The audience of Love & Anarchy Film Festival will award the German film A Year Ago in Winter with the second Finnkino Prize.

A Year Ago in Winter tells a story of a family in grief after loosing the son and dear brother, Alexander. Director Caroline Link (b.1964) was awarded an Oscar for her feature film Nowhere in Africa (2001). Film stars Josef Bierbichler and the young Karoline Herfurth.

A Year Ago in Winter is screened in Finnkino Prize Gala at 6 pm in Maxim 1. The film premieres in Finland in winter 2009.

In 2008 Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy launched a competition after operating for 20 years as a non-competitive festival. The Finnkino Prize is a nation-wide distribution contract. The audience competition for the Finnkino Prize is arranged in co-operation with Finnkino, the biggest distribution company in Finland. The audience voted for their favourite film from eight nominees screened at the Helsinki IFF.

The eight nominees for the second Finnkino Prize were:

• About Elly (dir. Asghar Farhadi, Iran 2009)

• Ajami (dir. Scandar Copti,Yaron Shani, Israel, Saksa 2009)

• All Around Us (dir. Ryosuke Hashiguchi, Japani 2008)

• Amreeka (dir. Cherien Dabis, Kanada, Kuwait, USA 2009)

• Borderline (dir. Lyne Charlebois, Kanada 2008)

• The Maid (dir. Sebastian Silva, Chile, Meksiko 2009)

* North (dir. Rune Denstad Langlo, Norja 2009)

* Year Ago in Winter, A (dir. Caroline Link, Saksa 2009)