Editor

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.

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.