Twelve world premieres from 15 countries will screen in the Official Competition. “Discovery is at the heart of PÖFF’s Official Competition. This year, we bring together established directors and filmmakers making their second features, creating a space where very different cinematic perspectives can meet,” said Triin Tramberg, Artistic Director of PÖFF.

The Grand Prix for Best Film in the Official Selection Competition will receive a 20,000 EUR grant from the City of Tallinn.

Twelve debut films from 19 countries were selected for the First Feature Competition. They include Macedonian director Andrey Volkashin’s The Sweetness of Bitter Things, a majority Macedonian coproduction between Veda Film Productions (North Macedonia), Screening Emotions (Bulgaria) and Studio Corvus (Croatia), backed by the North Macedonia Film Agency, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, and Eurimages.

The Competitions screenings will take place 13 – 19 November 2026, while the festival’s 30th edition takes place 6–22 November 2026.

The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) is one of Northern Europe’s largest film festivals and the region’s only FIAPF-accredited competitive feature film festival. Held annually in Tallinn, Estonia, PÖFF brings together international premieres, established filmmakers and emerging talent, alongside its youth and children’s film festival Just Film, short film festival PÖFF Shorts, and film industry platform Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event.

Official Competition Lineup:

A Job Well Done (Switzerland)
Directed by Frédéric Baillif

Cabellé (Spain, Belgium)
Directed by Patricia Ortega

Drumskin (Argentina)
Directed by Joaquín Cambre

I Just Want to Talk to My Mom (Iran, Turkey)
Directed by Mohsen Rabiei

No Me without You / Mind ei ole sinust eraldi (Estonia)
Directed by Janno Jürgens
Produced by Filmivabrik
Supported by the Estonian Film Fund

On Top of the Cliff (Mexico, Peru, Switzerland)
Directed by Enrica Perez

One Sweet Hour (Ireland)
Directed by Declan Recks

Sh*t Happens (Dominican Republic)
Directed by José María Cabral

Sinless / A pokol élővilága (Hungary)
Directed by Attila Hartung
Produced by Lupa Pictures 
Coproduced by Filmkontroll, GoodFilms, Jumpcut, Lions Production

The Assignment (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands)
Directed by Patrice Toye

The Matriarch (Germany)
Directed by Alison Kuhn

Where Is My Son? (Kazakhstan)
Directed by Dias Bertis

Click HERE to see the films selected for the First Feature Competition.