The Helsinki Effect – Finland

The Helsinki Effect is an all-archival documentary about a meaningless conference that changed the world. With a fresh subjective perspective and a comical touch, the film explores the art of slow diplomacy during the Cold War era.

The Helsinki Effect shows how a film can be more than just the sum of its parts. The documentary feature, written and directed by Arthur Franck, is based entirely on archival material and demonstrates the subtle art of selection and narration. It breathes life into history with insightful connections, new and enlightening interpretations, and humour. The strength of the film lies in its surprising topicality, which is not expected in a documentary film focusing on political history from half a century ago. During these uncertain times,The Helsinki Effect is a gripping reminder that all things happen in time. The film is produced by Franck, Sandra Enkvist and Oskar Forstén.

Arthur Franck is a documentary filmmaker from Helsinki. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2009, and has been making documentaries for more than 15 years. Franck’s latest film The Helsinki Effect premiered in the main competition of CPH:DOX in 2025, and is currently in cinemas in Finland and Germany, as well as touring festivals internationally. He also runs the production company Polygraf together with producer Sandra Enkvist. He is a father of three and plays basketball on Mondays.

Sandra Enkvist has been involved in film production at various companies since 2015, before settling as a producer and partner at Polygraf in 2022. She is currently completing a master’s degree in film production at Aalto University’s Department of Film. Her graduation film, the short fiction piece The Lightning Rod, was selected for the 2025 Cannes La Cinef selection. Enkvist has a keen focus on creative documentaries, and her latest film The Helsinki Effect by Arthur Franck, premiered in the CPH:DOX main competition in 2025. She is also an alumna of Eurodoc, Circle Women Doc Accelerator, and IDFAcademy.

Oskar Forstén studied filmmaking in a wide range of schools in Finland, Sweden, and the UK between 1998 and 2009. He founded the production company Polygraf with Arthur Franck in 2007 out of his love of creative documentary films. Since then, Oskar has produced around thirty titles ranging from short films to documentary series and feature documentary films that have been screened at festivals including CPH:DOX, Visions du Réel, HotDocs, True/False, DokLeipzig, Chicago Int. Film Festival, and IDFA. After some 15 years as a film producer, Oskar now works as a film commissioner at the AVEK Audiovisual Center that promotes audiovisual culture with copyright remunerations by supporting the works and projects of audiovisual industry professionals in Finland.

Main director: Arthur Franck
Main writer: Arthur Franck
Main producers: Sandra Enkvist, Arthur Franck, Oskar Forstén
Production company: Polygraf 
Distribution company: Polygraf, Rise and Shine
Original title: The Helsinki Effect
International title: The Helsinki Effect
National premiere: 5 april 2025
Total length in minutes: 88