Introduction 🎬
Welcome, dear reader! Since 2019, the amazing folks at Helsinki Metropolitan Area Libraries have been running an annual Helmet Film Challenge — 50 unique film-themed challenges designed to stretch your watchlist and broaden your cinematic horizons. Now in its 7th year, the challenge is going strong, and I’ve decided to chronicle my own adventure through it right here.
I actually started doing the challenge in 2024, but thanks to my active Letterboxd account, I have been able to fill some gaps from the earlier years as well.
Each challenge pushes me to explore something new, obscure, unexpected, or completely out of my comfort zone — and that’s half the fun. This blog will serve as a logbook of sorts: brief thoughts and reactions, discoveries, and maybe the occasional detour into film nerd territory.
Here are the personal guidelines I've been trying to stick to for this challenge:
🎥 All forms of film are fair game — short films, feature-length movies, and documentaries are in. TV series are out. 🔁 No re-watches, unless a challenge specifically asks for it. 🎞️ Sequels, prequels, and spin-offs are avoided — unless I already have watched the whole series. 1️⃣ One film per challenge and vice versa — no doubling up! This is the only rule I'm going to be really strict on.
If you’re also doing the Helmet Film Challenge this year (or in past years), feel free to follow along, share recs, or just chat about movies! All the challenges can be found from the library website.