Helsinki International Film Festival Love & Anarchy is proud to be international – but also local

Helsinki International Film Festival Love & Anarchy welcomed some of the most anticipated films of the year. But showcasing Finnish films has been, and still is, a big part of its identity.

“Absolutely! We’re international, but also local,” says festival director Pauliina Ståhlberg.

“It’s part of our festival’s charm: The audience gets to see the weirdest, wildest and most beautiful films from all over the world – but also from Finland. They don’t take this for granted.”

Whether it’s the latest feature Nox from experimental filmmaker Matti Harju, or the films in the National Short Films Competition, which, says Ståhlberg, “had a record number of applicants this year.”

“We have seven screenings of local short films that represent the most imaginative filmmaking in Finland. We’re proud of that.”

The same goes for Nordic productions.

“We had a great selection, from first features – like Julia Thelin’s satire of the art world The Patron (Mecenaten) – to celebrated films like Fjord, which also has Norwegian and Finnish production companies behind it,” says Ståhlberg.

Fjord was awarded the Palm d’Or at Cannes, and was co-produced by Norway’s Eye Eye Pictures, Sweden’s Filmgate Films and Garagefilm, Denmark's Snowglobe, and Finland's Aamu Film Company. Cristian Mungiu came to Helsinki to present the screening.

“The Nordics are often known for their hard-hitting family dramas, and we’re happy to see that this tradition continues. But at the same time, it has twisted into totally new positions.”

The Finnish psychological drama Nightborn (Yön Lapsi) is a good example. Opening Love & Anarchy’s industry event the Finnish Film Affair, it showed a newly minted mother starting to suspect something is terribly wrong with her child.

“This film is especially interesting because of the subject of motherhood and its woes. They are rarely handled with such frankness, one that comes close to horror. It also puts Finnish mythology side by side with such scary questions as: ‘What if my child is a monster?’”

Nightborn premiered in Berlin in February, but Love & Anarchy is not a festival built around world premieres.

“The previous festival run only makes them more interesting to our festival’s audiences, and it certainly highlights the international and universal nature of some of the Finnish films. Still, our viewers definitely expect to see them before they can be seen anywhere else in Finland.”

Gender equality is also something they’re striving for, “both in our programming and in our whole festival”.

“We had plenty of Nordic examples of how this can work on the screen, from Nightborn to the Danish Three of a Kind (Ingen kære mor) and the Norwegian Solomamma. They are all directed by women, they star women, and redefine family relationships in a fresh way.”

Due to its collaboration with Nordisk Film & TV Fond – that acts as a secretary for The Nordic Council Film Prize – the fest also screened all the nominated films.

Its industry sidebar Finnish Film Affair expanded a few years earlier, and while local productions are still its core, Nordic projects was also presented.

“There are more and more co-productions, so the need for Nordic and Baltic co-operation just keeps growing,” states Ståhlberg.

Lydia Taylerson, Head of Industry, agrees: “Finnish projects deserve to be championed, as Finns have very unique stores to tell, but the problem these days seems to be that the funding opportunities are getting more and more difficult within the Finnish borders. That’s where the Finnish Film Affair’s role of exploring new avenues for filmmakers comes in.”

“Whether it’s about where to find new sources for financing overseas, questioning the ones we have here, or forging new connections between filmmakers throughout the Nordics, the bottom line is that international collaborations are becoming increasingly integral to getting those stories not only made, but made in ways that will travel into the international markets.”

Halima by Naima Mohamud, Darkness Counts by Anna Antsalo and Teemu Niukkanen’s Sauna Diplomacy were among these year’s FFA winners, with Emilie Beck’s 11 Hours named as Best Nordic Project.

The Producers Network Award, presented in partnership with Marché du Film, was awarded to Anniina Leppänen. The winner of the MIDPOINT Consulting Award was Big Deal pitched by Hedda Mjøen and Oda Kruse, and series Body in the Closet pitched by director Elin Grönblom and Mia Oikarinen. Finally, Connecting Cottbus Producers Exchange was presented to Anita Hyppönen, and the Göteborg Film Festival Award – to Linden Lane 6, which she pitched.

Finnish Film Affair 2026 is supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

One of the festival’s highlights, according to Ståhlberg, also had Finnish Film Affair roots: The documentary The Secret Reading Club of Kabul was pitched at the event last year.

Directed by Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen, the film is about a reading circle for women in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

“There were many interesting conversations and connections around the film [at the Finnish Film Affair]. It was a good opportunity to present the project and meet people from the international film industry,” says Adil.

“I’m really glad the film is screening at Love & Anarchy. Helsinki is my home now, and the festival provides a bigger stage for the courage and resistance of these young Afghan women. At a time when they’re being pushed out of public life, this kind of platform helps amplify their voices, and reminds people they’re still here, still standing. That matters the most to me.”

As the festival wrapped on Sept. 27, the National Competition Award went to Yasmin Najjar’s 28 Days Left (TJ28), which also competed in La Cinef at Cannes. Najjar pitched her film project at NFTVF’s Nordic Talents 2026.

Viljami Penttilä picked up the Road to Clermont award for Major Bag Alert, and the New Wave Award was given to Carmen Baltzar for All the Love in My Body.

Finnish Film Foundation also sponsored the Moving People and Images Award, given to Ekaterina Zhuzhleva for her animation Things That I Was Gathering.

The Best Student Film Award was given to Viena Kytöjoki for Killing Me Softly, with Special Mention heading to Martta Tuomaala for Am I Calling You at a Bad Time (En kai huonoon aikaan soittele).