We have just finished celebrating the 10th Finnish Film Festival. For 10 years, FinnAgora has brought new and exciting Finnish films to the cinema loving Hungarian audience. We have cultivated a loyal and dedicated audience that returns every year. This year was no exception, which we are very grateful for.
Due to Covid-19, Finn Filmnapok had to be held online, which was a bit challenging, especially in the planning stages. When the planning work started in August after a relatively free spirited summer, with little worries for the virus, I was in a very “Crisis, what crisis?” state of mind. But even if I may have suffered from some summer delusion of normality, thank goodness I was still realistic enough to plan two festivals. One version was for the festival to be held in cinemas, and the other one was for the festival to be online. Then it was just a waiting game to see which one would eventually materialise.
And we all know which festival actually took place, and I must say it wasn’t bad at all. I could put on the film on our television and explain to my Hungarian boyfriend why the people in the sauna were hitting each other with some painful looking twigs, which I could never have done as loudly and demonstratively in an actual cinema. But even if there were some positive sides, I do think we all would switch our sofas, that by now have our behinds imprinted on them forever, to an actual cinema in a heartbeat.
But let's not dwell in the things that could have been. I am just grateful for the things that did happen. The program this year was incredible. The Finnish cinema industry seems to be improving faster than a rocket launching into space. Every year, new and exciting filmmakers have created such great works of art that it’s an honor to be able to screen them in Hungary and to the Hungarian audience. This year's highlights for me were, Games People Play and Eden, both directed by two newcomers in filmmaking, Jenni Toivoniemi and Ulla Heikkilä. I can’t wait to see what they make next.
We are very grateful for our audience and our loyal fans of Finnish cinema that keep returning year after year to Finn Filmnapok. We thank you for showing us your support, and we hope you enjoyed the films and that we will meet again next year.