03/09/2012 - Finnish director Arto Halonen's documentary When Heroes Lie is selected for the local gala at the 25th Helsinki International Film Festival-Love & Anarchy

Celebrating its 25th anniversary between September 20-30, the Helsinki International Film Festival-Love & Anarchy will launch the Finnish Film Affair (September 25-27), a market programme screening the latest Finnish films and works-in-progress targeted at sales agents, buyers and press.

From showing 26 films in two theatres, Love & Anarchy is now programming around 120 features and 80 shorts on 12 screens all over Helsinki, and last year took 54,000 admissions. The anniversary selection is bookended by US director Benh Zeitlin's Sundance winner Beasts of the Southern Wild, and French director Jacques Audiard's Rust & Bone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile].

The Emerging Europe series includes new films from Eastern Europe, spearheaded by Serbian director Srdjan Dragojevic's The Parade [+see also:
trailer
film profile], while Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch's God's Horses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nabil Ayouch
film profile] is headed for the Sea Between Us line-up.

Finnish director Arto Halonen's documentary When Heroes Lie, disclosing "the systematic and long-term use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs in the sport of skiing", will unspool at the Finnish gala, while the international gala will present US director William Friedkin's Killer Joe.

The festival promises true feast in the Haute Cuisine section, where the chefs of Helsinki's Sunn Restaurant have created special menus for UK director Ken Loach's whisky-scented The Angels' Share [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ken Loach
film profile] and Spanish director Jorge Coira's gastronomic drama, 18 Meals [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The jubilee year is also marked by a series of films dealing with age crises and different periods of life, such as Spanish director Ignacio Ferreras's Wrinkles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ignacio Ferreras
interview: Ignacio Ferreras
film profile], and Polish director Goro Miyazaki's From Up on Poppi Hill. Local patriotism is explored by The Marshal of Finland, a new documentary about president Gustaf Mannerheim.