Let My People Go!

Frenchman Ruben (Nicolas Maury) lives in Oulu, Finland – far away from Paris. This whistling postman has a handsome boyfriend Teemu, a Finn. Ruben is doing pretty fine, since his conservative jewish family is tucked away in France.

As he faces Tiilikainen, a recipient who refuses to accept a delivery, Ruben finds himself in trouble. The package, full of money, is stuck in his hysterical hands. Ruben eventually escapes to Paris, and his family (Carmen Maura among them) awaits.

HIFF presents the world premiere of this kitchy farce written by French a-list filmmaker Christophe Honoré (Love Songs) and directed by the 28-year-old debutant Mikael Buch.

France is depicted as an anxious country for the petty and the aloof. Finland, on the other hand, promises a paradise of natural beauty where people smile, live in identically coloured little cottages, and happy-go-lucky (gay) sex is available even amidst the snowy forests. Between the two, Ruben frantically tries to find himself. In the Paris scenes, Honoré and Buch let their judaism-related traumas run amok, and in the most French way possible. And then, it’s off to the sauna. –Helsinki International Film Festival