Outside of the regular annual events film festivals around the World have been trying to fill in the gaps with programming to offset the closures of regional cinemas.
Our friends at Tallinn Black Nights (PÖFF) in Estonia have such a challenge, facing cinema chain closures this month due to the pandemic. They started with a kick-off event which will screen five films of the Women's Nights Film Festival. Every month, PÖFF's online cinema will be displaying a new selection of films from previous festival editions.
"Due to the pandemic, we screened a large part of our programme online during last year's PÖFF and it turned out to be very popular. For the first time, those who live far from the cities Tallinn and Tartu had the opportunity to take part in the festival and this is what really inspired us," said the festival director Tiina Lokk.With the news that Estonia's cinemas will close down once again in March due to the coronavirus, the online cinema will be the festival's effort to keep the tradition of showing and watching great films alive. "Our film selection represents a so-called second view, different from other known and daily used streaming platforms, capturing the world's cinematography in its thematic, genre and style diversity," she added. FNE
The series will continue with films from the programme of the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival. Joining the program today are Mexican youth film 50 or Two Whales Meet on the Beach, Dinner in America from Adam Carter Rehmeier and Brazilian black comedy The Club of Angels from Angelo Defanti. Canadian horror thriller Red Letter Day from director Cameron Macgowan is also in the mix. Russian sci-fi film Ajavalvurid (The Time Guardians) from Alexy Telnov was not mentioned in the article but it is also on the player today as well.
All films will be region locked to Estonia and can be found on the PÖFF online cinema.