Tartuff Love Film Festival 2026

Text Stewart Johnson
Photo Visit Estonia / Tartuff

Celebrating its 21st year, the Tartuff Love Film Festival kicks off on 8 August, offering eight straight nights of free film screenings. Tartu’s popular Elektriteater will be one of the two main cinema locales, while the Town Hall Square itself will be the other, offering nearly a thousand seats for the general public.

The name “Tartuff” is not simply the Italian word for truffle—tartufo—but it is a very valuable, and long-awaited “film festival”, which is clearly where the “ff” comes from. As for the “love” film festival, it’s not so much about romcoms or love stories, but these films deal with relationships in general, be they family structures, friendships, or even dangerous obsessions. Let’s face it, there’s not much romance happening in “Cape Fear”, which will be screened on Town Hall Square on 13 August.

This year’s Tartuff will feature 22 screenings, representing 30 countries. If the math seems off here, keep in mind that some films are collaborations between multiple countries. While European cinema will be dominant at this European film festival, there are films from such exotic locations as Thailand, China, and even Syria. Short films will also be featured at this year’s festival for the first time. Eight short films, ranging in length from three minutes, to 21 minutes.

Tartuff is part of the Dark Nights Film Festival, or PÖFF, which over the years has grown to become one of the world’s preeminent film festivals, on par with Cannes or Tribeca. The complete schedule as well as more information are available here, and notice that a few of the films are labeled as “screening with guests”, meaning someone connected with the production of the film will be there to answer questions from the audience.

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