“This film festival is my baby,” says Tiina Lokk, director and founder of the Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival (POFF). 2016 year marks the 20thanniversary since its inception, and since 2014 it stands alongside such established and prestigious 'A' status festivals as Venice, Berlin and Cannes. A total of 14 film festivals in the world can claim this much-coveted title awarded by the FIAPF.

At a cocktail reception held by the HFPA to honor the festival, Lokk says, “We're the youngest in the group of A status festivals, but for a small country we have an extensive program. Most of the other countries have a big industry supporting them with a big market, but the Estonian film industry is, of course, very small.”

Among those who attended the cocktail event at HFPA headquarters (including the POFF’s Hollywood rep, Eleonora Granata Jenkinson) was Ivo Felt, who produced Tangerines and The Fencer both of whom received Golden Globes nominations for Foreign Language Film in 2014 and 2o15 respectively. Both films previously showed in Tallinn. Felt sang the praises of this small but emerging institution. “The Estonian Film Festival is now regarded as a serious event,” Felt said, “Tiina started with 25 films and now puts on 250 in competition. She has done a huge thing for Estonia. And with the award nominations in the last two years, it makes a nice package, a real platform for the festival.”

Ivo Felt

HFPA

He continued:  “We are co-producing a lot because we have such little money and are mainly financed by the government, like most European countries that film foreign language movies, though with the success of the last two years the government has raised its support a little bit.”

It's not only monetary success that the festival is now enjoying. “Last year was the first year that the Cannes Film Festival was looking for material from Estonia,” Felt says, proudly. “They asked us, 'Do you have any films?'It doesn't happen very often that Cannes would be asking us. We are really blossoming.”

Held in November 11 – 27, the festival is diverse in its content, focusing primarily on European films. “Aside from 250 full-length feature films,” explains Lokk, “there are documentaries as wells as 300 student movies and animation films.” The festival also serves as a host of sub-festivals such as the Children's and Youth Film Festival Just Film, Animation Film Festival, Dreams International, Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers. “We show very different kinds of films, which makes our festival interesting,” she says,  “It's also a gateway for the Scandinavian countries, as well as Russia. It's a great combination and a win-win situation for everyone.”

The level of awareness and interest surrounding Estonia is not merely confined to world of film: the country of 1.3 million is fast becoming a travel destination for myriad reasons. Lokk offers, “Estonia invented Skype and we are viewed by many as the Silicon Valley of Europe. If you're a small country, then you have to think much bigger. It's sometimes easier to get things done because you can often get decisions made much faster.”

Likewise for Lokk, has taken the idea of 'thinking big,' literally, and her efforts in making the POFF what it is today have been nothing short of a Herculean task. Says Felt, “I've seen a big change. When Tiina started it, it was literally just a village, but she has been so passionate about it and she has scouted everywhere for films. She has developed it and [the success] is all because of her. The festival director is the most important person, and gives it a base and a soul. Tina has grown it from nothing to Category A.”

Unlike Cannes or Venice, held in the summer months, Felt says of Tallinn's less commercial appeal, “Yes, it's November, which isn't the best month for some European countries, but everything lights up in Tallinn and it has a very warm atmosphere. It's very cozy. It's full of festival guests, and the local people of Estonia go out to the cinemas. We screen many many films and so we love it and everyone loves the festival time. Unofficially people are meeting agents and other film people in the business.”