Cristian Mungiu, Sverrir Gudnason, Hanna Bergholm, Trine Dyrholm are some of the guests joining Love & Anarchy “Together in Love and Anarchy.” This year’s motto for the 39th Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy stated by Outi Rehn, program director, and Pauliina Ståhlberg, executive director, says it all. Speaking with Variety ahead of the full program’s disclosure Sept. 1, the festival’s co-honchos were happy to reiterate its key values. Every film selected is a political statement and even not showing a film is a political statement,” said Ståhlberg, distancing herself from Wim Wenders who sparked controversy at the last Berlinale when stating at the jury presser that “festivals and artists should stay out of politics.” With freedom of speech and democracy at its core, the festival’s own selection process was carefully shaped this year to reflect this stand.
A five-person team headed by Rehn replaced fest co-founder and artistic director Pekka Lanerva, who officially retired last year. So how was this year’s curating job for the Love & Anarchy team whose mission was to gather “the most dazzling cinematic diamonds and rarest little film gems” from the world’s biggest festivals, in full dialogue with Finnish distributors, while prioritizing gender parity? Kickstarting the festivities Sept. 17 as opening Gala film will be the Spanish drama “The Black Ball” for which Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo shared a Cannes best director prize.
Then Palme d’Or winner “Fjord” will bow as Nordic Gala pick. Na Hong-jin’s rollercoaster monster film “Hope” will screen as Love & Anarchy Gala and Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur” – Cannes Grand Prix winner – as closing Gala film on Sept. 23. Rounding out the Gala strand is local prodigy Hanna Bergholm with her chiller “Nightborn,” which world premiered in Berlin’s main competition.
For Ståhlberg, “Nightborn” epitomizes “the recognition that Finnish talent (working across film and series) are achieving at festivals worldwide, as well as with the local audience.” “With nearly 32% of the market, we’re at the top of the European league. Finns love watching local films,” she underscored. A total of 121 shorts and 136 films from more than 80 countries will screen across the festival’s 20 plus sections, many of which are renewed each year.
By waiting until the last minute to lock the sections and name them, it gives us a lot of freedom, as well as a clear overview of filmmaking trends,” Rehn explained. Film highlights include Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia,” James Gray’s “Paper Tiger,” Quentin Dupieux’s “Full Phil” and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “The Samurai and the Prisoner,” all showcased in the Spotlight Selection. The new section More than Human exploring “the world of animals, plants and merfolk,” will “reminds us of all beings right to live and to be treated equally, across the boundaries of species,” said the co-honchos.
Politics, Sex and MoreOther film spotlights in the popular Fight for Power strands take in CPH:DOX winner “The Secret Reading Club of Kabul,” this year’s Palestinian Oscar submission “Palestine 36,” and Cannes selected doc “Rehearsals for a Revolution.” “By flagging Iran, Palestine, but also Ukraine in other sections, we really take a stand,” insisted Ståhlberg. Animation will also stand solid with titles ranging from “Jim Queen,” about a virus in Paris turning gay men straight, “Bouchra,” a queer animated from Morocco, to the black metal Finnish comedy “Belzebubs,” based on JP Ahonen’s webcomic. True to the festival’s anarchic and edgy spirit, the taboo-breaking Let’s Talk About Sex strand will make a come-back with five titles including the controversial U.S. indie “Blue Film,” which world premiered in Edinburgh in 2025, “My Friend the Porn Star” and the BDSM-driven “Pillion,” starring Alexander Skarsgård.
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