29/10/2018 - 12 titles, seven of them European, have been added to the line-up, which now contains a total of 19 films, including the Spanish thriller The Pact out of competition

The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (16 November-3 December) has topped off the line-up for its First Feature Competition by adding 12 films. The selection now totals 19 titles, with one screening out of competition. The film in question is the Spanish psychological thriller The Pact [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Victori
film profile] by David Victori, best known as the creator of the web series Zero. The story follows a mother (played by Belén Rueda) who, desperate to save the life of her comatose daughter, agrees to take part in a dark pact.

Another Spanish thriller leads the newly announced pack: A March to Remember [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Victor Cabaco, set during the historic year of 1976, and following a radio journalist and his family during the workers’ strike in a provincial capital that escalated into a bloody conflict with police forces.

As I Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Magnus Meyer Arnesen
film profile] by Norway's Magnus Meyer Arnesen is the story of a young heroin addict who is about to hit rock bottom, when he’s suddenly reconnected with his eight-year-old son, giving him a new purpose in life.

Swiss filmmaker Francesco Rizzi's Cronofobia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Rizzi
film profile] is a psychological drama about a man with an ever-changing identity who is trying to connect with a woman struggling with a complicated form of grief. 

The French production Head Above Water [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Tatiana Margaux Bonhomme, starring Cedric Khan, follows an enthusiastic teenager who is stranded at her parents’ house after the sudden departure of her mother, leaving her and her father to take care of her older sister, who has mental and physical disabilities.

Lorik [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Armenia's Alexey Zlobin is a portrait of a lonely, egocentric theatre actor who is thrown into a fantastical series of events after hearing the news that his place of work is to close. Unexpectedly, he finds himself plunged into the real lives of people he knows, a process that starts to teach the cynical man the virtues of compassion and selflessness. 

The Ukrainian-Swiss co-production The Wild Fields [+see also:
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film profile] by Yaroslav Lodygin is set in the war-torn Donbass region. Thirty-year-old Herman is forced to return from the city to take over his brother's petrol station, which the local mafia is interested in acquiring for their own business.

The selection also includes a co-production between Morocco, Italy and Serbia, Catharsis or the Afina Tales of the Lost World, directed by Yassine Marco Marroccu, an allegorical tale set in a dystopian world mirroring true historical events and political situations, such as the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. It was shot in eight countries and six languages.

From Asia, Tallinn is bringing the posthumously completed final film by India’s Sambit Mohanty, Hello Arsi, and The Song of the Tree by Kyrgyz filmmaker Aibek Daiyrbekov.

Finally, there are two titles coming to the First Feature Competition from North America: Lonesome Collectors by Mexico's Axel Muñoz Barba and Roads in February by Canada's Katherine Jerkovic. 

Here is the full list of Black Nights’ First Feature Competition titles:

A March to Remember [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] - Víctor Cabaco (Spain)
As I Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Magnus Meyer Arnesen
film profile] - Magnus Meyer Arnesen (Norway)
Catharsis or the Afina Tales of the Lost World - Yassine Marco Marroccu (Morocco/Italy/Serbia) 
Cronofobia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Rizzi
film profile] - Francesco Rizzi (Switzerland) 
Erased [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: GoCritic! Interview: Miha M…
film profile] - Miha Mazzini (Slovenia/Croatia/Serbia) 
Hello Arsi - Sambit Mohanty (India)
Head Above Water [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] - Tatiana Margaux Bonhomme (France) 
Kejal - Nima Yar (Iran) 
Lonesome Collectors - Axel Muñoz Barba (Mexico) 
Lifeboat [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Josefine Kirkeskov (Denmark/Croatia/Sweden) 
Lorik [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] - Alexey Zlobin (Armenia) 
Roads in February - Katherine Jerkovic (Canada/Uruguay) 
Sasha Was Here [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Ernestas Jankauskas (Lithuania/Finland) 
The Song of the Tree - Aibek Daiyrbekov (Kyrgyzstan/Russia) 
The Wild Fields [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] - Yaroslav Lodygin (Ukraine/Switzerland) 
Wasted Eggs - Ryo Kawasaki (Japan) 
Why Don't You Just Die [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Kirill Sokolov (Russia) 
Yung [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Henning Gronkowski
film profile] - Henning Gronkowski (Germany)

Out of Competition
The Pact [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Victori
film profile] - David Victori (Spain)