Entertainment
Helsinki’s Love & Anarchy Film Festival announces lineup for 39th edition
Organizers unveiled a program of 136 feature films and 121 shorts for the upcoming event, emphasizing its politically-engaged curation
The short version
- The 39th Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy has revealed its full lineup for its upcoming run from September 17 to 27, 2026.
- The festival will showcase 136 feature films and 121 shorts from more than 80 countries, organized under more than 20 curated sections.
- Festival organizers highlighted a democratic, five-person programming team and defended the festival's politically-engaged selection philosophy.
Key facts
- The 39th Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy runs from September 17 to 27, 2026, and its industry sidebar, the Finnish Film Affair, takes place from September 23 to 25.[Variety]
- The opening gala film on September 17 is the Spanish drama 'The Black Ball,' directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, while the festival closes on September 23 with Andrey Zvyagintsev's 'Minotaur.'[Variety]
- The lineup also features notable films such as the Palme d'Or winner 'Fjord,' Na Hong-jin's 'Hope,' and local director Hanna Bergholm's horror-thriller 'Nightborn.'[Variety]
- The event's curation process was led by a five-person team headed by program director Outi Rehn, following the official retirement of co-founder and artistic director Pekka Lanerva last year.[Variety]