Photo: Courtesy of China National Film Museum

Following Russian and Serbian movie exhibitions, Beijing is set to host films from Finland at the China National Film Museum in mid-October to further promote film cultural exchanges in the COVID-19 era.

Five famous Finnish films from the past two decades - Helene, Gold Digger, The Guardian Angel, Rivers and Tides and The Man Without a Past - will be presented during the "China National Film Museum International Film Screening" season from Tuesday to Sunday. 

As one of the five Nordic countries, Finland has played an indispensable part in the European movie industry, bringing a distinct style that has set its films apart from the rest of Europe.

Finnish movies excel at capturing the emotions of characters in close-ups. Meanwhile, the cold natural environment of the country also casts a melancholy tone throughout movies that stand out for their interesting artistic and ideological aspects.

Helene tells the story of renowned Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck and her love affair with the young art critic Einar Reuter. While presenting many of the famous paintings by Helene, the movie also depicts the talent and loneliness of the artist.

The Man Without a Past was directed by  well-known Finnish director Aki Kaurismak in 2002. 

The main character M arrives in Helsinki only to be viciously attacked by thugs and pronounced dead by medics. He revives but with no memory of his past or his identity. He rebuilds his life from scratch, but the past inevitably catches up with him.

The movie won the Aki Kaurism?k Grand Prize of the Jury at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated as the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 2003.

Rivers and Tides is a documentary that paints a portrait of English artist Andy Goldsworthy, who specialized in  sculptures made from natural elements.