Helsinkieffekten

A sharp and funny look at the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 – and how a formal summit had ripple effects that are still felt fifty years later.

The Cold War was at its peak when leaders from East and West met in Helsinki in the summer of 1975 at the Conference on Security and Cooperation. The aim was to ease tensions between the Cold War fronts and work out common rules of engagement for, among other things, human rights and security policy. The conference was the largest of its kind at the time, and as relations between East and West were at their lowest ebb at the time, much was at stake. Ford, Brezhnev, Palme, Tito, Trudeau, Ceausescu – they were all there. By far the happiest of them all is Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union. Little does he know that he is about to make a serious mistake.

The Helsinki Effect is a satirical documentary based solely on archive footage, offering a fresh and comic perspective on the Cold War. Based on hundreds of hours of archival footage and a trove of previously classified conversation documents, the film deconstructs the anatomy of this often misunderstood diplomatic process—and reveals how it came to have a decisive impact on the world. Essentially, The Helsinki Effect is a story about how boring conferences can change the world.

After the screening March 6, there will be a talk with Knut Vollebæk, Ambassador and former Foreign Minister, and Berit Lindeman, Secretary General in The Norwegian Helsinki Committee. In Norwegian.

In cooperation with The Norwegian Helsinki Committee and Indie Film.