Fascinating Film Garden 2023
Welcome to the most atmospheric outdoor cinema of the summer! The warm summer evenings of August will culminate in unique film screenings in the City Museum’s lovely Falkman courtyard. The programme features timeless classics and films related to Helsinki.
After the Night of the Arts, the City Museum will screen Finnish and international classic films on 18–19 August. On Friday 18 August, the historic Falkman courtyard will host screenings of Mika Kaurismäki’s crime drama Rosso and Spike Lee’s critically praised drama comedy Do the Right Thing. The screenings on Saturday 19 August will feature Aki Kaurismäki’s Helsinki-themed cult film Calamari Union and one of the greatest love stories of all time, Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca.
The films will be screened outdoors with an old-time analogue 35 mm film projector, courtesy of Helsingin Studiopalvelut. Tickets €10/film. Refreshments and movie snacks will be provided by El Fant Cafe & Wine Bar.
The doors to the screenings will open at 20.00 and the screenings will start at 21.00. The films have Finnish and Swedish subtitles.
Buy tickets to the screenings via the Eventilla online store.
Programme
Friday 18 August
21.00 Rosso (dir. Mika Kaurismäki 1985)
“Ciao, bambina.” The first screening of this year’s Fascinating Film Garden will feature Mika Kaurismäki’s third feature-length film. Rosso is a Finnish cinema classic in which Sicilian hitman Giancarlo Rosso arrives in Finland to carry out a hit. It soon turns out that his target is his lost love and wife Maria. The film stars Kari Väänänen and Martti Syrjä, of Eppu Normaali fame.
22.30 Do the Right Thing (dir. Spike Lee 1989)
In Spike Lee’s breakthrough film, Sal’s pizzeria in Brooklyn is in danger of becoming the centre of a race riot on the hottest day of the year. Upon its release in 1989, Do the Right Thing nabbed two Oscar nominations (Best Screenplay, Best Actor). The film’s subject matter focusing on racism is astoundingly topical to this day. The drama comedy features hilarious dialogue and moves at break-neck speed towards its explosive finale with Public Enemy blasting in the background. The film’s stars include Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Giancarlo Esposito, John Turturro and Samuel L. Jackson.
Saturday 19 August
21.00 Calamari Union (dir. Aki Kaurismäki 1985)
Seventeen brave men head out on a trip across the city from Kallio to Eira, towards the sea and its green shores on the other side. Aki Kaurismäki recently won a jury prize at the Cannes film festival, and his second feature-length film is a surrealistic cult classic that depicts Helsinki and its bars in a unique way. The film’s stars include Matti Pellonpää, Sakari Kuosmanen, Pate Mustajärvi, Pirkka-Pekka Petelius and Mato Valtonen.
22.30 Casablanca (dir. Michael Curtiz 1942)
In response to popular demand, this summer’s Fascinating Film Garden will feature a screening of one of the all-time greatest Hollywood classics, Casablanca. A winner of Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, the film is a timeless love story centred around Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Photo: Do the Right Thing. Park Circus / Universal.
