As usual, the Love & Anarchy Festival welcomes a number of international filmmaker guests who will attend screenings of their films and participate in the Coffee with Filmmakers discussions at Juova Hanahuone.
Icelandic actor, producer, and director Baltasar Kormákur (The Deep, Trapped), who has also made a name for himself internationally, has worked across theater, film, and television. He will be in Helsinki to present his new film Touch, nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize. This emotional drama, spanning different eras and crossing borders, tells the story of a man returning to London to find his first love from 50 years ago.
Baltasar Kormákur at the festival from September 19–21. Touch in cinemas around Finland on October 18
Among the nominees for the Nordic Council Film Prize, Danish-Iranian director Roja Pakari, who directed Denmark’s nominee The Son and the Moon, will also attend the festival. In this documentary, Pakari explores her life as a mother of a young boy while living with a serious and incurable illness, reflecting on the significance of culture, family, and identity.
Roja Pakari at the festival from September 23–25.
Screenwriter-director Helena Stefánsdóttir and producer Arnar Steinn Friðbjarnarson from Iceland will also attend the festival. They will present their mystery film Natatorium, a co-production involving Finnish talents. The film, co-produced by Finland’s Tekele Productions, was shot by Kerttu Hakkarainen (Heartbeast) and edited by Jussi Rautaniemi (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, Compartment No. 6, The Woodcutter Story).
Helena Stefánsdóttir and Arnar Steinn Friðbjarnarson at the festival from September 23–29.
Miguel Llansó, Spain’s gift to Estonian cinema, made a splash at the 2019 Love & Anarchy Festival with his wild spy thriller Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway. Llansó returns as a guest of the festival with his new film, Infinite Summer, a transhumanist sci-fi exploration. This punk-influenced utopia follows a group of friends in their twenties who decide to try a new meditation app during their summer vacation. The app is connected to the Tallinn Zoo, leading to unpredictable effects on the users’ biochemistry. The film was produced by Allison Rose Carter and Jon Read (Everything Everywhere All at Once, American Honey).
Miguel Llansó at the festival from September 19–22.
Mikko Mäkelä’s (A Moment in the Reeds) second feature film, which premiered at Sundance, is an explicit queer drama. The film follows Max, a 25-year-old writer in London, who begins a double life as a sex worker to conduct research for his debut novel. Mäkelä will discuss the film with producer James Watson.
Mikko Mäkelä and James Watson at the festival from September 19–22.
Danish director and producer Søren Green and actor Noa Risbro Hjerrild will visit Helsinki with their coming-of-age story B.O.Y. (Bruises of Yesterday) that is tinged with tragedy. The film follows a 16-year-old boy spending the summer with his grandparents, who falls in love with an older young man. Tragedy strikes and the boy is torn by the painful conflicts of desire, loneliness, and the general struggles of growing up.
Søren Green and Noa Risbro Hjerrild at the festival from September 19–23.
Estonian-Finnish co-production 8 Views of Lake Biwa will bring acclaimed director Marko Raat to the festival. The film depicts a remote fishing village on the brink of catastrophe, examining a community that still believes it is connected to the universe. The film, co-produced by Finland’s Bufo, features Tommi Korpela in a supporting role.
Marko Raat at the festival from September 22–25.
Director Kasper Rune Larsen and actor Jacob Skyggebjerg will present their film The Idiot at the festival. In the film, Cille is pregnant, and Tobias (Skyggebjerg) has found his calling in life: he wants to become an actor to entertain and bring joy to those around him. However, the young couple’s optimism is challenged by a world that, at every turn, threatens to ruin their dreams.
Kasper Rune Larsen and Jacob Skyggebjerg at the festival from September 26–29.
Director Kōki Mitani from Japan will attend the festival with his mystery-comedy All About Suomi. A mysterious woman called Suomi disappears, prompting her husband Shizuo Samukawa to summon her four ex-husbands to his mansion. Surprisingly, each man has a different idea of Suomi’s appearance, her personality and even her very identity…
Kōki Mitani at the festival from September 23-25.