'World's longest film' premieres in Helsinki

A Helsinki modern art festival was set to present a film on Wednesday it says is is the longest ever screened.

The 240-hour film titled "Modern Times Forever (Stora Enso building, Helsinki)" was created by a Danish art group called Superflex.

"According to our information, this is the world's longest movie," Paula Toppila, executive director of the IHME art festival, told AFP.

The film shows the Stora Enso headquarters in Helsinki fall into a dilapitated state as time speeds into the future and past the extinction of the human race, leaving the building to be battered by time and the elements.

The building - built by iconic Finnish architect Alvar Aalto - was chosen "because it is a symbol of power, and it is in a central, almost monumental place", said Toppila.

The movie, which begins at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) will be screened only once on a 40-square-metre (431-square-foot) outdoor screen in central Helsinki, right in front of the original building.