The Beast. All other festival details are available on their official website.
Cover photos: scenes from The Marjan Hill Day and Life with Herman H. Rott
