Helsinki-based CEO Anna Mottola said Finland’s leading film festival, Love & Anarchy, is ready to celebrate its 35th edition, free from COVID restrictions and finally able to focus on films and audiences. But it was a bittersweet period, marked by the loss of Jean-Luc Godard and Lena Wertmoeller again in December, with their 1973 film giving the event its name.
While Wertmüller will be celebrated with a screening of “Seven Beautiful Women,” there is another tragedy on the team’s minds: the sudden death of Charby Dean, Palme d’Or-winning star Robin Ostlund – and the festival’s opening film – The Triangle of Grief. ”
“It will be a commemorative show,” says Artistic Director Pekka Lanerva. Dean’s star, Zlatko Porec, is expected to attend.
Anna Mottola, Becca Lanerva
“All our thoughts go to her family and to the cast and crew. For such a promising career, not to mention a young life, is so short… We want to pay tribute to her and the work she did on this film,” Mottola adds.
The festival will also address another important topic: the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although the event has not officially banned Russian films, it will not be showing any of them this year.
“We condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine,” says Mottola.
We want to focus on Ukrainian films. Give them our full attention, as they can be sidelined in the debate about banning Russian titles. They should be the focus of the discussion.”
In April, the festival held a nationwide fundraising event, where 15 cinemas and organizers in 14 cities received their invitation to screen the film “Klondike” by Marina R. Gorbach. The initiative raised 11,000 euros, which was then donated to the Finnish Red Cross and UNICEF.
Now, in the Framing Ukraine section, coordinated with Ukrainian Film Days in Helsinki, L&A will feature the likes of “Butterfly Vision” and “Pamfir.”
“We are not afraid to take a stand and are ready to talk about that decision as well, the decision not to show Russian films,” Mottola says.
“Every program choice makes a statement, political or otherwise. One of our main principles is that art cannot be separated from politics. It is part of human life and part of society.”
And our main role is not to talk, but to present films of people who have already made strong political statements. That’s what we do,” adds Lanerva.
A focus on underrepresented or underrepresented groups was part of the event’s legacy, he notes, welcoming LGBTQ+ films throughout the 1990s. Fine artist Minna Havukainen’s latest show “Puutarha” will continue the tradition.
“When I spoke to the director, she said she should also work as a cinematic experiment and she agreed. It’s a celebration of sexual eccentricity,” notes Lanerva.
Highlighting unusual Finnish titles remains crucial, particularly – says Lanerva – local production and funding remain conservative and mainstream.
“The Finnish film has been doing well for over 20 years – it’s time to acknowledge that there are different audiences now. It’s been happening with [Finnish Oscar submission] “Girl Picture” or “Memory of Water,” a science fiction movie.
As well as “The Woodcutter Story” by Mikko Myllylahti, the industry sidebar opening Finnish Film Affair and Anna Erickson’s dark experience of “W”, previously shown in Locarno.
“It’s absolutely original to the Finnish scene. It’s great to celebrate,” says Mottola. We also point out the “exciting new talent” Aino Soni, who is now behind Heartbeast.
With an African Express section – curated in collaboration with Think Africa and Ubuntu Film Club – including films from Morocco and Tunisia, and the bustling small budget scene of countries like Uganda or the futuristic Neptune Frost, it’s all about the festival collaboration that has served as the springboard. Home of Arthouse films in Finland, she adds. A game that abandons the world premieres of the tried and tested titles that have a better chance of satisfying its audience.
“In smaller countries, everything is interconnected. Cinemas, distributors, filmmakers: we all work together, because if one suffers, everyone is affected. Yet the same spirit still remains, of love and chaos, of enjoying a certain supremacy,” Mottola notes.
Our main mission is to enrich the cinema culture in Finland. So, no stress! “
Love and Chaos will end on September 25th.
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