This year’s Helsinki International Film Festival is even more of a culinary celebration than before, as malty winds of change are blowing. For the first time ever, HIFF launches an official Festival Ale, which is available at the atmospheric Bruuveri restaurant, along with free film screenings. 

The HIFF Festival Ale has been perfected in cooperation with Bruuveri brewery restaurant and Saimaan Juomatehdas, and it has been brewed in the restaurant’s own brewery in Kamppi, Helsinki. The HIFF India Pale Ale (IPA) has a balanced taste with a fresh fruit boost. The ale will be available on tap at Bruuveri starting on 10 September and will be sold until the end of the festival, or as long as the supplies last.

In addition, the festival audience will have the opportunity to watch HIFF films at a unique brewery cinema as Bruuveri Restaurant’s fireplace cabinet is turned into a theater. The first brewery screening takes place on 10 September with a pre-screening of Rebecca Zlotowski’s GRAND CENTRAL, a sweaty love story set in and around a nuclear facility. The film stars two of the highest profile French actors right now: Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color) and Tahar Rahim (A Prophet, The Past).

During the festival week, on 25 September, Bruuveri will present René Marik’s comedy PUPPET FICTION, in which intoxicated puppets and greedy humans live side by side. Despite the name, the dark story is far from a children’s film.

HIFF screenings at Restaurant Bruuveri:
Wed 10 September, 19.00: GRAND CENTRAL, dir. Rebecca Zlotowski, 94 min
Thurs 25 September, 19.00: PUPPET FICTION, dir. René Marik, 94 min 

Free admission

HIFF Festival Ale is sold exclusively at Bruuveri brewery restaurant, starting on 10 September, and will be available until the end of the festival, or as long as the supplies last. During the festival, from 18 to 28 September, a HIFF movie ticket will grant you a discount of 1 Euro for all Saimaan Juomatehdas’ drinks on tap at Bruuveri.