Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival announces the line-ups of seven juries that will be evaluating the five competition programmes. The awards will be announced at the festival’s Award Ceremony, which takes place on the 18th of November.
Check out full jury line-ups here HERE.
Official Selection Competition
The jury is headed by the Danish actress, singer-songwriter and director Trine Dyrholm. She has around 70 roles in films and TV series, and dozens of awards and nominations both in Denmark and abroad. In 2016, Dyrholm won The Silver Bear for the Best Actress in Thomas Vinterberg's The Commune, and her role in Queen of Hearts (2019, dir.May el-Toukhy), has been widey acclaimed. At PÖFF 2023, she presents Birthday Girl, directed by Michael Noer.
John Altman is a film composer, arranger, conductor, and saxophonist whose numerous awards include Emmy, BAFTA, Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe. He has created scores for Life of Brian, Titanic, and the James Bond film Goldeneye. Moreover, Altman has arranged for 19 Platinum Albums for artists such as George Michael, Tina Turner, Barry White, Rod Stewart, Björk, Diana Ross, Simple Minds, Tom Jones, and The Pretenders. His autobiography, Hidden Man, was published in 2022.
The director and professor Xie Fei graduated from the Beijing film school, and was the professor in the same school from 1965 to 2012. He has been awarded for Golden Bear (The Women from the Lake of Scented Souls, 1993) and Silver Bear (Black Snow, 1990). Xie Fei has taught remarkable Chinese directors such as Chen Kaige, Zhan Yimou, Jia Zhangke etc. Currently, he teaches and works as an art consultant for young filmmakers.
Hilmar Oddson, the Icelandic film director and screenwriter, was the rector of the Icelandic Film School from 2012 to 2017. With his warmly acclaimed film Driving Mum, he won The Grand Prix for the Best Film at PÖFF 2022.
The director Inna Sahakyan has been directing and producing documentaries, documentary series, and shorts. Her animated documentary about the Armenian Genocide survivor Aurora Mardiganyan, Aurora's Sunrise, screened at over 50 international festivals and scooped several awards. The film won the award for the Best Baltic Producer for Co-Production in the Baltic Film Competition at PÖFF 2022.
First Feature Competition
The head of the jury, Nicolás Celis, is the founder of the Mexico City based Pimienta Films. One of the most prestigious production companies in Latin America has worked with Alfonso Cuarón, Amat Escalante, James Franco, Tatiana Huezo etc.
Diana Iljine is a curator and the former head of Filmfestival München, and Filmschoolfest Munich. Over the years, she has received various awards, including the Bavarian Order of merit in October 2022.
Ran Huang, a chinese film director, screenwriter, and acclaimed artist, has BFA degree from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, and a MFA degree from Goldsmiths College, England. His short debut, Administration of Glory, premiered in the Short Film Competition at Cannes 2014. Huang's first feature, What Remains, premiered at Warsaw Film Festival 2022, and will also be screened at PÖFF 2023.
Ron Fogel is a senior film critic on Israeli radio and TV, and the member of the board of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. In 2021, he was the chairman of the FIPRESCI jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Since 2022, he has been an international voter for the Golden Globe Awards.
Radhika Madan is an Indian film and TV actress who primarly works in Hindi films. Presenting unique and refreshing characters, the young actress recently delivered a power-packed role in Disney+ Hotstar's series Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo. She had the leading role in Sudhansu Saria's Sanaa which premiered at PÖFF 2022.
Critics' Picks Competition
The head of the jury: Dina Iordanova (United Kingdom-Bulgaria)
Bahman Tavoosi (Iran-USA)
Jani Pösö (Finland)
Rebels With A Cause Competition
The head of the jury :Jim Stark (USA)
Andrius Blaževičius (Lithuania)
Mania Akbari (Iran)
Baltic Film Competition
Head of the jury: Eleanora Granata Jenkinson (USA)
Leon Prudovsky (Israel)
Ari Tan (USA)