{mosimage}One more year, the Helsinki International Film Festival Rakkautta ja Anarkiaa (Love and Anarchy) it is a compulsory destination for lovers of good cinema. The offer this year is astonishingly good and wide, with more than 130 festival films available in the following venues: Bio Rex, Maxim, Kinopalatsi, Andorra, Dubrovnik and Kino Engel.
Basically every single cinema lover will find something interesting to watch during the 10 days that the festival take place (from 18 to 28 of September). Japanese animation, the new cinema from Spain, the last tendencies of the neighboring Estonia, the most acid documentaries, other projects where cinema and music melt… everything has space here in Helsinki. The organization of HIFF is full of young and dynamic people who truly love cinema, and that gets extrapolated in an awesome offer.
{mosimage}
Added to this, the audience will have chance also to enjoy the visit of some very special guests like the Mexican director Carlos Reygadas or the Estonian directors Ilmar Raag, Veiko Ounpuu and René Vilbre (who is on the hot spot in his native country nowadays with the releasing of Minä Olin Siin, his latest project), as well as veteran Spanish actress Silvia Munt or the irreverent Chris Waitt, creator of the show Fur TV that you can watch in Finnish MTV.
FREE! Magazine´s 5 picks for the 21st Helsinki International Film Festival:
{mosimage}1) A Complete History of My Sexual Failures
Well, I think that the following sentence perfectly resumes the philosophy of a person who dares to dissect all his past failed relations in front of the camera. What you can expect from Chris Waitt and his exhilarating new movie is just to have a great time:
”I made some sexy moves on Keira Knightley on the dance floor at a film awards party last year. I lasted two minutes before I was escorted away by her bodyguards.”
– DIRECTOR CHRIS WAITT, EMPIRE
http://www.hiff.fi/lang-en/search-results/event/2024
{mosimage}2) Tokyo Sonata
Japanese director Kurosawa (no, not related to Akira Kurosawa) features a delicious bitter sweet story of a middle class family in Tokyo, where every member disguises in the everyday normality their own problems, dreams and passions. A great dissection of the contemporary Japanese society, and a wonderful final Sonata played in the piano by the child Kenji in the end that surely will make you feel goose pimples.
http://www.hiff.fi/lang-en/search-results/event/2130—tokyo-sonata
{mosimage}3) Chaotic Ana.
Julio Medem is undoubtedly one of the best Spanish directors in the last decade. The creator of masterpieces like Land (Tierra), Lucia and the Sex (Lucia y el Sexo) or the closely related to Finland The lovers from the Arctic Circle (Los Amantes del Círculo Polar) is back with a new little masterpiece where features the exploratory journey of the young and beautiful Ana.
http://www.hiff.fi/lang-en/search-results/event/2044—chaotic-ana
{mosimage}4) It s a Free World.
Ken Loach continues being socially involved with a new film that digs deep in the problems of the illegal workers in England and the hard conditions that they suffer. We follow the steps of Angie, a beautiful British recruiter who will fall in the dark side of morals and ethics when starts her own recruiting company. Entertaining and at the same time compromised. 100% Loach.
http://www.hiff.fi/lang-en/search-results/event/2072—its-a-free-world
{mosimage}5) Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
Hunter S. Thompson is certainly a name to remember in our recent history. The father of Gonzo journalist opened a path of excesses that not many could follow (but many were and still are dreaming with it). A path of drugs abuse, taking experiences to the limit, including to ride 1 year together with Hell Angels in order to write a book (if you still have not read his books Hell Angels, run to the bookstore for it!). Director Alex Gibney gives you a detailed view of the talented and neurotic journalist here. If after this you feel hungry of more about Hunter S. Thompson, you can always take a look at the superb acting work of Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, where Mr. Thompson makes a cameo.
http://www.hiff.fi/lang-en/search-results/event/2064—gonzo-the-life-and-work-of-dr-hunter-s-thompson