The submission for the 2024 national competition is open from March 15 until May 31.

The submission for the national competition is open for fiction, documentary or animated films that are max. 30 minutes long. The production or co-production country of the film must be Finland. The competition line-up is selected by members of the Love & Anarchy Festival Ministry. An independent jury appointed by the festival will choose the winners. All films selected for the competition will be screened as part of the 2024 Love & Anarchy festival 19.-29.9.2024. 

The main prize is the R&A Short Award which is a monetary award. The Finnish Film Foundation’s Uusi Aalto (in English New Wave) Award will be given to a new talent whose short film represents the bright tomorrow of Finnish film. The best student film is awarded for the fifth time. The award is an accreditation to Love & Anarchy festival and Finnish Film Affair industry event in 2025. In addition, all 2024 competition films will compete for the Audience Award.

The submission for the 2024 national competition is now open until May 31. Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy takes place on 19-29 September 2024.

The national competition, which has been organized since 2018, presents a wide range of the high level of Finnish short films through professional and student works. In 2023, Elisabeth Marjanovic Cronvall’s film Reptilhjärnan won the main prize.

Eligibility

• You can apply with a fiction, documentary or animation film that is maximum 30 min long
• Film has been completed after the 1st of January 2023
• Only completed films are eligible
• Finland must be the production or co-production country (Finnish production company involved or part of the funding from Finland)
• Entry form must include a preview link for the completed film (subtitles not mandatory in this version)
• Premiere status is not required
• The films selected to the competition must deliver the screening copy in DCP format with English subtitles (if not spoken in English)
• Festival does not pay screening fees for competition films
• The film can be submitted only by the rights holder of the film (director, producer, distributor, sales) who by submitting the film gives consent to a possible screening of the film in the competition

Film submission

• There is no submission fee
• Fill out the entry form carefully, information entered into the form will be used in festival publications
• We will confirm that we have received your submission within a week via email
• The submission is open from 15 March until 31 May at 23:59

Selected films

• The competition line-up will be published at the end of August at the festival’s website (hiff.fi)
• The festival will notify the entrants of their selections or non-selections latest in early July
• The films selected for the competition must deliver the screening copy in DCP by 15 August

For more information, please contact:
Mimosa Ahderinne / Partnerships and Event Coordinator
mimosa@hiff.fi

The festival reserves the right to make changes.

Founded in 1988, the Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy has been held annually ever since. The aim of Finland’s biggest film festival is to promote the artistry of filmmaking alongside inventive, controversial and visually stunning new films. The festival also seeks to screen films that would otherwise not be seen in Finnish theatres.

The festival programme consists of new films from well-known filmmakers and fresh talents alike. In its first few years the programme was heavily focused on Japanese and Hong Kong films. Since then, the programme has evolved; Asian films still play a part but films from all other continents feature too. The ideological masters of the festival aren’t too tough to pick out – Lina Wertmüller (Love and Anarchy, 1973), Wong Kar-wai, Spike Lee, Claire Denis, Peter Greenaway, Gaspar Noé, Kelly Reichardt, John Woo, David Cronenberg, Takeshi Kitano, Todd Solondz, Takashi Miike and Hayao Miyazaki are all names that pop up in the festival programme year and decade after another.

During its over 30-year lifespan, the Helsinki International Film Festival has expanded from two theatres to 18 screens and established itself as an 11-day homage to cinema. In 1988 the festival screened 26 films. In 2020, the programme consisted of 140 feature films and 170 short films. In 2018 HIFF launched its R&A Shorts National Competition.

The 2023 festival gathered approximately 50 000 visitors.

Each year HIFF invites important filmmakers to speak about their work and meet both audiences and industry professionals. In past years the festival has had the honour of welcoming guests such as Spike Lee, Danny Boyle, Tilda Swinton, Naoko Ogigami, Jan Kounen, Aleksandr Sokurov, Baz Luhrmann, Philip Ridley, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jacques Audiard, Lucile Hadžihalilović, Terence Davies and Cristian Mungiu.

The festival is organised by the Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy association.

The festival is supported by the Finnish Film Foundation, the City of Helsinki and the European Union’s Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

Serial Cards

Serial cards are an excellent choice for passionate film enthusiasts! Purchasing a serial card is more cost-effective than buying individual screening tickets if you wish to enjoy multiple films during the festival. For more information on using a serial card, scroll down to the Purchasing Serial Cards section.

Each serial card includes a specific number of screening tickets that can be used personally or shared with others, with the exception of those purchased with a personal discount or cultural benefits. Serial cards are only valid at the 2024 Love & Anarchy Film Festival, and can only be applied to regular-priced screening tickets. Serial cards are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

R&A Serial Cards 2024

• HURMIO (inc. 5 tickets) 55 €
• PARATIISI (inc. 12 tickets) 112 €
• EUFORIA (inc. 20 tickets) 180 €

Serial cards can be purchased at hiff.fi/en/serial-cards/

Culture Benefits

Culture benefits can be used to purchase screening tickets and serial cards for personal use only. The tickets included in a serial card purchased with the culture benefit may not be used by persons other than the person who purchased the serial card.

Please note that you cannot buy merchandise using culture benefits. For more information on the culture benefits we accept, see the “Payment methods” section on our website.

Be prepared to show proof of identity (driving licence, passport, photo ID) at the screening doors.

Misuse of a ticket or a serial card purchased with the culture benefit will result in the ticket or serial card being invalidated. In the event of misuse, the cultural benefit will not be refunded and the misuse will be reported to the service provider, which may, in accordance with its own rules, withdraw the benefit in its entirety from the employee’s use.

Wheelchair Seats, Assistant Tickets & Accessibility

Wheelchair seats are available for purchase online or at the festival box offices to all accessible theatres.

The assistant must redeem their own assistant ticket before the screening. The free of charge assistant tickets can be redeemed online and at the festival box offices. Please note that it is not possible to get assistant tickets to sold-out screenings. Click here for more information on accessibility.

Purchasing Serial Cards

Serial cards can be purchased at hiff.fi/en/serial-cards/. From the page, you can select the desired serial card type and quantity, after which you click on checkout to proceed. Once you click into the shopping cart, you have 20 minutes to complete the purchase.

Payment Methods

Online

• Online banking credentials (Nordea, Osuuspankki, Danske Bank, Aktia, Säästöpankki, POP Pankki, S-pankki, Handelsbanken and Ålandsbanken)
• Visa ja Mastercard -cards
• Smartum!
• ePassi

Marketing

We will send targeted marketing messages to ticket buyers. You can opt out of this marketing at any time. Every marketing message we send you will include instructions on how to easily opt-out. You can read more about this in our Privacy and Data Protection Policy.

FAQ

I bought a ticket/serial card in the online ticket shop, but I haven’t received it in my email. What should I do?
First, check your email’s spam folder in case the ticket or serial card has ended up there. The ticket or serial card should arrive in your email immediately after payment, but no later than 15 minutes after purchase.

If you’ve checked your spam folder, waited 15 minutes and you still haven’t received the ticket/serial card you bought, contact us by email: liput@hiff.fi. Add your name and the order number found on your receipt (2 letters and 8 numbers) to the message.

I was incorrectly charged twice for a payment transaction. How can I get the overcharged amount back?
Contact us by email: liput@hiff.fi for a refund of the overcharge. Please include your name and receipts for the double charge (receipt or screenshots from your online bank).

Can I share the screening tickets included in my serial card with others?
Yes – as a general rule. In principle, it is allowed to share tickets from a serial card. The only exception is for serial cards paid for with a personal discount or cultural benefits, which are personal tickets. Unfortunately, it is not possible to pay in instalments, so if you share a serial card with others, one of them must act as the purchaser of the whole serial card.

I have a serial card, but I couldn’t use it to buy a ticket for the screening I wanted to see. Why?
A serial card does not guarantee admission to any screening, but you must always redeem a ticket for a specific screening separately before the screening starts. 

You will not be able to redeem a ticket if the screening you have chosen is sold out or if it is a free screening. If the screening is sold out, please choose another screening. Tickets for free screenings cannot be redeemed with a serial card, but must be purchased separately via the film’s own page.

How is it possible that the screening I want to see is sold out?
Some of the festival’s screenings are very popular and tickets sell out soon after they go on sale. 

To maximise the chances of getting a ticket for the screening you want to see, we recommend that you buy your ticket soon after the programme is announced (31 August), so that you can buy your ticket for the screening you want to see as soon as tickets go on sale on 7 September at 10 am.

Can I bring my assistant to the screening?
You can bring an assistant with you to the screening free of charge. Please note that the assistant must redeem their own assistant ticket before the screening. The free-of-charge assistant tickets can be redeemed online and at the festival box offices. Unfortunately, it is not possible to get assistant tickets to sold-out screenings.

The screening is sold out, but there are still wheelchair seats available. Can I buy one?
If you are a wheelchair user, you can of course buy an available wheelchair seat. If you are not a wheelchair user however, you cannot buy a wheelchair seat, even if it is the last available ticket, as these are not actual seats but designated spaces for wheelchairs.

Can tickets to sold-out screenings become available?
Tickets to sold-out screenings may become available 30 minutes before the screening. If tickets become available, they can be purchased online and at the festival box offices.

I bought a ticket, but I can’t go to the screening. Can I get a refund or exchange the ticket for another screening?
Purchased tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. You can of course ask if someone close to you could use your ticket, for example.

I want to reserve tickets. What should I do?
The festival has decided to abandon the ticket reservation system used in previous years, which means that it is not possible to reserve tickets.

Contact

Please check our FAQ section first before contacting us!

To ensure a smooth customer service experience, we prefer to be contacted by email. Please include in your message the name of the ticket purchaser, the subject of your enquiry and preferably also the order number. 

By email: liput@hiff.fi

Wheelchair seats are available for purchase online or at the festival box offices to all accessible theatres. Free tickets for personal assistants can be redeemed at our online shop or by visiting the box offices. Please note that if a screening is sold out, seats for personal assistants are not guaranteed.

Content warnings

We use content warnings in our films. They are intended to give the viewer advance warning of potentially disturbing content or imagery. We also mention any strobe lights in the content warnings.

Accessibility to venues

Venue specific information is collected with help of Riesa and can be found here. (The link opens in a new tab.)

Contact person in accessibility to venues

Contact person for more information on the accessibility:
Veera Kotila, veera@hiff.fi, phone 0407423523

With the following principles, we commit to making our spaces and events safer for everyone. Safe space means that everyone has the freedom to fully be themselves and participate in all activities without fear of scorn or discrimination. We understand that it isn’t possible to create a space that is completely safe for everyone, but it is vital for us to strive for that goal in all our actions.

• Everyone is treated equally and with respect. We intervene in any cases of discrimination, harassment or other unsuitable behavior. We do not accept racism, ableism or verbal or physical discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. When needed, the person behaving in an unsuitable manner will be removed from the space.
• We do not presume consent, but ask for it.
• Everyone has a right to self-determination. We do not generalize or make presumptions about anyone’s background, experiences, gender or sexuality.
• We understand that we come from different backgrounds, experiences, circumstances and that we can disagree on things. Still, we strive for respectful interactions.
• We acknowledge that all our spaces are not accessible for everyone. We develop the accessibility of our events.
• Our spaces and events are photographed. We inform the audience about this. If you do not want to be photographed, please let our staff know. If you take pictures in our events, please make sure that you have permission from the people who you are photographing.
• We are not perfect, and sometimes we fail. We encourage everyone to take responsibility for their words, actions and failures. Sometimes, an apology is necessary. 
• We promise to support you. In all our events, we have a dedicated person to whom you can report any harassment, discrimination or other unsuitable behavior. You can also give feedback about our events after the fact and anonymously through this form.
• You can give us feedback and suggestions for changes to these principles for safer space through an anonymous form here.

The call for volunteers opens in June 2024.

Pulpettikino is a film education project which offers kindergarteners, school children and their teachers in Helsinki the opportunity to participate in Finland’s largest film festival for free and learn about film. Up to a thousand children visit the festival every year. Pulpettikino registration opens in August 2024. We will be in contact with schools.

Accreditation

Accreditation for the 37th Love & Anarchy festival opens in June 2024.