Tallinn’s PÖFF Turns 30: How a Film Fest in a Country of 1.3 Million People Became an A-List Event

Founder and CEO Tiina Lokk takes THR through the humble beginnings of the Estonian fest, its growth, where the Black Nights, black carpet and wolf brands came from, and why even she had doubts at first. The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2026 turns 30. In an interview, CEO Tiina Lokk recalls how the fest in small Estonia became an A list event. What a difference three decades make! Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) is celebrating the opening of its 30th edition on Friday, which will screen 230 feature and 259 short films from 87 countries. Its inaugural edition in 1997 had shown a much more modest number of movies – 24 titles from Nordic countries, Germany and France.

Back then, the number of cinemas in Estonia, which had declared its independence in 1991 amid the collapse of the USSR, was still minuscule. And festival film admissions totaled around 6,000, which was seen as a success. Last year, in contrast, PÖFF admissions hit nearly 95,000. All this growth has made Tallinn a fixture on the festival circuit for more and more industry folks, and it has elevated it to Northern Europe’s largest film festival. In 2014, also boosted its reputation further by earning FIAPF A-list accreditation, putting it into the company of such venerable fests as Cannes,