Helmi Donner's The Lightning Rod to premiere in Cannes
The short film is a poetic horror drama about Irina, a young mother on the run from her poisonous relationship, and her grandmother who has her own wounds too. The film is Donner鈥檚 MA film for ELO Film School Finland at Aalto University.
鈥淚t feels really great that a Finnish student film is being recognised at a high international level,鈥 Helmi Donner says. 鈥淏ut here at home, the cuts and misery being inflicted on film art and other culture are infuriating in their short-sightedness.鈥
Previous Finnish films in La Cinef (formerlyCin茅fondation) are To Return Until (2010) by Salla Sorri and The Painting Sellers (2015) by Juho Kuosmanen. The Painting Sellers won the main Cin茅fondation Award.
The Lightning Rod is produced by Sandra Enkvist and Hadi Nikzad, and it stars Oksana Lommi, Janina Berman and Samuel Kujala.
A total of 2,700 films were entered for La Cinef, out of which only 16 were selected to the section. Cannes Film Festival takes place May 13鈥24, 2025.
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