Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival celebrates Finland – Jörn Donner awarded for lifetime achievements

Midnight Sun Film Festival brings light to the Black Nights of Tallinn! Tallinn’s ongoing Black Nights Film Festival screens a breathtaking 48-hour marathon of old classics and modern time cult gems with additional events such as mobile sauna, live music by the “Aki Kaurismäki band” Poutahaukat, karaoke and of course dancing to old disco hits.

Movie marathon is part of Finland 100 Years – Through the Eyes of Cinema tour and draws a picture of versatile and surprising spiritual landscape of Finnish mentality.

The artistic director of the Midnight Sun Film Festival Timo Malmi says: “For the first time ever, for the first time anywhere: Finnish Cult Films – for 48 hours. The most titillating Finnish films of all time, for two days straight!

This event is inspired by the centenary of Finland’s independence, the exact date being 6 December 2017. Thanks to Tiina Lokk’s inspiring proposal The Midnight Sun Film Festival, organized in Sodankylä, Lapland for 32 years now, has prepared a unique overview into the developments in Finnish Cult Film to be screened in Tallinn.

Which cult films? We have focused on feature fiction films. For PÖFF, we have picked a wide variety of fan favourites representing an array of genres, and films that have at times found only marginal acclaim.

For this celebration, the concept of ‘cult film’ has been expanded ‘to the ends of the Earth’: unlike the commonly defined notion of cult films as a niche favourite, many of these films and their stars have also become loved by the public at large and a part of the lasting mental landscape of the 100-year-old Finland.

From the Lappish magic of The White Reindeer and Aki Kaurismäki’s distinct depictions of Finns of few words to Jörn Donner’s runic documentary Perkele! or the porn factory of Portrait of Women. From the fallen women of Teuvo Tulio to triumphal performances by Kati Outinen and Matti Pellonpää, from the madness of the The Collector all the way to the heat of the Sauna – a hefty dose of Finnish cult cinema for our kindred nation to indulge!”

The grand old man of Finnish cinema, writer, producer, director, politician Jörn Donner, is awarded at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival for his lifetime achievements. Donner (84) has produced nearly 60 films including Ingmar Bergman‘s Fanny & Alexander which won four Oscars in 1984, including Best Foreign Language Film. Donner collected the award together with Bergman’s wife Ingrid von Rosen.

OHJELMA / PROGRAMME

PERJANTAI / FRIDAY 24.11.

21:00–22:05 Pidä huivista kiinni, Tatjana! / Hold on to your Scarf, Tatjana!
22:15–00:00 Arvottomat / The Worthless
00:15–01:47 Kreivi / The Count
02:00–03:07 Viimeiset rotannahat / Raw, Medium, Welldone
03:30–04:56 Kuutamosonaatti / The Moonlight Sonate

LAUANTAI / SATURDAY 25.11.

09:00–10:39 Kaasua, komissario Palmu / Gas, Inspector Palmu!
10:50–12:30 Rakkauden risti / Cross of Love
12:45–14:45 Täältä tullaan elämä! / Right On, Man!
15:00–16:30 Käpy selän alla / Skin Skin
16:45–18:15 Naisenkuvia / Portray of Women
18:30–20:10 Mies vailla menneisyyttä / Man Without a Past
20:30–22:10 Räpsy ja Dolly / Dolly and Her Lover
22:30–00:10 Neitoperho / The Collector
00:30–02:00 Sauna / Wash Your Sins
02:15–03:50 Sensuela
04:00–05:20 Calamari Union

SUNNUNTAI / SUNDAY 26.11.

10:00–11:30 Loviisa, Niskavuoren nuori emäntä / Loviisa, The Young Mistress of Niskavuori
11:45–13:15 Varastettu kuolema / The Stolen Death
13:30–15:30 Jäniksen vuosi / The Year of a Hare
15:45–16:45 Valkoinen peura / The White Reindeer
17:00–18:45 Tuhlaajapoika / The Prodical Son
19:00–20:00 Onnen maa / The Land of Happiness

 

OHEISOHJELMA / SIDE PROGRAM

LAUANTAI / SATURDAY 25.11.
16:00–22:00 Liikkuvat saunat lämmitetty sisäpihassa / Mobile saunas heated in the courtyard
20:30–21:00 Marko Haavisto & Poutahaukat live
21:00–22:30 Finnhits Karaoke
22:30–23:00 Marko Haavisto & Poutahaukat live
23:00 Finnhits Karaoke