03/05/2024 - The Finnish festival co-founded by Aki Kaurismäki will unspool in June, encouraging audiences to watch movies and sing – often at the same time

A previous edition of the Midnight Sun Film Festival (© Jacky Law)

The Midnight Sun Film Festival (MSFF), co-founded by Aki Kaurismäki and set to take place in Lapland, will return for its 39th edition from 12-16 June, once again encouraging its audience to watch movies AND sing – often at the same time.

Jonathan Demme, the guest at its first-ever edition back in 1986, will be commemorated with a special karaoke screening of his concert film Stop Making Sense, with local singer Olavi Uusivirta delivering his best take on Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Alek Keshishian’s In Bed with Madonna will also be presented, with actress Oona Airola (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki [+see also:
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Live concerts accompanying screenings of silent films – another MSFF tradition – will take place as well, with pianist Neil Brand adding his own touch to FW Murnau’s City Girl alongside British band The Dodge Brothers. One of its members, critic and radio host Mark Kermode, will also host a master class dedicated to William Friedkin’s classic The French Connection.

“Ever since the very beginning, silent films accompanied by live music have been one of the highlights of our festival,” says its artistic director, Timo Malmi. “This year, it will happen again thanks to The Dodge Brothers and our ‘own’ band, Cleaning Women, which last autumn made its remarkable Northern American festival debut at Telluride.”

Malmi also opened up about the “outstanding” planned retrospectives, including that of Georgian director Lana Gogoberidze. Now in her nineties, she has delivered the likes of Mother and Daughter, or The Night is Never Complete [+see also:
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“Lana Gogoberidze deserves to be rediscovered. In Finland, only two or three of her films have been shown, although she has been making movies for almost 70 years, and her family of three generations of female directors may be one of a kind in the history of world cinema.”

While a special selection called Seasons in the Sun will focus on films set on the beach – by the likes of Alberto Lattuada, Tadeusz Konwicki and Rangel Vulchanov – screenings of Estonian animations from the 1960s and 1970s are also planned. “The films make us fly beyond the clouds, dive into mysterious oceans and explore the strange corners of our mind, transforming passive matter into surprisingly vivid life,” it was teased. Finally, visual artist Mika Taanila’s Night School of Experimental Cinema will bring along experimental shorts, including Natalia Kozieł-Kalliomäki’s Warm Data.

You can find more information about the upcoming festival here.