24/09/2007

Roy Andersson, Santi Amodeo, Jonas Cuaron (son of Alfonso) and Goro Miyazaki (son of Hayao) are some of the auteur filmmakers expected at the 20th Helsinki International Film Festival - Love & Anarchy, which kicked off last Thursday with Anton Corbijn’s Control [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and closes on September 30 with Andersson's critically acclaimed You, the Living [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pernilla Sandström
interview: Roy Andersson
film profile].

This year’s programme presents some of the most innovative and controversial new films from around the world, split up into a dozen strands. The local film industry has its own special day on September 26 with the world premiere of Petri Kotwica’s Black Ice, followed by the annual awards ceremony rewarding the director and producer of the year.

The French Touch Gala section has seven new French films, including Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in Paris [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christophe Mazodier
interview: Julie Delpy
film profile] (distributed by Cinema Mondo in Finland) and Persepolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marc-Antoine Robert
interview: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Pa…
film profile] (Sandrew Metronome); the sidebar This is UK has also seven films on show, such as This is England [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (NonStop) and Hallam Foe [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Nordisk Film); while Nordic Ego is screening eight titles, including the documentary Sigur Rós-Heima about the Icelandic post-rock band, who will perform on closing night.

The line-up of the Semi-official selection offers a potpourri of all the best films of the past year, and includes Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book (Nordisk Film) and Cristian Mungiu’s 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days (Cinema Mondo), presented by its lead actor Vlad Ivanov.

The 11-day festival, which screens films in six venues around Helsinki, will next go on tour, with stops in Espoo, Tampere, Turku, Jyväskylä and Hämeenlinna.