Helsinki Films Festival executive director Anna Möttölä tells Iltalehte in more detail about the association’s worrying situation.
The future of the 25-year-old film festival is at stake. Handout / Love & Anarchy
Finland’s biggest film festival Rakkautat & Anarkiaa is in a crisis situation.
The organization announced the Helsinki Films Festival on November 20 in the bulletin, that it is suffering from financial difficulties due to the effects of the pandemic period, an unstable field of operations and rising costs. According to the association, its number of visitors has dropped by around 9,000 since the pandemic.
Due to the serious situation, the association has had to make long-term investments and savings measures to cut costs. Iltalehti reached the executive director of the association Anna Möttölän, which says that the organization’s investments were related to investing in personnel and marketing, among other things. However, after the festival, the association has had to lay off its staff.
– We still have layoffs at the end of the year. We have to find even more savings for this year, says Möttölä in an interview.
The organization has asked its public for help in the middle of the crisis. Handout / Love & Anarchy
The sad situation prompted the association to publish its distress call on its Instagram account on November 20, which is called the Saving Love & Anarchy campaign. The goal of the public campaign is to collect 45,000 euros by the end of the year.
According to the organization, the proceeds of that campaign are intended to be used in their entirety to cover the losses caused by the festivals’ recent exceptional years. The campaign will start from the support screening evening organized at the Bio Rex glass palace on Monday, November 27.
The story continues after publication.
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However, according to Möttölä, cost-saving measures and the audience campaign are not the only means by which the association tries to save its film festival.
– We are negotiating with our financiers about possible additional funding. However, the public campaign is a significant part of our goal, he emphasizes.
The CEO reveals what the sanctions are if the association does not reach its goal with its campaign.
– Of course we have B, C and D plans. Of course, it affects our further actions if we do not reach our goal well. However, we know the plan is good, and it’s off to a good start, says Möttölä.
– We have collected more than 10,000 euros in about a day. Other negotiations are also progressing, so this has started very strongly, he adds.
The interview continues after the picture.
The goal of the Love & Anarchy festival is to get 45,000 euros with its audience campaign. Handout / Love & Anarchy
Möttölä does not want to reveal the association’s contingency plans, but emphasizes that every association in the field tries to adapt its operations to the current situation. If the association has many backup plans, does the story of the film festival end if the audience campaign does not reach the desired goal?
– It depends on other parts of the plan. But the public campaign is hugely important and a big part of the amount we are aiming for. We don’t want to think at all that it will fall into this, no matter what. But it does mean, one way or another, what the future of the festival is like, Möttölä emphasizes.
– Every stone is turned before any extreme measures are taken. Of course, the future is at stake here, so this campaign must be made as successful as possible, he adds in the end.
Rakkautat & Anarkia has been bringing movie lovers together since 1988. In addition to the festival organized in the fall, the organization has done, among other things, film education work and distribution.