The Helsinki Effect

In 1975, Helsinki was the center of media attention. The leading figures of world politics gathered at Finlandia Hall for the CSCE Summit to sign a document that was supposed to end the Cold War.

Although few of the Summit’s attendees believed it would happen, citizens across the Eastern Bloc, tired of oppression, soon began nonviolent protests, frequently referring to the document signed at the summit.

Director Arthur Franck, who also narrates the film, ironically states at the beginning that the subject of the film is boring. Fortunately, he does not let this discourage him, because in his skilled hands, hundreds of hours of archive material are transformed into a highly entertaining documentary. Franck creates an exuberant, carnivalesque atmosphere by utilising material that is usually left unused – botched opening speeches, politicians sleeping in conference halls, Brezhnev combing his hair.

Despite all the humor, the message of the documentary is serious – diplomacy is boring but important, it is a better way to agree on our common future than alternatives. Nowadays, when many world leaders disregard the rule-based world order, the film’s message seems particularly important. Words on paper mean something. Words (and films) can change the world.

Kira Schroeder (translated by Pauliina Jännes)