There’s an honesty to the realm of documentary cinema that resists the artifice and narrative flourish of other forms, which is why I am particularly interested in the selection that lies ahead. I have reviewed films from the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival for several years, including the entire First Feature Competition in 2023. This year I’m in charge of a brand new competitive strand: Doc@PÖFF. Let me share my first impressions of the selection with you!
What’s most apparent on first read is that the films on display are confident in their topic choice. The breadth of the features is impressive, not least because it shows there are many ways to produce a movie based on authentic events, but also because it deepens the meaning of cinema. Some of the works are based on taboo subjects, others veer for more conventional regions: a tent where participants can join in, without pandering to some zero sum economy.
The films in question? With My Open Lungs (Yana Sad) is set to explore Russian-Ukrainian relations in a manner that is more objective and cognisant of the recent history which has surrounded the conflict.Murmuring Hearts will explore the epidemic of addiction, balancing the pastoral countryside with the urgency of redemption from the drugs that have trapped them. Freight was filmed over four years, making this a labour of love for the filmmakers, who have imparted their literal energy – as well as their creative ones – to the project. Trains promises to take a path previously trodden by Kevin MacDonald on One to One: John & Yoko (2023), as it utilises archival footage in the hope of coming up with a whole. Ms.President waves a flag for feminism, by piecing a work based on Slovakia’s first female president. These features focus on human survival and determination in the face of great upheaval.
Some films investigate family connections in a changing global environment. Never Too Late peers at the bonds of marriage: questioning the poles that keep it afloat. And then there’s Black Gold (Takashi Sugimoto), a work set in the heart of India, where family and local customs coincide with more contemporary and modern expectations. Full Support (Michal Cohen) proposes a diaristic depiction of clothing in an intimate domicile, bringing viewers headfirst into the realm and mindset of a woman.
Some films suggest an audacious approach because they posit an alternative view on humanity from a marginalised sect. Ice Aged powers on headfirst into the realm of ice-skating and snow sports, decorating viewers with a work that is human in its resolve; The Watchman (Victoire Bonin) shares a name with an Alan Moore novel, but the subject matter sounds totally different, as it explores the Beijing Academy of Music.
Documentary sensibility often extrapolates the genre. Jordan Peele described Get Out (2017), the film which netted him an Academy Award, as a “documentary”, suggesting that horror cinema benefits from the crossover genre. The imprint is palpable: a product that should be viewed for foibles and grandeur on its own merits. The diversity is palpable from the summaries alone; the richness of documentary stems from the realisation of the wealth. I watched one documentary at the 2023 festival, Vitaliy Mansky and Yevhen Titarenko’s Eastern Front, which was constructed from hand-held camerawork in an effort to bring viewers into the war at hand. A taste of the eleven set? That I will tell in in a few weeks.
What’s wonderful about the genre is its malleability. A documentary can be captured on a mobile phone, much as it can be portrayed via camcorder as well as a crew of hundreds. This is a genre that can easily escape the confines of budget. It is the power of the people onscreen who deliver the impact. It’s been done beautifully before, it will be done brilliantly again, and I’ve little doubt it will be accomplished this year in Estonia.
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Here is a full list of the films:
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