In recent weeks, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has published its diverse line-up in several releases. As of today, Friday, October 31, 2025, the entire program has now been finalized. From a German perspective, 42 German productions and co-productions are participating, including the presentation of SUPERBUHEI by Josef Brandl at the Industry@Tallinn Baltic Event in the International Works in Progress section. 

In THE FROG AND THE WATER by Thomas Stuber, the audience follows Stefan Busch, known as “Buschi,” who joins a Japanese tour group. What begins as an adventure for the young man then develops into a special road trip, marked above all by a developing friendship. Thomas Stuber's special drama will have its world premiere in Tallinn and will compete for the Grand Prix in the main competition, Official Selection - Competition.

Two German filmmakers are represented in this year's First Feature Competition with their films. Pascal Schuh's INTERIOR is based on a true story: Burglar Kasimir gains access to strangers' homes by hiding in a hollowed-out couch. From his hiding place, he films the residents. His client, an emotionally cold brain surgeon, receives the recordings and uses them to try to understand human emotions. EASY GIRL by Hille Norden is also based on true events. The drama is about friends Nore and Jonna, who meet again by chance in their early twenties. In conversations, it becomes clear that Nore was never the precocious “femme fatale” that Jonna admired and bullied, but rather a young girl who had to endure sexual assault. 

In 2020, PÖFF introduced the Environmental Film Programme section to highlight the importance of environmental issues. The German production FISSION will be shown there. The film by João Pedro Prado and Anton Yaremchuk is a creative observational documentary about the nuclear power debate in Germany and its neighbor Poland.

In addition to the premieres and competition films, German productions that have already successfully generated attention at festivals this year can also be seen in various sections in Tallinn. These include the German Oscar® entry SOUND OF FALLING by Mascha Schilinski and THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JOSEF MENGELE Kirill Serebrennikov (Screen International Critics' Choice), THE FAMILY APPROACH by Daniel Abma (Special Screening) and DRY LEAF by Alexandre Koberidze (Best Of Festivals).

The two sub-festivals Just Film and PÖFF Shorts feature additional German productions that also showcase the wide range of short films and children's films. This year, THANKS FOR NOTHING by Stella Marie Markert is competing as an international premiere in the International Youth Competition. This coming-of-age drama is about four friends, Katharina, Ricky, Malou, and Victoria, who live together in a supervised housing project and have created their own world with their own rules.

The other JUST sections also feature German productions that have already enjoyed success at other festivals: GIRLS DON'T CRY by Sigrid Klausmann (Dok@Just), THE PRANK by Benjamin Heisenberg (Youth Programme), TOMORROW I'LL BE BRAVE by Bernd Sahling, and THE SECRET FLOOR by Norbert Lechner (Children's Programme).

This year's PÖFF Shorts section features two major German productions, including BUT I NEVER ASKED by Nicole Humiński as a world premiere in the Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-Action. The film is about a young pianist at the Munich Conservatory preparing for the most important audition of her life. She plays Chopin's Ballade No. 1 – the same piece that was broadcast by Polish radio in 1939 as bombs fell on Warsaw. And LENA'S FARM: FULL NEST by Elena Walf in the Shorts Kids Animation Competition, a new episode of the KiKA series about a squirrel preparing for winter.

It is also worth mentioning that this year, four German filmmakers and film experts have been invited to serve on various juries at the film festival: Ingo Fliess, producer and professor at HFF Munich, is part of the jury for the Official Selection Competition, director Daniel Abma is a member of the Doc@PÖFF jury for the International Competition section, film journalist Thomas Schultze will decide on the winners in the Critics' Picks Competition section, and Alexandre Koberidze, director and screenwriter, is on the jury for the Baltic Competition.

All of the German productions and co-productions in Tallinn at a glance:

All of the German productions and co-productions in Tallinn at a glance:

Official Selection - Competition
THE FROG AND THE WATER (DER FROSCH UND DAS WASSER) by Thomas Stuber (DE/CH, Pandora Filmproduktion, Gretchenfilm)
THE MOON IS A FATHER OF MINE by George Ovashvili (LU/TU/GE/DE/CZ/BG, 42film)

First Feature Competition
INTERIOR by Pascal Schuh (U5 Filmproduktion, Schöne Aussichten Filmproduktion, Filmuniversity Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)
EASY GIRL (SMALLTOWN GIRL) by Hille Norden (Leitwolf Filmproduktion, Kineskope Film)
HERCULES FALLING by Christian Holten Bonke (DK/DE, Heimathafen Film)

Baltic Film Competition - Out of Competition
TWO PROSECUTORS (ZWEI STAATSANWÄLTE) by Sergei Loznitsa (FR/DE/NL/LV/RO/LT, LOOKSfilm)

Special Screening
THE FAMILY APPROACH (IM PRINZIP FAMILIE) by Daniel Abma (Bandenfilm)

Best Of Festivals
DRY LEAF by Alexandre Koberidze (DE/GE, New Matter Films)
A POET by Simón Mesa Soto (CO/DE/SE, Ma.ja.de)
HEN by György Pálfi (GR/DE/HU, Pallas Film)
MOTHER'S BABY by Johanna Moder (AT/DE/CH, The Match Factory)
ROMERIA by Carla Simón (ES/DE, Ventall Cinema)

Best Of Docs
CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS by Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki (QA/CL/CN/NL/DE, inselfim)

Environmental Film Programme
FISSION (SPALTUNG) by João Pedro Prado & Anton Yaremchuk (Michael Kalb Filmproduktion)
HYDROGEN - REVOLUTION OR ILLUSION by Andreas Pichler (DE/IT/NO, Eikon Film)

Spotlight: Austria
CLUB ZERO by Jessica Hausner (AT/UK/DE/FR/DK/TU/US/QA/BA, Essential Film)
HOTEL by Jessica Hausner (AT/DE, Essential Film)
LOURDES by Jessica Hausner (AT/FR/DE, Essential Film)
LOVELY RITA by Jessica Hausner (AT/DE, Essential Film, Prisma Film- und Fernsehproduktion)
MOTHER'S BABY by Johanna Moder (AT/DE/CH, The Match Factory)

In Focus: Catalonia
STRANGE RIVER by Jaume Claret Muxart (ES/DE, Schuldenberg Films)
ROMERIA by Carla Simón (ES/DE, Ventall Cinema)

Screen International Critics' Choice
THE SECRET AGENT by Kleber Mendonça Filho (BR/FR/DE/NL, One Two Films)
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JOSEF MENGELE (DAS VERSCHWINDEN DES JOSEF MENGELE) by Kirill Serebrennikov (DE/FR, Lupa Film)
SOUND OF FALLING (IN DIE SONNE SCHAUEN) by Mascha Schilinski (Studio Zentral)
DIVINE COMEDY by Ali Asgari (IT/FR/DE/TU, Studio Zentral)

JUST FILM
International Youth Competition
THANKS FOR NOTHING (DANKE FÜR NICHTS) by Stella Marie Markert (Schiwago Film, Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)

Dok@Just
GIRLS DON'T CRY by Sigrid Klausmann (Schneegans Productions)

Youth Programme
THE PRANK (DER PRANK) by Benjamin Heisenberg (Kundschafter Filmproduktion)

Children's Programme
TOMORROW I'LL BE BRAVE (AB MORGEN BIN ICH MUTIG) by Bernd Sahling (Zeitgeist Filmproduktion, Field Recordings Filmproduktion)
THE SECRET FLOOR (DAS GEHEIME STOCKWERK) by Norbert Lechner (DE/AT/LU, KEVIN LEE Film)

PÖFF SHORTS
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-Action
BUT I NEVER ASKED by Nicole Humiński (Monolith Film, University of Television and Film Munich HFF)

Shorts New Talents Competition: Animation
FLOATING by Jelena Milunović (RS/HR/DE, Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)
LIQUOR by Yi-Chen Huang (Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)
PEAR GARDEN by Shadab Shayegan (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg)

Shorts Animation Competition
WITH TAPES AND TOASTS IN THE CAR (IM AUTO TAPES UND BUTTERBROT) by Kiana Naghshineh (DE/FR, ManicMonday)

Shorts Kids Animation Competition
LENA'S FARM: FULL NEST (LENAS HOF: VOLLES NEST) by Elena Walf (Studio FILM BILDER)

Shorts Alternatives
09.01 BERKOVICH by Anya Ryzhkova (Bauhaus University Weimar)
STILL SEXY by Panos Zygouros (Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)

Doc@Shorts
MAMA MICRA by Rebecca Blöcher, Frédéric Schuld (Fabian&Fred)

Shorts Panorama
THE UNDYING PAIN OF EXISTENCE by Oscar Jacobson (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg)

Night Cinema
COSMIC CRASH by James Smith
OPTO OPTICS by Pearl Seemann (Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)

INDUSTRY@TALLINN & BALTIC EVENT
International Works in Progress
SUPERBUHEI by Josef Brandl (junifilm)