North American Indies In Tallinn

by Sandy Mandelberger, North American Editor

The largest showcase to date in Eastern Europe of independent films from the U.S. and Canada is currently being presented at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (www.poff.ee) in the capital city of Tallinn, Estonia. In a program section titled Crazy Cool: North American Independents, the Festival is presenting 10 films, all Eastern European and Baltic premieres.

The films, which made big impressions at previous film festivals from Sundance to Toronto, include: ADORATION (Canada, Atom Egoyan), THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE (Canada, Benoit Pilon), GOOD DICK (US, Marianna Palka), GOODBYE SOLO (US, Ramin Bahrani), FROZEN RIVER (US, Courtney Hunt), HUMBOLDT COUNTY (US, Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs), MOMMA’S MAN (US, Azazel Jacobs), FUGITIVE PIECES (Canada, Jeremy Podeswa), MY WINNIPEG (Canada, Guy Maddin) and WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD (Canada, Terry Miles).

In addition, the Festival will screen several American films in its other program sections, including Woody Allen’s VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA in the 12 Selected Titles section; Kathryn Bigelow’s HURT LOCKER, Tom McCarthy’s THE VISITOR and Kelly Reichardt’s WENDY AND LUCY in the Panorama section; Jonathan Demme’s RACHEL GETTING MARRIED in the Forum section; MANDALA BALA (Jason Kohn) in the Documentary section; THE WRESTLER (Darren Aronofsky) in the Screen International Critics Choice section; PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE by Steven Sebring in the Culture And Music section; BALLAST by Lance Hammer in the BMW Group Presents section; JAY McCAROLL: 11 MINUTES by Michael Selditch and Rob Tate and VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR by Matt Tyrnauer in the Fashion On Film section; the documentaries DARFUR NOW (Ted Braun) and OPERATION HOMECOMING: Writing On The Wartime Experience (Richard E. Robbins) in the Social Issue section; and the low-budget indie thriller BAGHEAD by Mark and Jay Duplass in the Night Films section of “midnight movies”.

North American indie titles were programmed and coordinated by Sandy Mandelberger of International Media Resources, a marketing, promotion and editorial services devoted to the worldwide promotion of independent and international cinema. Mandelberger also serves as the North American Editor for Cineuropa and the Web Editor for the newly launched International Film Guide website: http://www.internationalfilmguide.com