Film Screening “Helsinki, Forever”

Tue 19 May 2015, 7.30 pm
Goethe Institut

From The Onion Cellar and DOCLAB:

The Onion Cellar presents`in collaboration with Hanoi DocLab

A reprise screening of HELSINKI, FOREVER

FREE ENTRY [donation suggested]

The official Vietnam premiere of HELSINKI, FOREVER took place April 2013 at Goethe-Institut Hanoi, also organised by The Onion Cellar and Hanoi DocLab.

Part of THE CITY LIMITS, a series of city-films curated and presented by The Onion Cellar

HELSINKI, FOREVER

A film by Peter Von Bagh made exclusively of Helsinki-related found footage

2008, 74 minutes
Finnish, with subtitles in Vietnamese and English

“Few movies may boast a stronger opening sequence, and few movies offer such an extraordinary finale… Helsinki, Forever deserves its rank among the great ‘city-poems’… With the choice of incredible documents and the unfailing mixture of both musical items, editing and score, you made an unforgettable film.”

[Chris Marker on Helsinki, Forever in a letter to Peter Von Bagh]

Helsinki vu par Peter Von Bagh: a vision of Finland’s capital through the ages, created with pictures and sounds from myriads of films, newsreels and songs. A stunning achievement – an epic of time regained and lost again.

Peter Von Bagh’s international break-through: a portrait of Finland’s capital made with material taken from all eras and sources, with newsreel footage finding a place as easily as scenes from feature films. Certain locales are contemplated throughout the years, if not always in chronological order – as every so often, Von Bagh’s montage follows an emotional logic that questions real historical developments. The Helsinki he creates is different from the slightly hilly city one can stroll through so pleasurably in summer – it’s a mythical place haunted by ghosts of ever-changing stories and buildings never seen.

Von Bagh once casually said: ‘People think I like Helsinki because I made that film; they’re mistaken.’ Or maybe he’s just in denial, for something this beautiful is always made from some kind of love.

(text by International Film Festival Rotterdam 2012)