The important japanese anime director Satoshi Kon has passed away. The director died suddenly on August 24 at the age of 46. The cause of death has been reported as pancreatic cancer.

During his final years, Kon was working on the film THE DREAMING MACHINE. It is unclear at this point, whether the film will be finished wiothout its writer/director. The last finished work by Kon, the 2006 film PAPRIKA, was seen in HIFF in 2007. Also other films by the author, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, MEMORIES and PERFECT BLUE have been shown in HIFF in various years.

Kon specialized in strongly visual, sometimes also frightening, stories mixing dreams, illusions and reality. Kon's style has influenced numerous other directors, including Darren Aronofsky and Christopher Nolan.

The unusual scifi-horror film RUBBER has been confirmed to be on the HIFF programme. The film tells the story of a lone vengeful car tire rolling through the desert. The tire is not your average Michelin, as it possesses psychic powers. Thus it can blow the heads off from people it comes across with.

The film is directed by Quentin Dupieux, better known as the electronic musician Mr. Oizo. According to the director, all the weirdness in the film happens for "no reason". The movie premiered this spring at the Cannes Film Festival, where it created a lot of buzz.

Also the Info-section of the HIFF homepage has been updated. More information about this autumn's festival is to be published here soon.

LIFE DURING WARTIME, the new film from the festival favorite director Todd Solondz (WELCOME TO DOLLHOUSE, PALINDROMES), will be shown this autumn in the Helsinki International Film Festival. The film is a sequel to the 1998 arthouse success, HAPPINESS.

LIFE DURING WARTIME follows the familiar characters a couple of years after the events of HAPPINESS. However, Solondz has made things a bit more interesting by changing all the old actors to new ones. The lives of the people haven't turned any easier. Neurosis, loneliness and pining for love still haunt their mundane lives. Solondz keeps things tragicomical, cruel and warm at the same time.

The film won Solondz a Best director award at last year's Venice Film Festival.

Helsinki International Film Festival is proud to present the cult rockumentary ANVIL! - THE STORY OF ANVIL in its programme. The movie follows the metal band Anvil on its unbelievable comeback tour, that is full of surprises. The middle-aged band has to overcome ever more absurd obstacles to gain its moment in triumph. The film's Spinal Tap-like silliness goes all the way to eleven.

For friends of anime, HIFF offers the eagerly waited EVANGELION 2.0 - YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE). The sequel to EVANGELION 1.0: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE brings new developments to the ongoing conflict between the mecha-robots and the angel creatures. The story is part two in a four part-saga.

The 23rd Helsinki International Film Festival is held from 16th to 26th September.

The guest of the Love&Anarchy 2009, spicy Spanish actress, Elena Anaya, will be starring in the next Pedro Almodóvar film alongside Antonio Banderas.

The film La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In) is based on the novel Mygale, by Thierry Jonquet. It tells the story of plastic surgeon, who goes after the group of men, who raped his daughter.

The film is to premiére at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in May 2011.

A Finnish short film, Kinbaku - the Art of Bondage, has been awarded in Spain with the RTP Onda Curta prize.

Kinbaku - the Art of Bondage is a visually ambitious short documentary about the ancient tradition of bondage. The film is written and directed by Mr. Jouni Hokkanen, who is one of the programmers of Love & Anarchy festival. Kinbaku has been screened in several film festivals all over the world and it was screened at the competition in Tampere Short Film Festival this spring.

Kinbaku's Helsinki prémier will be at this year's edition of the Helsinki IFF - Love & Anarchy (from the 16th to 26th September, 2010).

”The director told me that Kinbaku is the most beautiful documentary ever made in Finland. I checked the film. He was not lying”.
- Patrick Frater, Variety

”This is far more better than Bakushi by Hiroki”.
- Russell Edwards, Variety

”This beautiful and amazingly-shot piece is a textured, atmospheric piece profiling riggers and models and others involved in the s/m world of Japan. It is an insightful and sometimes disturbing look into what goes on in the mind of those who share this strange passion with rope. I am immensely envious and inspired by the way the editors,  cinematographers, and directors put this together. The soundtrack is also exceptional."
-Greydancer.com

Two of L&A films have been nominated for Europe's LUX award 2009: Eastern Plays and Welcome.

Love & Anarchy is doing a survey this year which aims to find out what kind of audience attends the festival and how the marketing and informing about the festival works from the audiences point of view. The survey is also trying to find out what the audience from the Great Helsinki area has to say about the programme of the movie theatres in Helsinki. By taking part in the survey you can help improve the festival to be even more fantastic than it already is!