The 37th Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy attracted audiences into cinemas in droves. Around 7000 more people attended the festival than last year, and film lovers also found their way to our amazing events and clubs. In total, the festival attracted nearly 55 000 people – the best result in any Finnish, post-pandemic film festival. A total of 117 screenings sold out, meaning that nearly one in three screenings played for packed audiences.
Sunday night’s Closing Gala screening of Iranian director Mohammas Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, was sold out, continuing the trend of the previous gala screenings. The three most popular films at this year’s festival were the endearing animated cat-adventure Flow, Oscar-winner Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist and the United States-indie wonder I Saw The TV Glow – all of which were seen by over 1400 people. Other audience favourites included the Tilda Swinton-starring comedy Problemista and The Outrun, the novel adaptation set in the stunning scenery of Scotland.
“We are overwhelmed, proud and grateful for the fact that we have been able to reach such astonishing numbers after some challenging years”, comments Pekka Lanerva, referring to the financial struggles the festival has been facing recently. “Every ticket and serial card purchased has played a part in us being able to organize the festival also in the upcoming years”, he continues. “We are also delighted by the fact that audiences bought tickets to such varied films. This is a refreshing change to recent years, when the difference in interest between big award-winning films and smaller, more low-key gems has been noticeable.”
Once again, Love & Anarchy brought an array of wonderful filmmaker guests to Helsinki. Baltasar Kormákur and Roja Pakari arrived to present their Nordic Council Film Prize-nominated films Touch and The Son and the Moon. Also representing the Nordic countries were guests Søren Green and Noa Risbro Hjerrild, whose film B.O.Y. (Bruises of Yesterday) received its world premiere at Love & Anarchy and sold out several screenings. The Japanese comedy All About Suomi brought a taste of Japanese film glamour to Helsinki. The Finnish premiere of the film and the following fan interactions with the filmmakers received prominent coverage in the Japanese media.
“In these challenging times we are grateful for each filmmaker guest that visits the festival. We have been able to achieve one of our central goals, which is to showcase emerging talents to our film-loving audiences, partners and the media”, says Pekka Lanerva. Over the years, Love & Anarchy has played host to superstar guests such as Tilda Swinton, Spike Lee, Baz Luhrmann and Danny Boyle. “Inviting world-famous talents requires resources that we have not had access to in recent years, but we hope that in the future we can once more welcome guests from all over the world, both well-known industry veterans and up-and-coming and interesting talents”, Lanerva summarizes.
The short film selection R&A Shorts interested audiences. The winner of the National Competition main prize was Elina Talvensaari’s How to Please, which tells the story of Wed Al-Asad, an Iraqi man who gets stuck in the Finnish asylum-seeking system. The other awarded films were Iivo Korhonen’s film about the artist Henry Wuorila-Stenberg, Morning Has Broken, Yet It Is Night (New Wave Award), Kardo Shiwani’s Fur Fur, a film that asks if fur can remember, and Juho Reinikainen’s Je m’appelle Mariia, a touching story about a Ukrainian woman dreaming of a life in Paris (Best Student Film). Iiti Yli-Harja’s animation I Smell a Mouse got the Jury Special Mention and the Audience Award went to Mia Halme’s nature retreat Fabulous Cow Ladies.
The industry event Finnish Film Affair brought over 500 film industry professionals from 25 countries and 4 continents to Helsinki. The event saw pitches for over 50 work-in-progress film and television projects. Paula Korva’s feature film Sudden Outbursts of Emotions (Juokse lempesi edestä) was awarded the main prize, Sunnivan Eir Tangvik Kveum’s Nipster won the Best Nordic Project award, and Jussi Sandhun’s But I’m No Influencer received the award for Best Documentary Project. Vivian Säde’s project Mari, Sweetie (Mari, kallis) received the event’s first ever Finnish Weird prize.
The winner of the National Audiovisual Institute’s (KAVI) film of the month audience poll was To a Land Unknown, the story of two undocumented Palestinian cousins. The film will be seen as part of Kino Regina’s November programming.
The 38th Love & Anarchy film festival will be held 18 to 28 September 2025.