Black Nights Festival Draws Record Audiences
A record-breaking number of moviegoers - 70,000 - attended Tallinn's Black Nights Film Festival, which drew to a close over the weekend.
In total, 260 feature films from around the world were shown to the Estonian public.
The festival’s grand prize, with 10,000-euro award, was given to Hong Kong director Ann Hui for her drama film "A Simple Life."
Recognized as the best Baltic films were "33 Animals of Santa Claus" by Latvian director Laila Pakalnina and "Barzakh" by Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravicius.
According to event organizers, some of the most-visited films were "Elena" by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev; "We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Scottish-born Lynne Ramsay; and "The Artist" by French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius.
"Considering the support that foreign film professionals have expressed toward the viability of Estonia's [film] culture, it is possible that future audience records will be set with the help of visitors from neighboring countries and even further," said Tiina Lokk, head organizer of the festival.
Ingrid Teesalu