movies
Tallinn POFF 2026 Competition, First Films Program: Ray Panthaki Debut
The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) has unveiled its competition and first feature selections for its 30th edition.
The fest revealed the titles, including 21 world premieres and three international premieres, on Wednesday. Among them is British actor Ray Panthaki’s feature debut In Starland.
PÖFF’s official selection will feature 12 world premieres from 15 countries. The movies revealed on Wednesday explore such themes as “coming of age, family relationships and pressing social issues through distinctive perspectives,” fest organizers said. “Strong mother figures recur throughout the selection, revealing tensions between love, responsibility, loyalty and independence.”
Festival curator Triin Tramberg highlighted that discovery is “at the heart of PÖFF’s official competition,” adding: “This year, we bring together established directors and filmmakers making their second features, creating a space where very different cinematic perspectives can meet,” she added, emphasizing the films’ “diversity in geography, style, subject,” shared strong sense of storytelling and exploration of “familiar things from an unexpected angle.”
Concluded Tramberg: “For me, that is what makes festival cinema exciting: you come looking for one thing and leave having discovered something you didn’t know you were looking for.”
PÖFF 2026 takes place in the Estonian capital Nov. 6-22.
Check out the list of titles unveiled below.
Official Competition
“A Job Well Done” (“Un travail exemplaire,” Switzerland), WP,
Directed by Frédéric Baillif for Alva Film, Freshprod, RTS
“Caballé” (Spain, Belgium, WP),
Directed by Patricia Ortega for Lantica Studios
“Drumskin” (“Cuero,”Argentina, WP)
Directed by Joaquín Cambre for Camerun Films
“I Just Want to Talk to My Mom” (Iran, Türkiye, WP)
Directed by Mohsen Rabiei for griffin Pictuees, KosKos Film
“No Me Without You” (mind ei ole sinuta,” Estonia, WP)
Directed by Janno Jürgens for Filmivabrik
“On Top of the Cliff” (“Sobre el acantilado,” Mexico, Peru, Switzerland, WP)
Directed by Enrica Perez for Sexto Sentido, in co-production with Martfilms, Aaron Film
“One Sweet Hour” (Ireland, WP)
Directed by Declan Recks for Samson Films
“Sh*t Happens” (“Comemierda,” Dominican Republic, WP)
Directed by José María Cabral for Lantica Studios
“Sinless” (A pokol élōvilága,” Hungary, WP)
Directed by Attila Hartung for Lupa Pictures
“The Assignment” (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, WP)
Directed by Patrice Toye for Menuetto, 2Pilots Filmproduction, Willy Waltz Int’l, Stenola Prods
“The Matriarch” (Die Matriarchin,” Germany, WP)
Directed by Alison Kuhn for Schiwago Film, Tidewater Pictures
“Where Is My Son?” (Kazakhstan WP)
Directed by Dias Bertis for Taurus Asia Production
First Feature Competition
“Black Slaughter” (France, Israel, WP)
Directed by Gigi Betito for Alcatraz Films, Betito Films
“Exotic” (Poland, Int’l P)
Directed by Sonja Orlewicz-Zakrzewska for Mozaika Films
“In Starland” (UK, USA, WP)
Directed by Ray Panthaki for Le Bateau Lavoir, Archface Films, Killer Films
“Happy Ending” (Iran, WP)
Directed by Atena Mahmoudi, produced by Abdolreza Heydari
“Lionheart” (“Løvehjerte,” Denmark, Iceland, Int’l P)
Directed by Nagieb Khaja for Tookbox, ZikZak Filmworks
“Oblivion” (Užmarštis,” Lithuania, WP)
Directed by Danielius Minkevičius for Tremora
“Princess” (Ñusta,” Ecuador, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, WP)
Directed by Christian Rojas for Epopeya, oso Rojo Films, Woo Films, Casa Agua Florida, Hain Cine, Chao Pescao
“Running Wild” (Taiwan, WP)
Directed by Wang Yi-Ling for Film10 Production
“Status: Rejected” (Philippines, Int’ P)
Directed by Vahn Leinard Pascual for Black Cap Pictures, Clever Minds Productions
“The Sweetness of Bitter Things” (North Macedonia, WP)
Directed by Andrey Volkashin for Veda Film Productions
“When She Hears the Bells” (Les clochettes de Kaboul,” France, Germany, Belgium, WP)
Directed by Chabname Zariab for Alta Rocca Films, Starhaus Filmproduktion, Versus (Opus)
“White as Salt” (“Tograğin Tuzu,” Türkiye, WP)
Directed by Murat Eroğlu for Eroğlu Film
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movies
Lauren Ash, Mae Martin & Randall Park Join Crave Comedy ‘Meatballs’
EXCLUSIVE: Lauren Ash (Superstore), Mae Martin (Wayward) and Randall Park (Wandavision) are joining the campers at Crave comedy Meatballs.
The trio will be guest cast in the series, which is billed as a “raunchy, irreverent reimagining of the beloved 1979 Canadian comedy classic” that starred Bill Murray.
They will join Gen V star Maddie Phillips is taking on the role as Skipper, the head camp counselor, in a reimagined version of Murray’s original character, and Heated Rivalry breakout Robbie G.K., who plays Dale. No word on the roles the guest stars will play right now.
Meatballs, announced as part of Canadian streamer Crave’s 2026/27 slate features a new generation of counselors and campers making bad decisions at a failing summer camp. Per the synopsis, “with a little hard work and a lot of good vibes, still has the potential to be the best place on earth for 200 lucky kids. Or, more importantly, for the counsellors who call it their home away from home, it’s the best place to pitch a tent.”
Additional cast includes Mollie Guest, Jordan Kronis, Molly Lewis, Krista Nazaire, Markus McNamara, and Lachlan Quarmby.
The eight-episode, half-hour series is slated to premiere in 2027. Blink49 Studios and Incendo are making the show in partnership with Bell Media-owned Crave, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and the Bell Fund.
Jeff Detsky (The Beaverton) and Wendy Litner (My Dead Mom) are the showrunners and exec producers. Michael Dowse (The Sticky) and Aleysa Young (Baroness Von Sketch Show) are on board to direct, with Dowse also serving as an executive producer, along with and Virginia Rankin. Executive producers for Incendo are Graham Ludlow and Kaleigh Kavanagh; Tashi Bieler serves as producer for Blink49, alongside a creative team comprising Pancho Mansfield, Carolyn Newman and Andrew Nissen.
For Bell, Rachel Goldstein-Couto is Head of Development, Original Programming; Adam Feigen is Development Executive; Melissa Williamson is Senior Production Executive; Sarah Fowlie is Head of Production; Brian Blazik is Head of Bell Media Sales at distributor Sphere Abacus; Li Yeh is Director, Strategic Planning, Carlyn Klebuc is General Manager, Original Programming; and Justin Stockman is Vice President, Global Content.
Sphere Abacus, the Bell-owned sales house, is shopping the series internationally, and will be on the ground with the show at MIPCOM Cannes next week.
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movies
BBC Apologizes To PinkNews Over Misconduct Documentary & Article
The BBC has “apologized unreservedly for the defamatory allegations” made in a documentary and accompanying article about the founder of one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ publications and his husband.
The BBC this morning removed from its website the original PinkNews article while the documentary is no longer on iPlayer. The corporation has agreed to pay compensation to PinkNews founder Benjamin Cohen and his husband Anthony James.
In a joint settlement statement read out at the UK’s High Court, Cohen and James said the BBC had “reinforced one of the most damaging homophobic tropes” by “falsely portraying us as engaging in sexual misconduct and pressuring female employees over surrogacy.” The BBC said it accepted their position.
The BBC launched the documentary, PinkNews: Behind Closed Doors, and an accompanying article titled “PinkNews bosses accused of sexual misconduct” in late 2024. The doc and article said the BBC had spoken with 30 current and former employees, some of whom told the BBC they had experienced bullying and sexual misconduct from Cohen and James. The BBC also reported that several people had said some young female members of staff had been asked to act as the couple’s surrogates.
The High Court statement called the allegations “serious, false, defamatory… and extremely harmful to the claimants’ reputations.” It noted that, as a result of the doc and article, Cohen and James were subject to additional investigations by CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support
Service) ahead of a parental order hearing at the Family Court in respect of their son, who had been born via surrogate.
The BBC’s counsel responded by saying the corporation “accepts everything” and “retracts and apologises unreservedly for the defamatory allegatios made in the programme and the article.”
A BBC spokeswoman told Deadline: “The BBC has reached a settlement with Ben Cohen and Anthony James. We will not be issuing any further comment.”
Cohen and James’ statement said: “By falsely portraying us as engaging in sexual misconduct and pressuring female employees over surrogacy, the BBC reinforced one of the most damaging homophobic tropes: that gay men are sexual predators who pose a threat to others. These were allegations that should never have been broadcast.”
They added that while they can now “finally begin to move forward,” the BBC “needs to carefully consider and learn from the impact that its reckless journalism has had on a young family’s lives.”
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movies
‘Harmonia’: Niamh Algar & Fanny Ardant Starring In AI Series
Niamh Algar and French cinema legend Fanny Ardant are leading a thriller series set in an AI-controlled, high-end luxury resort.
Harmonia is a rare UK-Greek co-pro coming from Adolescence co-producer Warp Films, ITV Studios and Greek pubcaster ERT.
In Harmonia, Algar is the AI’s creator, Shona Casey, while Ardant plays the resort’s former owner. In the resort and wellness facility, technology meets escapism and every guest’s desire can be fulfilled. It reflects things we all aspire to, but also fear. It’s a modern-day Frankenstein story of a scientist who would be God, and their extraordinary creation, where it becomes increasingly unclear whether the AI is the monster, or whether the humans are.
Chloe Lea (Dune: Prophecy, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) plays a young member of staff that the AI becomes obsessed with, while the cast includes Oliver Chris (Rivals, The Crown), Abubakar Salim (House of the Dragon, Raised by Wolves), Goran Bogdan (Legacy of Spies, The Last Panthers), Theo Augier (XO Kitty, Jay Kelly) and George Ioannides (Guys and Dolls, Industry). Completing the ensemble are Greek stars Pygmalion Dadakaridis (The Other Me, Rififi), rising TV and theatre actor Konstantinos Zografos (The Judge, Derti) Antigoni Frida (Grand Hotel, Sauté) and newcomer Zoe-Stella Nikolaou.
The coming together of UK and Greek teams sees the series created by Peter Carlton, Lefteris Charitos, Amanda Livanou and Hanna Jameson. Charitos, director of Wild Bees, one of Greek television’s biggest ever successes, directs all six episodes. Jameson, best-selling author of The Last and writer on the upcoming Netflix series The Twin starring Jamie Dornan, is lead writer, with episodes from Alki Papastathopoulos and Panayotis Christopoulos.
Jameson said: “With this project, I had the chance to tell a truly meaningful story full of funny, strange, and complicated characters, reminiscent of the legendary genre shows I grew up watching. It’s been so exciting to explore how our relationship with technology has changed so fast in such a short period of time, evolving faster than our ability to understand the personal and global consequences. When I’m gripped by a great show everything else falls away, the house could burn down around me and I wouldn’t notice, and I hope that people feel the same way about Harmonia.”
Shooting takes place on location in Athens at Cape Sounio resort and Kapa2 Studios ahead of launch in 2027. Harmonia is produced in association with and distributed internationally by ITV Studios. It is co-financed by ITV Studios, and Greek public broadcaster ERT, with development support from the Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Fund and Creative Europe Media. The predominantly English-language series is an international co-production between Warp, which co-produced Adolescence with Brad Pitt’s Plan B, and award-winning Greek feature film producers Neda Film (Pity, Gorgonà).
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