Premiere Status Archives: North American Premiere

A group of men stand in front of an outdoor gate, smiling and pointing at the camera.

The Helsinki Effect

Directed by Arthur Franck

Countries Finland, Germany, Norway Run Time 88 minutes

Synopsis

Global peace is at risk. The borders of Western democracies and Communist Russia hang in the balance. Can diplomacy effectively conclude the Cold War? In this witty, clever, and insightful film about geopolitical gamesmanship, Finnish filmmaker Arthur Franck looks back at the 1973 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), a seemingly banal meeting of international leaders in his native Helsinki that would have far-reaching consequences for the future of our current global politics.

Using hundreds of hours of archival footage and amusingly off-kilter TV broadcasts, declassified documents, and some help from cheeky AI-generated voices, Franck brings to life the conference and the central figures of this high-stakes chess match, from a cynical Henry Kissinger to a boisterous Leonid Brezhnev. Following up on the promise of his 2019 Festival selection The Hypnotist, Franck returns with an equally droll historical docudrama uncovering truths, both humorous and heady, about the surprising results that can come from world leaders talking to each other.

Language English, Finnish, Russian with subtitles

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

Producers Sandra Enkvist, Arthur Frank, Oskar Forstén, Stefan Kloos, Anja Dziersk, Thorvald Nilsen
Screenwriter Arthur Franck
Editor Markus Leppälä, Arthur Franck
Principal Cast Henry Kissinger, Leonid Breshnev, Gerald Ford
Music Uno Helmersson, Patrik Andrén
Production Company Polygraf Film, Kloos & Co, Indie Film Bergen
Website https://polygraf.fi

Sponsors

Program Partner

Program Patron

Cynthia Stone Raskin

With support from

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Still from The Stranger: In a black-and-white seaside scene, a young man in a loose button-down shirt and high-waisted trousers stands against a wooden beam, looking out toward the ocean with a solemn, pensive expression.

International Competition

The Stranger L'Étranger

Directed by François Ozon

Countries France Run Time 122 minutes

Synopsis

Algiers, 1938. Meursault, a quiet and unassuming office worker, attends his mother’s funeral without shedding a tear. The following day, he begins a casual affair with Marie, an old acquaintance, effortlessly slipping back into his daily routine. An emotional detachment from the people closest to him signals his utter indifference to the events of his life. His blithe existence is disrupted, however, when his neighbor Raymond draws Meursault into his shady dealings, leading to a tragic confrontation on a blistering hot day at the beach that lands Meursault in jail on murder charges.

A sense of inevitability and dread pervades the existential drama as it shifts between scenes depicting the wretched prison conditions Meursault endures as he awaits his trial and the succession of events that landed him there. Striking black-and-white cinematography, lensed by Manuel Dacosse, a frequent collaborator of director François Ozon, is evocative of the period setting while also lending the film an expansive timelessness. Effortlessly embodying Meursault’s aimless indifference, Benjamin Voisin (winner of the Silver Hugo for Best Performance for The Quiet Son at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival) commands in the lead as a man with nothing and yet everything to lose.

Genres Crime Drama Literary Adaptation

Language French with subtitles