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Helsinki International Film Festival 2011 gala films confirmed
The 24th annual Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy takes place from September 15th to 25th, 2011. The opening and closing films, the Love & Anarchy Gala film and the Finnish Film Gala selection have all been confirmed to the festival programme.
Pedro Almodóvar’s THE SKIN I LIVE IN is the opening film of HIFF – Love & Anarchy. The Spanish director’s new thriller stuns with its extraordinary visuals and music. The strikingly beautiful film stars Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya, a guest of HIFF in 2009.
Nicolas Winding Refn's stylish DRIVE, which was seen in competition in Cannes, is this year’s Love & Anarchy Gala film. Ryan Gosling is the chilling driver in the intense film by the Danish director, also known for his PUSHER trilogy. The festival's closing film, Asghar Farghadi's A SEPARATION, won the Golden Bear at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival. With a narrative that succeeds at being both a particularly revealing depiction of life in modern Teheran and universally appealing, A SEPARATION has been seen by almost a million viewers in France alone.
This year's Finnish Film Gala selection is SYVÄLLE SALATTU, directed by Joona Tena. The menacing, mysterious beauty of water is a key element of the psychological thriller, which was shot in North Karelia. The film stars well-known Finnish actors Krista Kosonen, Peter Franzén and Kai Lehtinen. In addition to the annual Finnish Film Gala, HIFF will host the Finnish Film Event from September 16th to 22nd. The event features an extensive selection of domestic films including both previews of interesting new releases and screenings of familiar 2011 successes. Most of these films are screened with English subtitles.
Another representation of Finnish cinema at its best is the 2011 HIFF trailer. Starring Tommi Korpela, the new trailer is the work of RARE EXPORTS director Jalmari Helander. It can be seen in cinemas from August 18th.
The festival programme consists of unique feature films and short films from around the world. Familiar figures from HIFF´s history make an appearance in this year's programme: both Takashi Miike's epic samurai drama 13 ASSASSINS and Gus van Sant's newest film RESTLESS, starring Mia Wasikowska, will be seen on the silver screen.
24TH HELSINKI INTL FILM FESTIVAL - LOVE & ANARCHY ------15TH TO 25TH SEPTEMBER 2011 WWW.HIFF.FI ------PO BOX 889, 00101 HELSINKI, FINLAND TEL +358-9-684 35 230 ------FAX +358-9-684 35 232
HIFF is also happy to present an abundance of fresh talents and new areas of cinematic excellence. One of these is the Balkan series, which includes films such as the prize-winning WHITE WHITE WORLD directed by Serbian Oleg Novkovic and Joshua Marston's (MARIA FULL OF GRACE, 2004) tale of revenge, THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD, which takes place in Albania.
Like many other international film festivals, HIFF will also arrange online screenings. In addition to their traditional screenings, some of this year's films can be seen using the new virtual viewing platform MUBI (http://mubi.com)
This year's festival magazine will be published on August 18th. The entire lineup will be published on September 2nd. The presale of festival passes and catalogues will also begin on September 2nd. Single tickets will be available from September 7th.
The press coordinator of the 2011 HIFF is Henna Raatikainen.
For more information, contact:
Press coordinator Henna Raatikainen Tel. +358 44 268 7564 [email protected]
Festival director Pekka Lanerva Tel. +358 40 532 6204 [email protected] www.hiff.fi
24TH HELSINKI INTL FILM FESTIVAL - LOVE & ANARCHY ------15TH TO 25TH SEPTEMBER 2011 WWW.HIFF.FI ------PO BOX 889, 00101 HELSINKI, FINLAND TEL +358-9-684 35 230 ------FAX +358-9-684 35 232