Christopher Hampton to lead Tallinn Black Nights jury for 30th edition
Two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton will lead the jury for the official competition at the 30th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
The festival, known as PÖFF, has named a five-member panel for the anniversary edition, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Sept. 30. The jury will judge the official competition, the main slate from which the top prize winners are chosen. It puts a writer at the centre of the decision making.
Hampton won Academy Awards for best adapted screenplay, the Oscar for a script based on existing material, for Dangerous Liaisons and The Father. He will serve as jury president in Tallinn. His job is to lead discussion among the jurors and announce their choices at the close of the festival.
He will be joined by four screen professionals from four countries. Lebanese producer Myriam Sassine and French producer Julie Billy bring producing experience, the work of finding material, raising finance and guiding a film to the screen. U.S. cinematographer and visual effects specialist David Stump brings camera and imagery craft, from lighting a scene to shaping it after the shoot. Estonian actress Tiina Tauraite, who works in front of the camera, completes the five.
The 30th edition will run Nov. 6 to 22. It will open with Ulya from director Viesturs Kairiss. The film is a co-production, made by companies working across borders, between Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Lithuania.
What makes this stand out is the spread of jobs around the table. A writer, two producers, a cinematographer and an actress watch the same film in different ways. One follows story. Another follows performance, image or how the production was put together. That mix is normal for festival juries, where agreement has to be found across crafts.
For fans, this means the winners list is worth watching in November. It does not decide what is good. It decides what this particular group rewarded this year, and that choice often helps smaller films find wider attention.
The anniversary programme adds local colour. The 30th edition will include a special Focus on Baltics strand centred on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, according to listings on PÖFF. Filmmaker and artist Priit Pärn created the visual identity for the edition, the first in festival history made by a filmmaker, with Estonia's Kilplased in the artwork. Passes for the festival are now on sale, and organisers are recruiting volunteers to help run the 2026 edition, with details listed on the festival site.
