'The Two Hornets' Courtesy of PÖFF The 30th anniversary edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) is kicking off on Nov. 6, screening all sorts of art house world premieres, new discoveries and highlights from the festival circuit of the past year.
Movies from the Baltic region, Europe, Asia and beyond will screen in the Estonian capital and look to create buzz.
Among the titles are some that at first glance sound particularly offbeat, even edgy or outlandish. After all, the programming team likes to offer up cinematic experiences that go beyond the mainstream and the safe.
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With all that in mind, THR has compiled a look at some of the more unusual-sounding films unspooling at PÖFF 2026 below.
Sinless Director: Attila Hartung Section: Official Competition
Hungarian director Hartung premiered his 2019 feature debut, FOMO, at Tallinn. Now, he returns with the world premiere of Sinless, which sounds like a tension-filled mix of The Godfather and Thanksgiving.
The director co-wrote the psychological thriller with horror novelist Attila Veres, so we likely want to get ready for a feast of menacing posing and fear. And it sounds like there are generations of crimes to uncover for a young man. But is he the hunter or the hunted?
‘Sinless’ film still, courtesy of PÖFF “Henrik (Márk Nagy) arrives at the Szentiványi family’s castle for a celebratory dinner,” a synopsis starts off rather calmly. “Wine fills the glasses, and Hungary’s powerful construction dynasty welcomes him into its carefully ordered world.”
But wait, here comes the thriller element! Henrik is no ordinary guest. “Only Anita (Anna Mészöly), his girlfriend and the family’s youngest daughter, suspects why he’s there,” the synopsis continues. “For generations, the Szentiványis have moved through the highest political and economic circles, leaving crimes and unspoken debts in their wake. As the evening unfolds, casual remarks sharpen, silences deepen, and every polished courtesy seems to carry another meaning. … At this table, innocence may be the most carefully rehearsed role of all.” If you are up for an appetizer and have nerves of steel, here’s the trailer.
The Two Hornets Director: Dominik György Section: Rebels With a Cause Competition The PÖFF website describes Slovakian director György’s feature debut as a solo director as a “daring queer story” and a “diverse, vibrant, chic, and quirky love and revenge thriller.” It even suggests that the creator has been influenced by Xavier Dolan, whose Mommy was shot in the same 1:1 square format that The Two Hornets is presented in.
Now get ready for the synopsis of this Tallinn world premiere: “Samo, a gay man facing an unplanned pregnancy with a woman overseas, reunites with his narcissistic mother at a remote forest cabin to confront their toxic past. Amidst a drug-fueled sexual affair with his former childhood bully, he struggles to decide if he should embrace fatherhood or break the cycle of inherited family sin.”
‘The Two Hornets’ Courtesy of PÖFF So far, so wild and so rated R, you say!? Wait for the kicker that less patient viewers may want to know about, given the movie’s running time of 3 hours and 8 minutes. In Samo’s warped reality, omnipresent hornets gain an evil power, forcing him to confront his mother in what could turn into a brutal showdown.
By the way: György could well target new records for multihyphenates. He not only wrote and directed The Two Hornets, but also produced it, handled cinematography and editing – plus, he has the music credit on the film. If you still need help to figure out if this one’s for you, check out a trailer here.
Crocodile Directors: Pietra Brettkelly, The Critics Section: Doc@Just Sticking with an animal theme for now, PÖFF’s Youth and Children’s Film Festival has some eyebrow-raising films on offer this year. One of them is Crocodile, which the fest website promotes this way: “A documentary about young Nigerians whose amateur sci-fi films have been praised even by the creator of Star Wars!” No, not George Lucas. But J.J. Abrams acknowledged their “brilliant, inventive” work and rallied Bad Robot’s Kate Webster to send the team a crate packed with professional filmmaking gear, cameras, and laptops.
The Critics is a collective of young filmmakers based in Kaduna, Nigeria, made up of friends and family members. And the crew has been making movies since childhood – with a phone, self-built sets and much imagination – even though power outages and everyday struggles may interfere with their work.
‘Crocodile,’ courtesy of PÖFF Courtesy of PÖFF “Over the years, their films begin to reach an international audience, forcing The Critics to face new opportunities, but also the challenges that come with responsibility,” the PÖFF website notes.
New Zealand filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly collaborated with the young creative team on Crocodile, which premiered at Berlin and is now bringing their DIY filmmaking spirit to Tallinn. Check out the trailer.
Love Exposed Director: Filip Remunda Section: Doc@PÖFF International Competition If you think that your family is complicated, just read the logline for this documentary, which is getting its world premiere at the Estonian festival: “He’s spent a lifetime photographing naked women. Now his daughter wants him to reveal himself.”
Blanka, a successful film editor, confronts her father, Vlastimil Kula, about his career as an “erotic photographer.” Teases a synopsis: “What follows is a series of encounters exploring her childhood, her father’s provocative legacy and decades of buried family history. The film captures a world that is eccentric, hilarious, uncomfortable and deeply touching, sometimes all at the same time, as Blanka attempts to understand their shared past and find a way to connect before it’s too late.”
‘Love Exposed’ film still – PÖFF – H 2026 The doc, filmed over four years, “takes an intimate, observational approach, getting up close to his characters and capturing brutally frank conversations, moments of vulnerability and unexpected tenderness,” the PÖFF website notes. “The film slowly reveals the layers of Kula, a man more comfortable with nudity than emotional openness.” Love Exposed comes from Czech doc maker Remunda, whose previous films have such titles as Czech Dream, which explored consumerism and media manipulation, Czech Peace, and Happiness to All, about a Russian vlogger, patriotic activist and record holder in cold water swimming who is gradually changing his mind about Putin’s Russia. Here’s a trailer for his new film.
Dice-Ching-O-Mat Director: Kristijonas Vildziunas Section: Baltic Film Competition
How’s this for a pitch? Yasujirō Ozu meets Christopher Nolan, and the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, the I Ching, meets retro sci-fi, with Lithuanian flavor added for an unusual mix. Welcome to Dice-Ching-O-Mat!
Dainius Gavenonis (Johatsu, The Southern Chronicles) stars as Vilis, a 55-year-old professor of Asian studies who has spent so much of his life focused on work that he has grown distant from his wife and three children and even forgotten their health problems.
‘Dice-Ching-O-Mat’ film still – PÖFF – H 2026 Now, he wakes up inside an elevator-like cube filled with an old TV set, a mysterious intercom, and riddles, such as “Who are you?” And he must roll dice to get a chance to go through moments from the life he has been too busy to notice. Oh yeah, and he must find the green door before it is too late.
In Lithuanian director Vildziunas’ (Songs for a Fox, Seneca’s Day) sixth feature, which recently premiered at the Warsaw International Film Festival, philosophical and sci-fi riddles may prove not to be as hard to solve as the mystery of human connection. Watch the Dice-Ching-O-Mat trailer here.
Sh*t Happens Director: José María Cabral Section: Official Competition You may mainly think of the Dominican Republic as a great destination for a holiday. But you may want to think again when you hear about the dark comedy cinematic export it is bringing to Tallinn for its world premiere.
Flush away all the negativity and potty like a rockstar with Sh*t Happens! “When science fails, trust your gut. Just don’t ask what the ‘miracle cure’ is made of,” reads a logline for the new film from Cabral, who has seen three of his films submitted for the best international feature film Oscar race, namely The Projectionist, an homage to pre-digital cinema as seen through the lens of an old-style traveling cinema owner, Woodpeckers, about an impossible romance between inmates at adjacent male and female prisons, and the thriller Checkmate.
‘Sh*t Happens’ film still – PÖFF – H 2026 In case you haven’t noticed yet, this movie is different. It tells the story of the people in a wealthy Dominican household. “Verónica (Lizbeth Santos) controls every bite eaten by her sickly daughter Isabella, while Raúl (Fele Martínez), a frustrated biotechnologist, experiments with homemade cures. Only Abi (Cindy Galán), the young nanny, can still make the girl smile,” explains a synopsis. “Then Raúl develops a microbiotic treatment with a secret ingredient as astonishing as its results. Isabella’s gut stabilizes, her strength returns – and soon the household’s other illnesses begin clearing up too.”
And word spreads. A remedy nobody can quite explain becomes the one thing everyone wants. But then the miracle takes an unexpected turn. You are likely smelling that you are in for a very different game of thrones. The trailer only gives you a minimal tease for the film.
Fruitcakes: Dawn of Drag Director: Vesa Kuosmanen Section: Doc@PÖFF International Competition
Finnish filmmaker Kuosmanen’s documentary Just Animals, which screened at Tallinn in 2023, is a portrait of an animal rights activist facing her own limits when she realizes that the utopia she has always fought for will never quite be as she imagined.
His new doc also features compelling real-life characters and also has a provocative title, Fruitcakes: Dawn of Drag. But it focuses on a very different story – one of a community’s cultural memory.
‘Fruitcakes: Dawn of Drag,’ courtesy of PÖFF Courtesy of PÖFF Jolanda, a retired archivist, stood on a stage in the late 1970s alongside his friend Mummo in Finland’s first drag show, Happy Gays, which drew much attention and big audiences. Mummo was one of the first openly gay men in Finland, but then the AIDS crisis hit, causing fear and violence. In 1988, Mummo was killed in his home. More than 30 years later, Jolanda opens up his own archive and invites a new generation of drag artists to bring Happy Gays back to the stage. The re-enactments bring up painful memories, but also an inappropriate and humorous side of Jolanda.
The film mixes archive footage from the 1980s, staged reconstructions and contemporary footage from rehearsals featuring young people for whom drag is more a form of self-expression than for the pioneers. “This contrast gives rise to both humor and a sense of recognition,” the PÖFF website teases. “The freedom enjoyed by today’s youth has been built on the shoulders of people whom no one has ever thanked. This warm and heartfelt film … reminds us that Pride began, in part, out of fear, and that one small show was once a tiny step towards resistance and freedom.”
The Mystery Package Director: Silje Evensno Jacobsen Section: Doc@Just With that time of year nearing, PÖFF is also serving up a slice of holiday season spirit in the form of a mystery package. Well, actually, The Mystery Package. The cinematic surprise comes courtesy of Norwegian filmmaker Silje Evensno Jacobsen, who you can actually see in the documentary.
‘The Mystery Package,’ courtesy of PÖFF It’s not a mystery what the film is about. Just take a look at this synopsis: “Nine-year-old Edle and six-year-old Brage have racked their brains their whole lives: why has their family been receiving a bunch of strange presents every Christmas from an anonymous sender for the past 20 years? With their filmmaker mother and close relatives, who are all, naturally, suspects themselves, the children become fearless detectives.”
What will they encounter on their unusual but heart-warming journey? “They leave no ink-stained handwriting unchecked, no suspicious person uninterrogated, no post office security footage unwatched, and no snowball unturned,” the festival website promises. That leaves one key question to be answered: “Will the anonymous benefactor be found before Christmas is over?” While you wait for the answer, check out the trailer for The Mystery Package.
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