Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival in Estonian, BNFF for short) is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. BNFF is the only festival in the Nordic and Baltic region with a FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Association) accreditation for holding an international competition programme in the Nordic and Baltic region with 14 other major festivals, such as Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Karlovy Vary, Warsaw and San Sebastian. With over 250 feature films screened each year and over 77500 attendances (2014), BNFF is one of the biggest film festivals of Northeastern Europe and cultural events in Estonia in the winter season.

The Festival runs three competitive programs - International Competition, The Tridens First Film Competition and The Tridens Estonian Feature competition. The top prize of the festival is the Golden Wolf, given to the director and producer of the best film of the International Competition programme. Also, the festival hosts several non-competitive programmes, including the Screen International Critics' Choice, as well as several retrospectives, a panorama of the best films of the year, and other special programmes.

Concurrently with the festival takes place Industry@Tallinn, the annual summit of film industry events of Black Nights Film Festival, Baltic Event co-production market, and in 2015 the European Film Forum Tallinn, organised in partnership with European Commission. Industry @ Tallinn comprises the international Sales and Distributors Meeting Point, European Genre Forum - a creative camp for genre professionals for project and skills development - and two works in progress panels: the presentations of regional upcoming films from Baltic, Finnish and old CIS countries and international screenings ranging from Asia to Latin America.

The unique umbrella structure includes 3 sub-festivals taking part concurrently with the main programme: Children’s and Youth Film Festival Just Film, Animation Film Festival Animated Dreams, International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers . In addition BNFF organises two smaller film festivals: Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival and Tartu Love Film Festival tARTuFF.

##History

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (film) in Estonia,Festivals by Estonia, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (film),Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (film)-,
2014 Tallinn Black Nights Grand Prix winner Gust van den Berghe

When it began in 1997, BNFF was principally a showcase for Nordic film, but as the festival has grown it has dramatically expanded its overview. In 2010 the festival held the European Film Awards ceremony in Tallinn. Today BNFF is one of the largest film events in Northern Europe. During its 18th edition in 2015 the festival screened more than 500 films (including 250+ feature-length films), bringing over 835 screenings to an audience of over 77,500 people as well as over 649 accredited guests and journalists from 50 different countries. BNFF was recognised by FIAPF in 2011 and upgraded in 2014 as a festival entitled to run an international competitive feature film programme, a privilege seen by only 14 other festivals in the world.

Notable filmmakers, actors and industry professionals that have visited BNFF include Aki Kaurismäki, Jos Stelling, Jan Troell, Catherine Breillat, Roy Andersson, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Neil Jordan, Philip Glass, Lukas Moodysson, Michael Nyman, Jerzy Stuhr, Tom Schilling, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Isaach de Bankole, Fiona Shaw, Sergei Loznitsa and Olga Kurylenko.

##Awards

International Competition

  • Grand Prix (Golden Wolf) for the Best Film shared by the director and producer
  • Wolf for the Best Director
  • Wolf for the Best Cinematography
  • Wolf for the Special Jury Prize
  • Wolf for the Best Actor
  • Wolf for the Best Actress

The Tridens First Feature Competition

  • The Tridens Award for the Best First Feature shared by the director and producer
  • Wolf for the Best Cinematography

The Tridens Estonian FIlm Competition

  • The Tridens Award for Best Estonian Feature shared by the director and producer

Additional Awards for full-length films

  • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Audience Award
  • International Federation of Film Societies (FICC) Award
  • Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award
  • International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award
  • Cross Religion award presented by Spiritual leaders of largest congregations in Estonia

##Industry@Tallinn

BNFF's industry programme, consisting of Industry@Tallinn industry summit and Baltic Event regional co-production film market, is a platform aiming to connect Northeastern Europe with Asia, the US and South America. It hosts 450+ industry guests annually. The 2015 edition of Industry @ Tallinn will include screenings of works in progress, Sales Agents and Distributors Meeting Point, European Genre Forum, a digitech showcase for regional media, film and entertainment startups and services and European Film Forum, hosted in co-operation with the European Commission.

##Baltic Event film and co-production market

The largest regional film market, and place to meet the Baltic film industry.[citation needed]

##Sub-festivals

  • Animated Dreams – Animation Film Festival. Official website www.anima.ee

Animated Dreams has established itself as the biggest animation film festival in northeast Europe, screening an international competition of short animations alongside non-competitive programmes, filmmaker retrospectives and country focus. It has the following programmes: international competition programme of short and medium-length animated films; non-competitive informative programmes, retrospectives and special presentations; full-length animation programme.

  • Just Film – Children and Youth Film Festival. Official website www.justfilm.ee

Just Film is the biggest children and youth film festival in the region. The festival includes a competitive programme with €3000 grant for the best youth film (shared by the director and producer), children's rights programme and a special programme for documentaries. The festival is truly designed for its young audiences; the best films are selected by juries of local youngsters whilst the festival blog is created by young film critics who post their daily reviews of the films.

  • Sleepwalkers – International Short Film Festival. Official website www.swff.ee

The International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers is the biggest short film festival in Estonia, running the following programmes: International Competition programme of short and medium-length films made by film or media students; International Competition programme of short and medium-length films; International Competition programme of short and medium-length from countries from the Baltic Sea region (Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden); National Competition programme of Estonian short and medium-length films; Non-competitive film programmes, retrospectives and special presentations.

##19th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival: 13 to 29 November 2015

  • Black Nights Film Festival main programme, 13–29 November
  • Student and Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers, 17–21 November
  • Animation Film Festival Animated Dreams, 18–22 November
  • Industry@Tallinn, 16–22 November
  • Children's and Youth Film Festival Just Film, 13–22 November
  • Baltic Event Film Co-Production market, 16–18 November
  • European Film Forum, 18–19 November