On Friday, November 7, the only A-class festival in Northern Europe will begin in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, where this year Latvian films have been selected for both competitions and participation in the industry shttps://poff.ee/en/film/dog-of-god/ection Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event..
Published: 07.11.2025.
The Tallinn Film Festival Black Nights / Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival (PÖFF) is taking place for the 29th time this year (founded in 1997), it is one of the largest film industry events in Northern Europe. In 2024, more than 93,000 filmgoers and 1700 accredited guests from 65 countries attended the Tallinn Festival, this year the program includes 252 feature films and 275 short films from 79 countries.
This year, Latvia is widely represented in both feature film and documentary film competitions, and chronologically the first festival viewers will be met by films selected for the documentary film competition Doc@PÖFF Baltic Competition. Director Laila Pakalniņa's latest documentary Scarecrows / Putnubiedēkļi, made in the studio VFS Films together with cameraman Māris Maskalāns, producer Uldis Cekulis and editing director Ieva Veiveryte, in cooperation with Lithuanian colleagues in the Moonmakers studio, has been selected as the opening film of this competition with the world premiere screening already on November 8; In Latvia, this story about "airport rangers" will hit the screens early next year.
In the documentary film competition there will also the international premiere (November 11) for documentary The Last Will / Testaments, by Jānis Ābele which is already familiar to Latvian filmgoers, and from November 11, film about his native Ukrainian city Lviv Time to the Target / Laiks līdz mērķim by Vitaly Mansky will also be shown. Closer to the end of the festival, from November 20, another international co-production with Latvian participation will be shown in Tallinn – by Lithuanian director Aiste Žegulīte - Holy Destructors, the Latvian side is represented by Studio Locomotive, producers Roberts Vinovskis and Dominiks Jarmakovičs.
Another documentary film program Best of Docs includes a co-production of the Latvian studio VFS Films with Norway, a film by director Mortens Travik with the involvement of significant Latvian film professionals – North South Man Woman, which has just premiered in Latvia in the program of the Riga IFF festival.
Eight feature films have been selected for the Baltic Film Competition, for which participants are selected by international experts, four of which have been worked by Latvian film professionals. The world premiere of the second feature film by director Alice Zariņa with the international name Flesh, Blood, Even a Heart / Nospiedumi, starring Ieva Segliņa, will have its world premiere on the Latvian national holiday, November 18. A day later, on November 19, the international premiere is planned for the already very popular crime drama Red Code Blue / Tumšzilais Evaņgēlijs by Oskars Rupenheits.
This competition also includes two international co-productions with Latvian participation – in the Lithuanian, Czech and Latvian co-production Hunger Hunger Strike Breakfast (directed by Karolis Kaupinis) with the participation of the Latvian studio Tasse Film and producer Aija Bērziņa, Ernests Ansons worked on the sound of the film, and Matīss Čudars worked on the music design. Meanwhile, in the Lithuanian, Latvian and Belgian co-production Renovation (directed by Gabriele Urbonaite), the Latvian side is represented by the studio Mima Films, producers Alise Rogule and Dominiks Jarmakovičs, the film's editing director is Armands Začs, the composer is Edvards Broders, the filming of which in Latvia was coordinated by the studio White Picture, Aldis Meinerts participated in the work of the film's artists, the role in the film is also played by the Latvian actor Andris Keišs.
The full-length animated film Dog of God / Dieva Suns which was highly praised at the festival already at the project stage, is also returning to Tallinn – this year the film is included in the program of brave films Midnight Shivers (screenings from November 17).
Many different programs at the Tallinn Festival are dedicated to the short film format, and Latvia is also represented there – the selection of the festival this year includes Where does the sun sleep at night? / Kur saulīte nakti guļ? by Ildze Felsberga, Centre of the Spiral by Dāvis Gauja and animated short film Cleaninless by Andrejs Brīvulis; form the director Reinis Ūbelis short No No Place Hotel will have its world premiere, and also short film by Ieva Lība Ratniece Wandering Dot and the Blank Square Page Universe made in cooperation with Belgium).
On Sunday, November 9, a very special anniversary program is planned, which is also closely related to Latvia and its filmgoers for several generations now – the 25th birthday is celebrated by the dog girl Lote, whose first film was released in Estonia in 2000, but since 2006 Lotte's adventures have continued in three feature films, and all were made by the Estonian studio Joonisfilm in cooperation with the Latvian film studio Rija, all of them are also well known to Latvian children – Lotte from Gadgetville (2006), Lote and the Moonstone Secret (2011), Lote and the Lost Dragons (2019).
From November 14 to November 21, the film industry events section of the Tallinn Festival Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event will take place, the view of which is focused on the future – this week the focus will be on projects of upcoming films and almost finished films, which will look for possible partners, distributors, festival curators on various platforms, film professionals will meet in various workshops, film market screenings and other events important for the industry. Also in this section, the participation of Latvian film professionals is planned to a significant extent, more detailed information will follow.
The industry events section of the Tallinn Film Festival will end on 21 November, with the last screenings for the audience on 23 November.