The Tallinn Black Nights, the only A-festival in the Nordic-Baltic area, has another large German presence at their 24th edition (13 – 29 November, 2020): productions and co-productions from Germany have been programed in both the Main Competition and the First Feature Competition. Moreover, there will be In Focus: New German Cinema at the festival. Aaron Hilmer (THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD, THE LAST WORD) was selected for the BLACK NIGHTS STARS program for young actors.  

MODELL OLIMPIA by Frédéric Hambalek is screening in the First Feature Competition. The drama centres on a desperate mother who has designed a strange plan to help her son. The young man suffers from a destructive fantasy life revolving around death and violence. Disturbed by his own desires, he wants to become a better person. Together with his mother, he begins the therapy programme she has devised herself. But things start falling apart when a young neighbour is enlisted in this program without her knowledge.

The directorial debut by Moritz Bleibtreu, CORTEX, is screening in the Rebel with a Cause competition: two men, two lives, a fateful encounter: Hagen suffers from irregular phases of sleep in which he can no longer differentiate between dream and reality. The troubled relationship with his wife is increasingly suffering from this with each day passing. Her affair with a small-time crook sets off a chain of disturbing events which drastically changes the lives of both men. 

Numerous German films and co-productions have been programed in the festival's other sections: CAGED BIRDS by Oliver Rihs, a minority co-production with Switzerland, is in the festival's Main Competition. UNDINE by Christian Petzold can be seen in the Screen International sidebar and MADISON by Kim Strobl in Just Film.

The festival's In Focus: New German Cinema is a cooperation with the Goethe-Institut in Tallinn. The sidebar's opening film is ENFANT TERRIBLE by Oskar Roehler about the iconic German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Aaron Hilmer is now the third German talent after Louis Hofmann in 2017 and Maria Dragus in 2019 to be a part of the festival's BLACK NIGHTS STARS program showcasing young acting talent. Together with five other actors, Aaron Hilmer will participate in a three-day program including speed dating with international casting directors, an industry talk and a workshop as part of the initiative.

The complete list of all of the German films and co-productions showing at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival can be found here…