The 6th Annual New York Baltic Film Festival (NYBFF) presented by Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America returns this November with the best new films from the Baltic region! This year’s lineup includes the North American Premiere of the third film in the series Melchior the Apothecary, The Executioner’s Daughter (Apteeker Melchior. Timuka tütar, dir. Elmo Nüganen, Estonia/Germany/Latvia/Lithuania, 2023). The in-person screening of The Executioner’s Daughter will take place at Scandinavia House on November 11; the first two films, Melchior the Apothecary (Apteeker Melchior, 2022) and The Ghost (Viirastus, 2022), will be available to stream virtually beginning November 10, followed by The Executioner’s Daughter screening virtually from November 12. **A Film Talk with Estonian actress Maarja Johanna Mägi follows the screening.**
Based on Indrek Hargla’s bestselling Apothecary Melchior Estonian historical mystery book series, Elmo Nüganen’s film trilogy follows the apothecary Melchior Wakenstede (Märten Metsaviir) as he solves crimes in medieval Tallinn. In The Executioner’s Daughter, screenwriters Hargla, Nüganen, and Olle Mirme adapt events from Apothecary Melchior and the Hangman’s Daughter with new and exciting twists and turns. When Melchior’s wife Keterlyn (Maarja Johanna Mägi) witnesses a brutal attack, the unknown young man is saved but has lost his memory, and does not know who he is nor how he ended up in Tallinn. When a ring found at the scene leads Melchior to the night brotherhood, the bizarre troupe who performed on Fair Day also raise questions; and frightening signs suggest that not only is the recovering victim still in danger, but also Melchior and Keterlyn. At the same time, the pope’s envoy, known as a ruthless witch-hunter, arrives in the city.
Beginning November 10, first two films in the series will screen virtually-only: the first film Melchior the Apothecary (Apteeker Melchior, 2022) and the second film Melchior the Apothecary: The Ghost (Viirastus, 2022).
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Director Elmo Nüganen is an Estonian film and theatre director and actor. From 1992–2021, he was the artistic director of Tallinn City Theatre. His debut as a film director and screenwriter was Names in Marble in 2002 which held the number 1 title of admissions among Estonian films until 2016. Nüganen’s filmography also includes Mindless (2006) and 1944 (2015). The latter became the country’s submission for the Academy Awards in 2015. With the Melchior the Apothecary trilogy, Nüganen continues his theme of historic films, based on best-selling and internationally acclaimed novels written by Indrek Hargla.
