The 37th Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy will meet even the highest of expectations with its Cannes-award-winning gala films that have achieved acclaim and caused commotion in equal measure.
The festival will be off to a running start on Thursday 19 September with one of the most anticipated films of the year. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Anora is a soul sister to Pretty Woman (1990) operating on the highest possible gear. In this tragicomedy served with a side of black humour, Mikey Madison shines as sex worker Anora who sweeps a young Russian called Vanja (Mark Eydelshtey) off his feet, leading to the pair whisking off to Las Vegas to get married. With Sean Baker at the helm, one can expect the wedded bliss to last only for so long – the light comedy develops tragic dimensions as news of the union reaches Moscow and the ears of Vanja’s rich oligarch father. This rough-around-the-edges Cinderella-story also features third wheel Igor. (Compartment Number 6 -star Yura Borisov)
Opening Gala, Thursday 19.9, at Bio Rex Lasipalatsi, 17:30, and Korjaamo Kino, 18:00 o’clock.
Directing legend Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project Megalopolis arrives accompanied by controversies and lands in our one-of-a-kind Mega Gala on Tuesday 24 September. Adam Driver is an urban planner called Cesar in this brash and insane utopia about love, corruption and creation – and above all, time. This spectacle unparalleled in its ambition will get its Finnish premiere at Love & Anarchy – where else?
Mega Gala, Tuesday 24.9 at Bio Rex Lasipalatsi, 18:00 o’clock.
The Love & Anarchy Gala will present the deserved Cannes-juggernaut and screenplay winner, writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s body horror sensation The Substance. Hollywood icon Demi Moore and the dazzling Margaret Qualley flip toxic beauty standards upside down in this fantastical, stylised film that will leave audiences gasping for breath.
Love & Anarchy Gala, Thursday 26.9, Bio Rex Lasipalatsi, 17:45 o’clock.
The festival will culminate in Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s Cannes FIPRESCI-award-winning The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which was also awarded the Special Jury Prize at the festival. With the help of an ingenious screenplay and authentic social media videos, Rasoulof’s suspenseful drama evolves from a single family’s story into an impactful statement on the fight for women’s rights in Iran. Rasoulof was sentenced to prison in his homeland and currently lives in exile in Germany.
Closing Gala, Sunday 29.9 at Bio Rex Lasipalatsi, 18:30 and Kinopalatsi, 18:00 o’clock.
A Finnish distribution deal for Megalopolis is still being negotiated, but all of our other gala films will go into domestic distribution after the festival.
The full festival lineup will be announced Thursday 5 September, and individual screening tickets go on sale Monday 9 September. The 37th Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy will be held in Helsinki 19.–29.9.2024.