Twenty-two projects receive production support from the Finnish Film Foundation
by Marta Bałaga
- Eleven fiction features, eight documentary films, two shorts and one VR project have received over €6.4 million in funding
The Finnish Film Foundation has given €6,451,700 worth of production support to 11 fiction features, eight documentary films, two shorts and one VR project. Three fiction features and one documentary film are minority co-productions. Four of the features received production support as part of the 50/50 scheme intended for mainstream films with sizeable audience potential.
Among the lucky recipients, Klaus Härö (The Fencer [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ivo Felt
film profile]) will direct Blue Baby, starring Oona Airola (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile]) and Alma Pöysti, nominated for a Golden Globe for Fallen Leaves [+see also:
film review
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film profile]. Written by Kirsi Vikman and Jimmy Karlson, it will be produced by Kaarle Aho and Kai Nordberg for Making Movies, and it received €900,000. The film, dedicated to the crisis in the care industry, will focus on two women and a newborn baby in the middle of a nurses’ strike.
Dome Karukoski (Tolkien) will direct his first Finnish-language film since Tom of Finland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dome Karukoski
film profile] in 2017. Hippos – granted €600,000 – is a modern romantic drama about two people who meet at a wedding. It’s written by Karukoski and Emmi-Liia Sjöholm, and is being produced by Marko Talli for Yellow Film & TV.
Selma Vilhunen will deliver Kaija Koo, written by Ilona Ahti and produced by Rimbo Salomaa for Solar Films (€560,000), while Pamela Tola will return to her hit film Ladies of Steel [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pamela Tola
film profile] with Ladies of Steel 2 (€600,000), where older women prove that it’s never too late for an adventure, or for romance. A Helsinki-filmi production, it was written by Tola, Karoliina Lindgren and Aleksi Bardy, who also produces alongside Anniina Leppänen and Sirkka Rautiainen.
Aku Louhimies, known for the well-received The Unknown Soldier [+see also:
trailer
film profile], will now focus on Lapland War. Set in 1944, the film is described as a “survival story. […] It’s a tale of forgiveness, both on a national and a personal level.” Based on Antti Tuuri’s novel (Tuuri co-writes with Louhimies), it’s being produced by Andrei Alén, Louhimies, Kiira Tiainen and Mikko Tenhunen for Backman & Hoderoff, and received a whopping €1 million.
In Lex Julia, writer-director Laura Hyppönen follows a woman who travels to her new friend Anna’s villa for a late summer weekend on an island. When Anna introduces her husband, Julia recognises him as her date-rapist of 15 years earlier. The film received €775,000 – Merja Ritola and Essi Haukkamaa produce for Greenlit Productions.
Poland’s Aga Woszczyńska will step into Black Water with the help of Lava Films and Finland’s napafilms – and €200,000 – showing a holiday in Åland taking a sudden turn when the husbands of two couples disappear, one by one. The award-winning Cristian Mungiu will develop Fjord (€200,000) with Finnish production company Aamu Film Company by his side as well as Romania’s Mobra Film. In his film, a religious family from Romania moves to the countryside in Norway. When their son shows up at school with bruises, the community asks itself if the religious education the Gheorghiu children are getting could be the cause.
Other fiction features include Look at Me Now by Anders Hazelius, a minority co-production with Sweden’s B-Reel Films and overseen in Finland by Lucy Loves Drama (€150,000), and Wingman 2 by Kari Ketonen, produced by Red Carpet Film&tv (€600,000). In Cancel by Tuukka Temonen, produced for Solar Films by Jukka Helle, Hanna Virolainen and Markus Selin (€430,000), popular social-media stars end up acting in a TV series. During the wrap party, one of their phones is stolen, setting off a fast-paced series of events.
Among the documentaries, Kaapo Kamu’s Featherless (€50,000) is being staged by Kamu together with Siiri Siltala. Näkymätön vihollinen by Ann-Mari Leinonen and Einari Paakkanen, produced by Filmbutik Oulu, received €155,000; PV Lehtinen’s Simo Was Here, produced by Cineparadiso, €3,700; and Songs Will Never Rust by Yellow Film & TV’s Marko Talli €75,000.
ORSOQ – Seasons of Solitude marks a minority co-production with Greenland (via Ánorâk Film) and sees the company joining forces with Finland’s Pystymetsä. Directed by Inuk Silis Høegh and granted €45,000, this will be the very first Greenlandic-Finnish documentary.
Anu Kuivalainen’s Second Acts is being produced by Markku Tuurna for Filmimaa (€173,000), while Secret Reading Club (€123,000), directed by Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen, marks yet another project by Marko Talli. The last doc is Markku Laine’s The Soul of Trees, which is being staged by Kirsi Mattila for Third Eye Films (€32,000).
Finally, two short films were noticed as well: Kaapissa by Basha Troni (€25,000), produced by Tetra Film, and the animation Santa’s Holiday. The latter is directed by Leevi Lemmetty, is being produced by Anima Vitae and got €70,000. The Finnish Film Foundation also decided to support a VR project, Alone at Night by Beata Harju (€33,000), which is a Handle Productions creation.
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