Some things do not change over the years: the cheerful chatter on the Kitisenranta School yard and the growing queues on the first day of the festival! This year the festival goers were also greeted by bright sunshine and a gentle summer breeze.<\/p>\n
Already before noon, the festival opened with James Gray<\/strong>\u2019s Armageddon Time<\/em>, a coming-of-age story in which an art loving boy who is not too keen on school has to face his family\u2019s traumas and the injustice of the society. At the School a little later, started the screening of Zhang Lu<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0 painful but tender and lightly comedic story The Shadowless Tower.<\/em><\/p>\n Olaf M\u00f6ller<\/strong>, a familiar face in Sodankyl\u00e4, has curated a Master Class series on Croatian films from the 60s that started in the late afternoon with the film A Train Without a Timetable<\/em>. In his presentation M\u00f6ller praised the film highly: “Your life is not worth living if you have not seen this film!” M\u00f6ller\u2019s Master Class series will continue with several other films: On Thursday at Cinema Kitinen we will see Nikola Tanhofer<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cphilosophical fairytale\u201d Happiness Comes at Nine o\u2019Clock<\/em> and tomorrow on Friday Marijan Vajda<\/strong>\u2019s Seki\u2019s Rolling, Watch Out!<\/em> On Saturday at Cinema Kitinen Vatroslav Mimica<\/strong>\u2019s Monday or Tuesday<\/em> will be screened, and on Sunday at the School we get to see Zvonimir Berkovi\u0107<\/strong>\u2019s Roundabout<\/em>.<\/p>\n In the afternoon, Lapinsuu Cinema was filled with public for the Finnish premiere of Hanna V\u00e4stinsalo<\/strong>\u2019s Palimpsest<\/em> that won acclaim at the Venice Film Festival. The director was present along with the producer Cyril Jacob Abraham<\/strong>, cinematographer Henry Dhuy<\/strong>, and the actors Leo Sj\u00f6man<\/strong> and Emma Kilpimaa.<\/strong><\/p>\n In the evening, the opening film filled Lapinsuu Cinema again. In his opening speech the Artistic Director of the Midnight Sun Film Festival Timo Malmi<\/strong> praised the Risto Jarva association\u2019s new grant for film writers. In addition, Malmi presented this year\u2019s festival\u2019s architecture special.<\/p>\n Architecture plays an important part also in the opening film The Castle of Purity<\/em> by Arturo Ripstein<\/strong>. Unfortunately, Ripstein could not attend in person, but he greeted the audience via video.<\/p>\n