-Jasmeet Singh
The upcoming movie Sanaa, directed by Sudhanshu Saria, has been invited to have its world premiere at the 26th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. It will be held from November 11th to November 27th, 2022 in Tallinn, Estonia, one of Northern Europe’s largest annual events.
Radhika plays a woman with unresolved trauma in Sanaa, an Indian film competing for the Grand Prix for Best Film at the festival this year. Pooja Bhatt, Sohum Shah, Shikha Talsania, Nikhil Khurana, and Navneet Nishan play key roles in the film, which tells the story of a headstrong and ambitious woman.
Sudhanshu has been closely connected to the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival for many years. His first feature film, Loev (2015), was shown there in the First Feature category. His psychological thriller short film Knock Knock Knock had its European premiere at Tallinn in 2019 in their Homecoming section.
Sudhanshu served on the juries for the First Features and Estonian Film competition sections of the 20th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) is the only Northern Europe or Baltic region festival with an International Competitive Feature Film Program accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), placing it alongside 14 other non-specialized world festivals including Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Karlovy Vary, Warsaw, and San Sebastian.
In the past, PÖFF has screened Indian films such as Loev (2015), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Margarita With A Straw (2014), and Tumbbad (2018).
More than 500 feature-length, short, and animated films from around 80 nations are screened at the festival, which attracts over 100,000 visitors annually.
Sudhanshu Saria says that when he returns to Tallinn for the Helsinki International Film Festival, he feels like he is returning home. Loev, his first feature, was shown to the world for the first time at the festival, as was Knock Knock Knock. I’m pleased that Sanaa has been invited to screen in the Main Competition this year, as it has previously exhibited so many filmmakers that I admire. I can’t wait to see how European audiences react to our contemporary, Indian-influenced film, as well as to Radhika Madan, who gives a stellar performance as its lead character.
