'Backstage Madness' Courtesy of PÖFF Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment The 29th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) in Estonia is kicking off on Friday, screening new arthouse discoveries and highlights from the fest circuit of the past year.
Festival head Tiina Lokk and her team have lined up world premieres and gems from the Baltic region, along with a selection of movies from beyond.
Among the titles are some that at first glance sound particularly edgy, offbeat, maybe even outlandish. After all, Lokk likes to shine a spotlight on more challenging fare.
With that in mind, here's THR's look at some of the more unusual-sounding films that PÖFF 2025 will unspool. Electing Ms Santa - a woman in Moldova has big political dreamsDoc@PÖFF International Competition Related Stories Business ITV Eyes $46M in Cost Savings as it Forecasts 9 Percent Q4 Ad Drop Amid "Softer Demand" TV Sarah Snook on Why She Opted for 'All Her Fault' After 'Succession': "I Can't Top That, So Finding Something Different Was Really Important" Moldova is in talks to join the European Union, but one woman in a remote village chases her own political ambitions. 'Electing Ms Santa' Raisa Răzmeriță's debut film Electing Ms Santa is an observational documentary that follows Elena, 42, who organizes community clean-ups, supports lonely elders, and each year dons a Santa Claus costume to bring joy to her neighbors. "But beneath the suit, Elena is driven by ambition and a desire to shake things up," according to a synopsis. "Her dream? To become mayor." Filmed over seven years, the doc shows Elena searching for her place in life. Highlights the PÖFF website: "Facing pressure from her family and resistance from her community, she defies the prescribed roles of mother, daughter, wife, and tradition itself in pursuit of her own happiness and purpose." Watch the trailer for Electing Ms Santa here. The Baronesses are serving up Hamlet in BrusselsRebels With a Cause Competition Not only Ms Santa has dreams. So do the four grandmothers who decide to perform Hamlet in The Baronesses (Les Baronesses) co-directed by Nabil Ben Yadir and his mother, Mokhtaria Badaoui. 'The Baronesses' Ben Yadir returns to the neighborhood, in which his 2009 debut film The Barons (Les Barons) was set, a comedy and love letter to his Brussels neighborhood. "Fatima lives with her family in Molenbeek, Brussels, waiting patiently for a new home in the Maghreb region," reads a synopsis for the movie. "When her hopes are dashed, she decides to follow her old dream of performing Shakespeare in a theater." The Tallinn festival website promises "empowerment, fun and magic realism." Scarecrows uncovers the hidden world of animals at Riga International AirportDoc@PÖFF Baltic Competition Humans and wildlife share the same runways at the airport in Latvia's capital Riga, filmmaker Laila Pakalniņa's new movie shows. 'Scarecrows' The creative has shown a knack for the surreal and absurdist in her fiction features, shorts, and documentaries. "Beneath the roar of jet engines and the rush of passengers, an unassuming team of 'runway rangers' wages a constant, high-stakes and sometimes comical battle with nature itself," reads a festival synopsis of Scarecrows. "Armed with flare guns, nets, and sheer determination, they spend long hours honking horns and chasing rabbits and birds across the runways, even contending with the occasional lost worm." Unless you have a plane to catch, check out a look at Scarecrows in the trailer below. Interior may make you look twice next time you sit down on your couchFirst Feature Competition You may not want to watch this one before going to sleep. After all, a synopsis asks: "Are you really sure you know what happens in your house when you lock the door?" 'Interior' The debut feature from Germany's Pascal Schuh tells the story of Kasimir, a burglar who uses a couch with a secret compartment to break into people's homes and covertly film their private moments. He makes the recordings for Dr. Liebermann, who watches them in what the PÖFF website describes as "a ritual-like study of human emotions." It also calls the film a "voyeuristic cinematic journey that makes the viewer question the thin line between abuse and being abused, morality and empathy, tenderness and the strangeness of human experience." With all that said, you might want to get mentally ready before you watch the Interior trailer. My Family and Other Clowns wants to show us that clowns can also trip up at homeDoc@PÖFF Baltic Competition Coulrophobics will want to jump straight to the next entry. Others may want to check out this Estonian observational documentary to see if it has the "it" factor - without the "It" factor. 'My Family and Other Clowns' "Life is complicated when your parents are world-famou