{"id":30759,"date":"2026-05-22T09:59:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?post_type=movies&p=30759"},"modified":"2026-05-22T09:59:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:59:32","slug":"broken-english","status":"publish","type":"movies","link":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken English"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world is full of documentaries that feel like Wikipedia-articles, where the lives of musicians are turned into lists of numbers and facts: this is when they were born, this is how many records they sold. Then there is <\/span>Broken English<\/span><\/i>, an ambitious work by artists, inspired by an artist. Directed by Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard \u2013 also known for 2014\u2019s <\/span>20 000 Days on Earth<\/span><\/i> \u2013 the film takes the facts of Marianne Faithfull\u2019s life and ties them up in a fictional narrative.<\/span><\/p>\n

The frame story sees a mysterious organization \u2013 the Ministry of Not Forgetting \u2013 attempting to trace the cultural impact of Faithfull. The Ministry owns a research laboratory, a recording studio and a debate space, where a diverse group of people come to rifle through archives, speak on Faithfull\u2019s legacy, and cover her songs. The recording studio is visited by artists such as Beth Orton, Thurston Moore and Nick Cave. The head of the Ministry is played by Tilda Swinton.<\/span><\/p>\n

The main focus of the film never gets lost in the shuffle. One of the Ministry officials speaks to Faithfull herself, whose sharpness and sense of humour have endured despite her declining health. The film\u2019s unique approach has most certainly not been chosen to add colour to an uneventful life: Faithfull was friends with Allen Ginsberg, partied with Grace Jones, acted in a Jean-Luc Godard film and wrote songs that resonate to this day. Faithfull passed away in January of last year, in the middle of production, making the timing of the documentary both tragic and apt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaisu Tervonen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world is full of documentaries that feel like Wikipedia-articles, where the lives of musicians are turned into lists of numbers and facts: this is when they were born, this is how many records they sold. Then there is Broken English, an ambitious work by artists, inspired by an artist. Directed by Ian Forsyth and… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"featured_media":30757,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30759","movies","type-movies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","filters-english-dialogue","filters-special-screenings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBroken English — Midnight Sun Film Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The world is full of documentaries that feel like Wikipedia-articles, where the lives of musicians are turned into lists of numbers and facts: this is when they were born, this is how many records they sold. Then there is Broken English, an ambitious work by artists, inspired by an artist. Directed by Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard \u2013 also known for 2014\u2019s 20 000 Days on Earth \u2013 the film takes the facts of Marianne Faithfull\u2019s life and ties them up in a fictional narrative.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Broken English — Midnight Sun Film Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The world is full of documentaries that feel like Wikipedia-articles, where the lives of musicians are turned into lists of numbers and facts: this is when they were born, this is how many records they sold. Then there is Broken English, an ambitious work by artists, inspired by an artist. Directed by Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard \u2013 also known for 2014\u2019s 20 000 Days on Earth \u2013 the film takes the facts of Marianne Faithfull\u2019s life and ties them up in a fictional narrative.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Midnight Sun Film Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Broken-English_1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@msfilmfest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/\",\"name\":\"Broken English — Midnight Sun Film Festival\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Broken-English_1-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T06:59:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"The world is full of documentaries that feel like Wikipedia-articles, where the lives of musicians are turned into lists of numbers and facts: this is when they were born, this is how many records they sold. Then there is Broken English, an ambitious work by artists, inspired by an artist. Directed by Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard \u2013 also known for 2014\u2019s 20 000 Days on Earth \u2013 the film takes the facts of Marianne Faithfull\u2019s life and ties them up in a fictional narrative.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Broken-English_1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Broken-English_1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Broken English (2025)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Etusivu\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Movies\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/elokuvat\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Broken English\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/\",\"name\":\"Midnight Sun Film Festival\",\"description\":\"Midnight Sun Film Festival - Sodankyl\u00e4n Elokuvajuhlat\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png\",\"width\":957,\"height\":77,\"caption\":\"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/msfilmfest\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/midnightsunfilmfestival\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Broken English — Midnight Sun Film Festival","description":"The world is full of documentaries that feel like Wikipedia-articles, where the lives of musicians are turned into lists of numbers and facts: this is when they were born, this is how many records they sold. Then there is Broken English, an ambitious work by artists, inspired by an artist. Directed by Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard \u2013 also known for 2014\u2019s 20 000 Days on Earth \u2013 the film takes the facts of Marianne Faithfull\u2019s life and ties them up in a fictional narrative.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Broken English — Midnight Sun Film Festival","og_description":"The world is full of documentaries that feel like Wikipedia-articles, where the lives of musicians are turned into lists of numbers and facts: this is when they were born, this is how many records they sold. Then there is Broken English, an ambitious work by artists, inspired by an artist. Directed by Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard \u2013 also known for 2014\u2019s 20 000 Days on Earth \u2013 the film takes the facts of Marianne Faithfull\u2019s life and ties them up in a fictional narrative.","og_url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/","og_site_name":"Midnight Sun Film Festival","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Broken-English_1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@msfilmfest","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/","name":"Broken English — Midnight Sun Film Festival","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Broken-English_1-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-22T06:59:32+00:00","description":"The world is full of documentaries that feel like Wikipedia-articles, where the lives of musicians are turned into lists of numbers and facts: this is when they were born, this is how many records they sold. Then there is Broken English, an ambitious work by artists, inspired by an artist. Directed by Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard \u2013 also known for 2014\u2019s 20 000 Days on Earth \u2013 the film takes the facts of Marianne Faithfull\u2019s life and ties them up in a fictional narrative.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Broken-English_1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Broken-English_1-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Broken English (2025)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/broken-english\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Etusivu","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Movies","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/elokuvat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Broken English"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/","name":"Midnight Sun Film Festival","description":"Midnight Sun Film Festival - Sodankyl\u00e4n Elokuvajuhlat","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization","name":"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png","width":957,"height":77,"caption":"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/","https:\/\/x.com\/msfilmfest","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/midnightsunfilmfestival\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/30759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/movies"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/30759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30760,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/30759\/revisions\/30760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}