Black Nights Stars 2022

Source: POFF

(clockwise from top left) Aamu Milonoff, Karlis Arnolds Avots, Daria Polunina, Albert Arthur Amiryan, Maarja Johanna Mägi, Petras Simonis, Lena Barbara Luhse, Farba Dieng

Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (POFF) has revealed this year’s Black Nights Stars, showcasing eight rising actors from the Baltic Sea region.

Alongside seven actors from the Baltics, the group includes Ukrainian actress Daria Polunina, whose credits include 2019 family feature Foxter & Max and upcoming Netflix series The Girl And The Astronaut from director Bartek Prokopowicz.

Claudia Landsberger, head of Black Nights Stars, said Polunina had been selected “as a sign of support to the actors community in Ukraine” during the ongoing conflict with Russia. Ukrainian casting director Alla Samoylenko was also selected as a jury member for the talent initiative as part of this effort.

The eight actors are:

Aamu Milonoff (Finland)
Credits include: Girl Picture, Deadwind, Eden

Karlis Arnolds Avots (Latvia)
Credits include: Lovable, January

Daria Polunina (Ukraine)
Credits include: Foxter & Max, The Girl And The Astronaut

Albert Arthur Amiryan (Denmark)
Credits include: The Day We Died, Face To Face

Farba Dieng (Germany)
Credits include: Toubab, Cortex, Wolke Unterm Dach

Lena Barbara Luhse (Estonia)
Credits include: Kill The Child, Stairway To Heaven, Salme Vikings

Petras Simonis (Lithuania)
Credits include: The Flood Won’t Come

Maarja Johanna Mägi (Estonia)
Credits include: Melchior The Apothecary, The Blemished Brides

Black Nights Stars brings together international casting directors with emerging talent from the region, with a programme that rolls out during the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event (Nov 20-25).

Now in its sixth year, the talent programme will see the actors spend three days meeting with casting directors and talent agents as well as participating in workshops and panels, designed to provide information and networking opportunities to further their careers.

They were selected from more than 90 candidates - more than double on last year’s submissions - by a jury comprising casting directors Anja Dihrberg-Siebler, Rie Hedegaard, Victor Jenkins and Alla Samoylenko, talent agent Laura Munsterhjelm, producer Maie Rosmann, and Michael Rosser, international news editor for Screen International.