The Boston Baltic Film Festival (BBFF) returns for 7th season with new Estonian films on February 28 – March 17, 2025.
Most Estonians know the touching song that is always performed at the song festivals, “Ta lendab mesipuu poole/ He flies toward the honey tree…” But few people know the author of the lyrics, Juhan Liiv, a sensitive poet traumatized by mental illness who lived in the early 1900s. A gripping fictional film, written by Indrek Hargla about Juhan Liiv, Vari / The Shadow, will have its North America premier at the BBFF on Saturday, March 1, 2025. The handsome talented actor Pääru Oja plays the tormented Liiv who is trying to unravel a murder mystery while battling his own unraveling mind.
The 7th season of BBFF begins in downtown Boston on February 28 – March 2, 2025, followed by two weeks of virtual screenings across the U.S. The lineup features 23 films, in original languages with English subtitles; 8 of these are from Estonia. Films from all three countries will be shown in person at the ArtsEmerson Paramount Center in Boston from February 28 – March 2, 2025, followed by online viewing available across the U.S. on March 3 – March 17.
Boston audiences will be able to engage with invited filmmakers from the Baltic countries in Q&A after each showing and a panel discussion on Friday, February 28. To represent the films and the film industry in Estonia, Edith Sepp, Head of the Estonian Film Institute; Tiina Lokk, the founder and managing director of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (known as PÖFF); Ivo Felt, distinguished film producer; Pääru Oja, acclaimed actor; and Liina Trishkina-Vanha-talo, outstanding writer and director, have been invited. They will join Latvian and Lithuanian filmmakers on opening night and will be available for discussions with the public at the screenings.
For more information please visit the BBFF website: https://www.bostonbalticfilm.org
Marilem Soodla Ferentinos
