Улаанбаатар
Mongolian Director Wins NETPAC Award at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
Art & Culture
Ulaanbaatar, November 24, 2025 /MONTSAME/. The 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF 29) took place in Estonia’s capital from November 7 to 23, presenting a diverse lineup of international cinema and announcing its award winners.
This year’s Main Competition included films from across Europe, Asia, and Africa, with entries from Mongolia, Hungary, Morocco, Spain, the Philippines, and Germany. Among the Asian selections, Mongolian director Sengedorj Janchivdorj’s latest film, The Muralist, had its world premiere on November 19 and went on to receive the NETPAC Award. Presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, the honor celebrates outstanding contributions to Asian filmmaking and is awarded at major festivals, including Busan, Kerala, Singapore, Rotterdam, and Tallinn, spotlighting new talents and innovative works from Asia and the Pacific.
Sengedorj, one of Mongolia’s most prolific contemporary filmmakers, is celebrated for blending poetic realism with sharp social insight. The Muralist follows an aging muralist who returns to Ulaanbaatar with little more than his paints, a rooftop tent, and a stray dog. He spends his days covering the walls of a Soviet-era factory with mythic Mongolian landscapes, even as the site faces demolition – a meditation on art, memory, resilience, and cultural identity.
The director is recognized in Tallinn. His previous film, Silent City Driver, won both the Grand Prix and Best Production Design in last year’s official competition, establishing him as a defining presence in Mongolia’s contemporary cinema.
Founded in 1997, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has grown into one of the largest film events in Northern Europe, welcoming over 1000 guests and industry delegates alongside 160 journalists. Each year, the festival screens around 250 feature films and over 300 shorts and animations, drawing an audience of 80,000 people annually.
