Film festival Finntastic! brings new Finnish films to Washington, D.C. in June 2023
Finntastic! New Films from Finland film festival will take place in the DMV area from June 7 to June 27, 2023. The Finnish Film Foundation, the American Film Institute, the National Art Gallery of Art and the Embassy of Finland co-present amazing feature films and short films directed by Finnish female directors.
This is the first time a showcase of Finnish films is organized in the DMV area. The films will be screened at the AFI Silver Theatre and at the National Gallery of Art. The festival program includes drama, comedy, horror and documentary films – come and pick your favorite!
Film festival program:
HATCHING & PUPPET MASTER
Wednesday, June 7, at 7:45 pm
AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Includes Q&A with filmmaker Hanna Bergholm
A wine reception will be held by the Finnish Embassy before the screening from 6:45 pm to 7:45 pm.
Hatching is a psychological horror film. A 12-year-old gymnast, Tinja, is desperate to please her image-obsessed mother, whose blog ‘Lovely Everyday Life’ presents their family’s idyllic existence as manicured suburban perfection. After finding a wounded bird in the woods, Tinja brings its strange egg home, nestles it in her bed, and nurtures it until it hatches. The creature that emerges becomes her closest friend and a living nightmare, plunging Tinja beneath the impeccable veneer into a twisted reality that her mother refuses to see.
Short film Puppet Master is a fantasy drama that combines actors and puppets in a poetic story about longing for love, living in an objectifying relationship and clinging to another person.
Both films directed by Hanna Bergholm are screened together.
U.S. distributor IFC Films, production Silva Mysterium
Saturday, June 10, at 2 pm (doors at 1.30 pm)
National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium, 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20565
Award-winning film TOVE is a captivating drama about the creative energy of iconic Finnish artist, Tove Jansson, and her turbulent search for identity, desire and freedom. The film centers on the artistic struggles and unconventional personal life of Tove Jansson, showing both her personal relationships, and the creation of the popular Moomin books.
Director: Zaida Bergroth
U.S. distributor Juno Films, production Helsinki-filmi
Sunday, June 11, at 2 pm (doors at 1.30 pm)
National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium, 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20565
MATCH (Pia Andell, 16 min / Fiction / 2018) Two middle-aged women on a tennis court. One-hour match. One wants desperately to win, the other is afraid of competing. Will the breathing exercises be of any help?
RABOBESTO – OR HOW I SAVED A MONSTER (Mari Mantela, 15 min / Fiction / 2022) On the verge of her marital life, a young woman makes a journey into the night to find out why she has lost her heartbeat and turned golden.
GOODBYE TORNIO (Emilia Hernesniemi, 14 min / Documentary / 2021) Having tearful goodbyes with family and friends, a young provincial girl graduates from her school before moving to a big city far away.
SUPER COMFORT (Kirsikka Saari, 15 min / Fiction / 2018) The more Taina tries to entertain her family, the less comfortable they feel.
BIRDS IN THE EARTH (Marja Helander, 11 min / Experimental/Fiction / 2017) Two sister ballerinas dance through the villages and forests of the Sámi land in this disarming commentary on indigenous sovereignty and land ownership.
TWO BODIES ON A BEACH (Anna Paavilainen, 20 min / Fiction / 2019) A woman wakes up on a beach wrapped in plastic, half-naked and in high heels. 'Not again,' she sighs and decides to find out who is behind this. She persuades an older woman to accompany her on her trip.
Tuesday, June 13, at 7 pm
AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Games people play is a drama comedy about a group of old friends on the edge of turning 40 who reunite for a long summer night packed with unsettled love and unforgiven wrongs. Familiar surroundings and old rituals get to the core of the group and make them forget their adulthood. Revelations, not meant to harm the balance, make them reassess their past as well as their present.
The Date is a short film about a date between three people and two cats. Tino, 16, has to host a date for Diablo, family’s stud cat. Tino’s manhood is also put to test in front of two women.
Both films directed by Jenni Toivoniemi are screened together.
Sales company Level K, production Tuffi Films
Saturday, June 17, at 2 pm (doors at 1.30 pm)
National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium, 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20565
Documentary film AALTO is an enchanting journey into the life and work of one of the greatest modern architects, Alvar Aalto. The film shares the intimate love story of Alvar and his architect wife Aino Aalto. It takes the viewer on a cinematic tour to their creative processes and iconic buildings all over the world.
Director: Virpi Suutari
U.S. distributor Film Movement, production Euphoria Film
Tuesday, June 27, at 6:45 pm
AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
In romantic comedy Aurora, a commitment-phobic party animal, Aurora, meets Iranian Darian at a hot-dog stand in Finnish Lapland. Darian needs to marry a Finnish woman to get an asylum for himself and his daughter. Aurora turns him down, as she plans to move to Norway. However, after meeting his sweet daughter, she agrees to help him. As Aurora introduces numerous women to Darian, the two of them grow close.
Short comedy Clumsy little act of tenderness portrays an anything but typical relationship between a loving father and his skeptical daughter.
Both films directed by Miia Tervo are screened together.
Sales company Level K, production Dionysos Films
