The Midnight Sun Film Festival is held every June in the Finnish village of SodankylĂ€ beyond the arctic circle â where the sun never sets. Founded by Aki and Mika KaurismĂ€ki along with Anssi MĂ€nttĂ€ri and Peter von Bagh in 1985, the festival has played host to an international whoâs who of directors and each day begins with a two-hour discussion. To mark the festivalâs silver anniversary, festival director Peter von Bagh edited together highlights from these dialogues to create an epic four-part choral history of cinema drawn from the anecdotes, insights, and wisdom of his all-star cast: Coppola, Fuller, Forman, Chabrol, Corman, Demy, Kieslowski, Kiarostami, Varda, Oliveira, Erice, Rouch, Gilliam, Jancso â and 64 more. Ranging across innumerable topics (war, censorship, movie stars, formative influences, America, neorealism) these voices, many now passed away, engage in a personal dialogue across the years thatâs by turns charming, profound, hilarious and moving.
