April 27 at 4:00 East Building Auditorium
A poignant collage portrait of Finland’s capital as captured by the country’s leading feature and documentary makers over a period of one hundred years, Helsinki, Forever is also an essay on Finnish culture in a broader sense, following an emotional logic that questions the ephemeral nature of historical episodes in a search for the heart and soul of the city. “Helsinki deserves its rank among the great ‘city-poems,’ and I’d rate it above Ruttmann: if I read in his Berlin the social commitment and the aesthetic maestria, I don’t feel the personal acquaintance that I find in this” undefined Chris Marker. Peter von Bagh (b. 1943) has directed more than sixty documentaries, published over thirty books, and is artistic director for two international festivals. (Peter von Bagh, 2008, 35 mm, 74 minutes) In Station, people, space, and time collide with “history” in an atmospheric portrait of the legendary Helsinki central railway station. (Peter von Bagh, 1989, Betacam, 31 minutes) Presented in association with FilmFest DC