Project - Finnish Film Affair

Project
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finnish film affair
table of contents
Table of Contents....................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 3
Works in Progress
Adventure in Greece....................................................................................................... 4
Armi Alive!......................................................................................................................... 5
Bodom................................................................................................................................ 6
Cross Your Heart..............................................................................................................7
Curious Skin...................................................................................................................... 8
The Fencer........................................................................................................................ 9
Headfirst.......................................................................................................................... 10
Hobbyhorse Chicks.........................................................................................................11
Mother’s Wish.................................................................................................................12
Tsamo................................................................................................................................13
Works in Progress | Short pitches
Catherine..........................................................................................................................14
Layla..................................................................................................................................14
Mindfuck / Vimma.........................................................................................................15
Old is Not Dead!.............................................................................................................15
Prayer................................................................................................................................16
Stupid Young Heart.......................................................................................................16
WAR/PEACE..................................................................................................................... 17
Project Development Clinic
The Astronaut.................................................................................................................18
Autumn Prince................................................................................................................19
Below Helsinki................................................................................................................20
Charm of Tango..............................................................................................................21
Coincidence, Nemesis, Chaos....................................................................................22
Collection.........................................................................................................................23
The Great Bear...............................................................................................................24
The Lesson......................................................................................................................25
Thick Lashes of Lauri Mäntyvaara...........................................................................26
Tower of Silence............................................................................................................ 27
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finnish film affair
introduction
This booklet contains the presentations of all the projects in the Finnish Film Affair programme in 2014.
For the presentations of the finished films in the line up, and the programme of the event, please refer
to the separate Finnish Film Affair Handbook.
The industry programme of the Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy, entitled the Finnish Film Affair,
showcases Finnish feature films to international industry professionals and offers networking opportunities as well as
workshops and panels for the Finnish film industry.
New and upcoming projects – including both feature films and documentaries – are presented to attending international
sales agents, distributors, TV buyers, as well as festival programmers and representatives of industry press.
The programme of the three-day event from September 23 to 25 comprises of screenings, presentations of works in progress, a development clinic for debut film projects, panel discussions and networking events. The focus of this year’s programme is on the key aspects of the development phase in aiming for the international market.
Attending the events of the Finnish Film Affair requires a Finnish Film Affair accreditation.
Additional information and materials at www.finnishfilmaffair.fi.
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finnish film affair
works in progress
Yellow Film & TV is an award-winning
independent production company with
20 years of experience in films, scripted
fiction and non-scripted entertainment
programming. Our latest features include
Saara Cantell’s romantic comedy The Two
and Only (2013) and JP Siili’s Finnish Flash
– a Teemu Selanne Story (2013), which
became Finland’s highest-grossing documentary box office hit. The company is
currently in production of the highly anticipated sequel Lapland Odyssey 2, due to
premiere in the autumn of 2015.
About the director
Taavi Vartia (48), has directed two fea-
ture films and several hundred episodes of
TV drama and documentaries for all national TV channels in Finland. In recent
years he has focused especially on dramas
for young people. His first feature film,
Rolli and the Golden Key (2013), received
over 200 000 admissions at the box office.
Vartia also writes and directs for theatre.
He has authored several novels both for
adults and young people.
Adventure in Greece
Original title: Lomasankarit
Genre: Pre-teen action adventure
Director: Taavi Vartia
Producer: Jarkko Hentula
Production company: Yellow Film & TV
Language of dialogue: Finnish, English,
Greek
Scheduled release: 31.10.2014
Production budget: 1,4 MEUR
Status of the production: In post
production
Looking for: World sales agent
World sales: Available
(11) happily enjoy swimming. Toni hates the
water.
Toni’s mood brightens when he befriends a
local girl Adriana (15). While in town, Toni
witnesses Adriana’s sudden kidnapping. When
Toni’s parents are also being watched by the
criminals, he only has his step-brothers to turn
to for help.
The three boys have to work together to save
Adriana. This adventure takes them from the
the mountaintops to the bottom of the sea.
Contact:
Jarkko Hentula, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 407050603
www.yellowfilm.fi
Representatives
Director’s Note
Adventure in Greece is a family adventure
film for 7-12 year-old children and their parents.
A newly-formed family is spending its first
holiday together. Toni (15) feels like an outsider
while his step-brothers Aleksi (14) and Veeti
Adventure in Greece is a fast-paced and emotionally strong action adventure. The strength
lies in its classical narration and set up – boys
will be boys, the sea has a secret, chase scenes
and intrigue all colour the story where courage and bravery prevail in the end. Most of all I
want to make an epic and exotic adventure with
strong emotions for the whole family.
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Jarkko Hentula
Producer
Taavi Vartia
Director &
Screenwriter
finnish film affair
works in progress
Founded in 2007, Bufo has produced a
number of fiction and documentary films
of which many have received international
recognition. Bufo has produced such films
as Korso (2014) by Akseli Tuomivaara,
Concrete Night (2013) by Pirjo Honkasalo, The Good Son (2011) by Zaida Bergroth
and The Interrogation (2010) by Jörn Donner. Furthermore, Bufo has been involved
in a number of European co-productions,
such as the 3D stop-motion feature Lisa Limone directed by Mait Laas and The Role
directed by Konstantin Lopushansky.
About the director
Jörn Donner (b. 1933) has had a distin-
Armi Alive!
Original title: Armi elää!
Genre: Drama
Director: Jörn Donner
Producer: Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff
Production company: Bufo
Language of dialogue: Finnish
Scheduled release: Spring 2015
Production budget: 860 000 EUR
Status of the production: In post
production
Looking for: Sales agent, distribution
World sales: Available
Armi Ratia (1912–1979) created the iconic de-
sign company Marimekko and its pure visual
style that is synonymous with modern Finnish
design. As a private person as well as a business
personality, she was boundless and courageous,
unreasonable and extremely dedicated.
Armi Alive! is a portrayal of a theatre company
that is preparing a play about Armi Ratia.
Maria, who plays Armi’s role, is in the lead
when the group keeps asking who this strange
woman really is. The play focuses on Armi’s
life between the years 1949 and 1968, when
she founded the fashion company Marimekko,
lead it to international success, and was finally
forced to ponder her relationship with the
company: does Marimekko need Armi, or does
Armi need Marimekko? During the rehearsal
process, the actress Maria struggles with Armi’s
contradictions and tries to find the truth and the
person behind the legend.
Director’s Note
Armi Ratia was a fascinating, colourful, paradoxical, and mysterious character, whom I
met in 1967. Our friendship developed over
the years. Until 1974, I was a board member at
Marimekko. Armi died in 1979.
The thought of a meta film occurred to me when
I noticed that replicating reality will easily lead
to a narrative which only emphasises the showlike features of Armi’s life and actions. In a meta
film, we aim at telling, or hope to tell, something
essential about Armi and the rise of her life’s
work; being on the brink of destruction and
then rising again.
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guished career as a film director, producer, writer, and politician. Donner’s film A
Sunday in September (1963) received the
Prize for best directorial debut at the Venice Film Festival, and after that, he has directed several fiction films and documentaries. Donner’s most famous films include
Portraits of Women (1970) and Fuck Off!
Images from Finland (1971). As a producer, he has also won an Academy Award for
Fanny and Alexander (1982), directed by
Ingmar Bergman. His latest film, The Interrogation starring Minna Haapkylä, had
its world premiere at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2009.
Contact:
Mark Lwoff, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 451314652
www.bufo.fi
Representatives
Mark Lwoff
Producer
Misha Jaari
Producer
finnish film affair
works in progress
Hailing from Helsinki, Finland, comes
Don Films. Co-founded in 2010 by
friends with solid backgrounds in producing, directing and screenwriting, we devote
ourselves to character-driven stories with
high stakes and unstoppable momentum.
With our first TV series currently in production, and several other projects well on
their way, we’re now zealously working at
making Bodom our first theatrical feature.
About the director
Taneli Mustonen is a Finnish director
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Bodom
Now, a group of teenagers arrive at the same
Original title: Bodom
campsite, hoping to solve the murder by reconGenre: Horror/Survival
structing it minute by minute. As night falls, it
Director: Taneli Mustonen
turns out not all of them are there to play.
Producer: Aleksi Hyvärinen
Production company: Don Films
Tonight… it’s girls against boys. Let the killing
Language of dialogue: Finnish
games begin.
Scheduled release: 2016
Production budget: 800 000 EUR
Director’s Note
Status of the production: Financing
Looking for: Co-producer, etc
slept in a tent? Or hid under your blanket,
World sales: Available I N S P I R E D B Y T R U EEver
EVENTS
knowing that something is out there to get you
— and there’s only a thin layer of fabric to protect you from the horrors of the outside world?
This is what Bodom is about: a universal experiReconstructing a legendary campsite
murbodommovie.com
ence of fear, and finding the courage to fight it.
der turns deadly when the girls decide to rewrite history.
My aim with Bodom is to make a pure survival
horror film, in the vein of Wolf Creek and Eden
Every camper’s worst nightmare came true at
Lake. As a horror fan, what I get my kicks from
Lake Bodom in 1960 when four teenagers were
is not the blood, nor the violence — it’s the anstabbed to death while sleeping in their tent. As
ticipation of something dreadful to come. And
the years passed and the case grew cold, the unin the dark woods of Lake Bodom… your ansolved mystery turned into an urban legend, a
ticipation will be rewarded.
creepy campfire story passed on from generation to generation.
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and screenwriter known for, among others, his critically acclaimed Finnish box office hit Ella and Friends (2012) which was
theatrically released throughout Germany
in 2013. Taneli is currently in post-production of his next feature The Reunion,
a remake of the Danish smash hit comedy Klassefesten (2011), as well as working on a slate of genre films and fiction
series for Don Films. Taneli has directed
several short films and commercials, and
was one of the writers and directors of the
beloved Finnish TV-series Karjalan Kunnailla (2007-2009). He holds a Master’s degree from the ELO / Helsinki Film School
(Aalto University).
Contact:
Aleksi Hyvärinen, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 50 551 4561
www.donfilms.fi
Representatives
Aleksi Hyvärinen
Producer
Taneli Mustonen
Director
works in progress
finnish film affair
Vertigo is an independent production
company based in Helsinki. Vertigo was
founded by director/producer Minna
Virtanen in 2006. She has directed many
award-winning “scandi” crime series and
one feature film Addiction (2004).
Vertigo has a deep passion for telling
touching, insightful and daring stories
about the people of our time. Vertigo has
gained a reputation for quality artistic edge
combined with commercial interests, such
as Married to a Lie (2008) and Underworld
Trilogy (2011). Currently Vertigo has
several feature films and television drama
series in pre-production or in various
stages of development.
About the director
Petri Kotwica is an award-winning Finn-
Cross Your Heart
Original title: Henkesi edestä
Genre: Drama suspense
Director: Petri Kotwica
Producer: Minna Virtanen
Production companies: Vertigo (Finland),
Newgrange Pictures (Ireland)
Language of dialogue: Finnish
Scheduled release: Spring 2015
Production budget: 1,9 MEUR
Status of the production: In post
production
Looking for: World sales companies,
festivals
World sales: Available
Kiia has gone into premature labor. She is
speeding down a dark country road with her
husband Lauri when their car hits something.
Lauri goes to take a look, and tells his wife he
saw nothing. They rush to the hospital, and
Kiia gives birth to a healthy baby boy. While
in the hospital, Kiia meets Hanna, a woman
whose husband is the victim of a hit-andrun driver. Kiia befriends Hanna and tries to
help her in her sorrow. When the truth finally
dawns, will it be too late to forgive?
Director’s Note
In 2001 I survived a car accident, and thank
God no one else was injured. As I recovered, I
replayed the accident a thousand times in my
head, both awake and in my dreams, contemplating what might have happened. Therefore
I need to tell this story.
Cross your Heart is a character-driven suspense
drama. I want to continue in the vein of my film
Black Ice, and build a story around compelling
female roles. Each character is strong-willed
and has so much to lose in a battle of wills that
must ultimately be resolved.
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ish film director and screenwriter who has
a Master’s degree in film directing from
the ELO / University of Art and Design.
Kotwica’s first feature Homesick (2005) was
lauded at numerous international festivals.
His second feature Black Ice premiered in
2008 in the Berlinale competition. Black
Ice was a box office hit in Finland, won
six national film awards and has been
screened at more than 50 film festivals.
Rat King (2012) had its international premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2012.
Contact:
Minna Virtanen, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 504904119
www.vertigo.fi
Representatives
Minna Virtanen
Producer
Petri Kotwica
Director
finnish film affair
works in progress
Sons of Lumière is a production compa-
ny that wants to go back to the roots of cinema. We are inspired by the curiosity with
which the first filmmakers approached
their work. We believe such curiosity is
at the heart of creating something new.
Filmography: Latch (2013)
About the director
Filmography:
Feature films: No Thank You (2014),
Love and Other Troubles (2012)
Short films: Feelings and Stuff (2008)
Alright Love (2005)
CURIOUS SKIN
Contact:
Mete Sasioglu, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 407721167
www.sonsoflumiere.com
Curious Skin
Original title: Utelias iho
Genre: Documentary
Director: Samuli Valkama
Producer: Mete Sasioglu
Production company: Sons of Lumière
Language of dialogue: Finnish, English,
Korean, French
Scheduled release: 2015
Production budget: 200 000 EUR
Status of the production: In post
production
Looking for: Sales, funding and festivals
World sales: MODemay Entertainment
of premieres, touring and his work as an
artistic director. The documentary sheds
light on Saarinen, soon to be fifty, as well as
his personality, and career, during which his
focus is moving yet further from dancing to
choreography and directing.
For Saarinen, dancing is being, a way of making
sense of one’s existence in the world. Dance is
a way to be present, a reminder for all of us
contemporary humans paralyzed by the internet
that we should be present here and now - and
also remember to live.
World Sales:
MODemay
Marie-Odile Demay
Tel. +514 3861600
[email protected]
www.modemay.com
Representative
A documentary about dance artist Tero
Saarinen, one of the most successful international Finnish artists. Curious Skin is a film
about humaneness, community, presence and
determination; an exploration of a life philosophy.
The film follows Saarinen’s work from Seoul
to Paris and Helsinki, through the creation
Mete Sasioglu
Producer
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finnish film affair
works in progress
Making Movies is a Helsinki-based
production company founded in 1996.
The company has produced five feature
films and over 40 documentary films. The
feature films produced by Making Movies
include films like Black Ice (2008) and
Rat King (2011) by Petri Kotwica. The
documentaries produced by Making
Movies include films such as Happiness
(2014) and A Decent Factory (2004) by
Thomas Balmès, In the Dark by Sergey
Dvortsevoy (2004) and Love & Engineering
(2014) by Tonislav Hristov. The company
has also co-produced documentaries by
Joshua Oppenheimer and Phie Ambo.
About the director
Klaus Härö (b. 1971) has directed five fea-
ture films including Mother of Mine (2005)
and Letter’s to Father Jacob (2009). He won
the 2003 Crystal Bear at the Berlinale for
his film Elina and in 2004 he received the
Ingmar Bergman Prize given by Mr. Bergman himself.
The Fencer
Original title: Miekkailija
Genre: Drama
Director: Klaus Härö
Producer: Kai Nordberg & Kaarle Aho, Ivo
Felt (EE), Jörg Bundschuh (DE)
Production company: Making Movies (FI),
Allfilm (EE), Kick Film (DE)
Language of dialogue: Estonian, Russian
Scheduled release: 02/2015
Production budget: 2,1 MEUR
Status of the production: In post
production
Looking for: Sales agent, festival
contacts
World sales: Available
Endel arrives in the Estonian coastal town
of Haapsalu in the early 1950s. Fleeing from
the secret police, he has been forced to leave
the Leningrad University of Sports to take up
a position as a school teacher, and ends up
teaching children the only passion he has –
fencing. Endel starts to care about the children
and fencing becomes a form of self-expression
for the children and their teacher; a mutual
journey, through which they recuperate and
become whole. But at the same time he embarks
upon a collision course with the school’s
communist principal who starts to dig up his
past. In the end Endel must make a choice:
whether to help the children to fulfil their
dream or save himself from the Communists.
Contact:
Kaarle Aho, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 407253936
www.mamo.fi
Representatives
Director’s Note
Rarely, if ever, do I find scripts that fulfil all
my expectations, demand to be read, convince
me with the fluent style it has been written in,
and the skilful and natural way it deals with
its subject matter. The Fencer’s script is solid
from beginning to end and sparkles more and
more towards the end in a way I don’t think
I’ve ever experienced before. I’m grateful for
having found the screenplay and being able to
work with it.
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Kaarle Aho
Producer
Klaus Härö
Director
Kai Nordberg
Producer
finnish film affair
works in progress
Helsinki-filmi is an active and
innovative production company in its
region. Dedication to development and
the constant search for extraordinary
stories define the core of the company.
The emphasis is on contemporary stories
based on original ideas, with a low to midbudget range. The company has produced
20 feature films and numerous TV
productions since it was founded in 2002.
During the past few years, Helsinki-filmi
has participated in several European
coproductions - mainly with Sweden,
Estonia, Germany, Denmark and the UK.
About the director
Antti Heikki Pesonen (b. 1982) gradu-
Headfirst
Original title: Päin seinää
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Antti Heikki Pesonen
Producer: Miia Haavisto
Production company: Helsinki-filmi
Language of dialogue: Finnish
Scheduled release: 26.12.2014
Production budget: 1,5 MEUR
Status of the production: In post
production
Looking for: Sales agent, festival
exposure
World sales: Available
Essi, a 30-year-old single mother with anger
management issues, finds out that her teenage daughter Takku is, once again, in trouble
at school. Essi has her transferred to another
school. Lasse, Takku’s new teacher, was in love
with Essi back when the two were teenagers.
Lasse is single and still in love with Essi. He
hates both his job and his co-workers, even if
an occasional joint confiscated from the pupils
eases his frustration. Essi does not know who
her father is, but she suspects it might be Sakke,
an alcoholic regular at the bar where she works.
Whether he is or isn’t, together they form one
dysfunctional sort of family.
Director’s Note
Headfirst is my debut feature. It’s a comedy, all
right. I approach comedy like it is drama from
the point of view of the characters. None of the
characters in the film know they are in a comedy. No one tells jokes or acts like they are in a
skit. Instead, I build them up as real human beings who have deep and real psychological capacities. They just happen to live in world where
their dialogue is sharp and its timing is precise,
and where absurd events occur. This creates a
deadpan effect and allows us to show things in
a humorous way. This is what I believe in.
ated from the ELO / Aalto University
in 2012. Pesonen has a successful track
record in black comedy and has won
numerous awards both as a director and
a screenwriter with his graduation work
So it Goes. Pesonen also won the Nordic
Talent Award granted by Nordisk Film
and Television Fund in 2012 with the
presentation of his next work, Headfirst.
Headfirst is Pesonen’s feature debut both
as a scriptwriter and as a director.
Contact:
Miia Haavisto, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 505277172
www.helsinkifilmi.fi
Representatives
Antti Heikki Pesonen
Director
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Miia Haavisto
Producer
finnish film affair
works in progress
Tuffi Films was founded in 2010 by a pro-
ducer, two writer-directors and one writer.
Tuffi Films produces both fiction and documentary films of various lengths. We believe that films that are true to themselves
will find their audience, and stand the test
of time. Titles produced by us are the Oscar-nominated short fiction Do I Have to
Take Care of Everything? (2012), Sundance
winner The Date (2012), documentary Cat
Trap (2013), feature film Korso (2014) and
feature documentary Song (2014).
About the director
Hobbyhorse Chicks
Original title: Kepparit
Genre: Creative documentary
Director: Selma Vilhunen
Producer: Selma Vilhunen, Elli Toivoniemi
Production company: Tuffi Films
Language of dialogue: Finnish
Scheduled release: 12/2016
Production budget: 120 000–250 000 EUR
Status of the production: In development
Looking for: Co-producer, sales agent
World sales: Available
Playing with hobbyhorses is a traditional
children’s play, but today’s teenage girls have
brought the scene to a whole new level. They
are unofficially organized, they are online
and at the same time very much “in real life”,
they are serious – and an ever-growing group
of thousands of girls in Finland. Hobbyhorse
Chicks is a joyful, adventurous and thought-
provoking film in the interface between reality
and imagination. Through follow-up material
filmed together with the protagonists Marjam
(14), Elsa (13), Milla (12) and Alisa (17),
combined with animated sequences and the
girls’ own videos we see a depiction of a hobby
which defies categories and of young people
who aren’t scared of those who judge. The film
asks: When are girls too old to play – and is it
a play in the first place?
Selma Vilhunen is an Academy Awardnominated director and screenwriter of
both fiction and documentary films. Her
latest works as a director include the feature documentary Song which premiered
in theatres in Finland in April 2014, and
the Oscar-nominated short film Do I Have
to Take Care of Everything?. Her other
works include award-winning films such
as the follow-up documentary Pony Girls
and TV film Pietà. Currently she is developing her debut feature fiction film, alongside Hobbyhorse Chicks.
Contact:
Tiina-Mari Pitkänen, Junior Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 505968370
www.tuffifilms.com
Director’s Note
Two years ago I came across some footage from
the Finnish Championships for hobbyhorse
riding. There it was: showjumping, dressage, the
whole thing. The girls on the hobbyhorses were
surprisingly old, mostly from 12 to 17 years old.
I soon registered at the Finnish hobbyhorse
forum, and was exposed to a whole new
universe. I want to make a film that confuses
at first, then engages with its young energy, and
finally expands the audiences’ understanding of
what it means to be young and female.
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Representatives
Elli Toivoniemi
Producer
Tiina-Mari Pitkänen
Junior Producer
finnish film affair
works in progress
Oktober is a Finnish production compa-
ny which was established in 2004. It has
gained a reputation as a creative production house producing quality documentary and fiction films focusing on cuttingedge social issues that evoke both strong
feelings and deep thoughts.
Selected filmography: Wolfman (2013)
(dir: Juha Suonpää) Canned Dreams (2012)
(dir: Katja Gauriloff) Steam of Life (2010)
(dir: Joonas Berghäll & Mika Hotakainen)
About the director
Joonas Berghäll (b. 1977) has been in-
volved in filmmaking since 1998. Today
he works as a writer, director and producer in his own production company, Oktober. His latest film as a director, Steam
of Life, was nominated for the European
Film award in 2010, and in the same year
The Central Organization of Finnish Film
Producers named him the Film Producer
of the Year.
Mother’s Wish
Original title: Äidin toive
Genre: Documentary
Director: Joonas Berghäll
Producer: Joonas Berghäll
Production company: Oktober
Language of dialogue: Finnish, Swedish,
Afrikaans, English, Portuguese, French,
Swahili, Spanish, Nepalese, Russian
Scheduled release: 01/2015
Production budget: 800 000 EUR
Status of the production: In production
Looking for: Foreign theatrical
distributors, international broadcasters
World sales: Films Transit International
mother has been a decisive factor in the fates
of our main characters.
Told together, the women’s narratives form a poetic and intense film of motherhood and love:
of the joys and surprises of life, but also of the
effects of tragical events – yet above all the stories speak of survival: The women have struggled through their lives against incredible odds.
They give the viewer hope of a better tomorrow.
gathers together stories from women in different parts of the world. The narrators of the stories form an unbroken chain around the globe,
and their stories are connected by the theme
of motherhood: the presence or absence of a
World sales:
Films Transit International
[email protected]
www.filmstransit.com
The mothers’ wishes are universal ideals of a
better world – one which we would want to
leave our own children.
Director’s Note
Mother’s Wish is a documentary film that
Contact:
Satu Majava, Producer
[email protected]
mobile: +358 445819910
www.oktober.fi
Representatives
The issues that I have felt to be important all my
life are equality and justice. Sometimes thinking about these things keeps me up at night,
and the lack of equality genuinely angers me.
This is always present in my films, which have
always dealt with at least one of these themes. In
Mother’s Wish I am portraying women around
their world, dealing with themes of love and
motherhood, but above all focusing on equality and humanity in life.
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Satu Majava
Producer
Joonas Berghäll
Director & Producer
finnish film affair
works in progress
Making Movies is a Helsinki-based
production company founded in 1996.
The company has produced five feature
films and over 40 documentary films.
The feature films produced by Making
Movies include films like Black Ice (2008)
and Rat King (2011) by Petri Kotwica.
The documentaries produced by Making
Movies include films such as Happiness
(2014) and A Decent Factory (2004) by
Thomas Balmès, In the Dark by Sergey
Dvortsevoy (2004) and Love & Engineering
(2014) by Tonislav Hristov. The company
has also co-produced documentaries by
Joshua Oppenheimer and Phie Ambo.
About the director
Markku Lehmuskallio (b. 1938 Finland)
and Anastasia Lapsui (b. 1944 Yamal
Tsamo
Original title: Tsamo
Genre: Drama
Director: Markku Lehmuskallio &
Anastasia Lapsui
Producer: Kaarle Aho & Kai Nordberg
Production company: Making Movies
Language of dialogue: Swedish, Russian,
Finnish, Tinglit
Scheduled release: 02/2015
Production budget: 735 000 EUR
Status of the production: In post
production
Looking for: Sales agents, festivals
World sales: Available
Based on a true story. In the 1860’s Alaska
and Finland are simultaneously parts of the
Russian Empire. The Governor of Alaska is a
Swedish-speaking Finn whose brother, a mining engineer called Simon, buys a 10-year old
Alaskan Indian girl and brings her to Finland.
The girl, Tsamo, is baptized into Christianity
and Simon and his sister start to teach her European habits and the Swedish language. The
girl thinks that she’s married to Simon and acts
accordingly.
Simon marries a lady of her own age and class
and Tsamo gets confused. Simon is forced to
send the girl away and the battle over Tsamo’s
identity takes complicated turns.
Peninsula, Western Siberia) are a filmmaking couple who’ve been working
together since the early 90’s. Altogether
they’ve had seven films (both fiction and
documentaries) in different sections of the
Berlinale. Their feature films include Seven
Songs from the Tundra (2000, Berlinale
Forum), A Bride of the Seventh Heaven
(2003, Berlinale Forum) and Pudana: The
Last of the Line (2010, Berlinale Generation
Competition).
Contact:
Kaarle Aho, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: + 358 407253936
www.mamo.fi
Representatives
Director’s Note
We are interested in the story of Tsamo, a child
who is first separated from her people and then
her homeland before ending up in a strange
land as an odd girl that no one wants. We want
to make a film about homesickness, living in
a strange environment and seeking refuge in
one’s inner world. Through Tsamo we are making a film about being deprived of one’s identity.
13
Kaarle Aho
Producer
Kai Nordberg
Producer
finnish film affair
short pitches
Layla
Original title: Layla Genre: Drama Director: Mohamed El
Aboudi Producer: Minna Virtanen Production company: Vertigo
Language of dialogue: Finnish, English, Arab Production budget:
2,3 MEUR Status of the production: In development Looking
for: Co-producers, financiers, world sales agents World sales:
Available
Layla is a moving story of love, friendship and survival. Four hours af-
ter her birth Layla, a Kurd girl in Iraq, is betrothed to her cousin. At the
age of 15, after her wedding night, it becomes clear to Layla that the only
option for survival is to flee her native country and her family. With the
help of her own brother, she is trafficked through Germany, up north to
Finland, ”to the land of white lilies”.
Along her journey Layla finds friends in unexpected places; an Arab girl
Tamara, who is also on the run, and a Finnish mother Helena, whose
only chance to create a reasonable life for her son is make her living as
a prostitute.
In one culture the measure of honour is the virginity of the girls, in another money and success. In both, some people are willing to go to extremes to restore their honour.
Catherine
Original title: Catherine Genre: Historical TV-drama-series
Director: Laura Kazbaraite (LT), Maria Lappalainen (FI) Producer:
Annalisa Schmuckli (FI), Magdalena Rychla (PL) Production
company: Empire Pictures (FI), Begood Films (PL) Language of
dialogue: Polish, Swedish, Finnish, English/German (languages
negotiable) Scheduled release: 2018 Production budget: 10
MEUR (estimated for season 1) Financing in place: Development
funding (Finnish Film Foundation), Engage 2012 Prize Status
of the production: In development Looking for: Financing, TVsales, partners World sales: Available
Director’s Note
My documentary Dance of Outlaws (2012) tells the story of a woman without an identity; a rape victim kicked out of her home without any identification papers, working as a wedding dancer and prostitute to survive.
The film has created a lot of interest at festivals across Europe and in the
Arabic countries, and that has made me determined to continue to explore the themes more deeply through fiction.
Layla is a drama based on the well-known Finnish author Jari Tervo´s
bestseller, Layla. When I was given the book, I saw that the story had exactly the elements I had been looking for: problems of women and questions of honour in Islamic and Western cultures. In Layla, both Finnish
and Kurdish characters, men and women, suffer because of losing or being
afraid of losing their honour. Despite the heavy themes of honour killings,
human trafficking and prostitution, the mood of Layla will not be dark
and depressing. The style will be a road movie, full of warm humour and
passion, which will make it appealing to larger audiences.
Catherine, a story of passion and power, is a TV drama series based on
the true life of the 16th-century Polish princess Catherine Jagellon. Her
marriage at age 35 to Duke John of Finland, a man 11-years her junior,
was set to be purely political, but turned into a death-defying romance a source of legends. Treason, conspiracies, mad kings and heartbreaking
jealousy: Catherine’s incredible journey of becoming the Duchess of Finland, finding love and eventually rising to the throne of Sweden takes us
on a voyage through Renaissance Europe and its royalty’s private chambers; where love and politics are inseparably intertwined. Trailer (3min),
info packages and the series Bible are also available.
Director’s Note (Laura Kazbaraite)
A powerful woman in the mainly masculine monarchy of the 16th century
immediately sounds intriguing. Catherine‘s contemporary way of thinking and fearlessness influenced and even changed the history of several
European countries. As a director I would like to share the inspiration
of this incredible woman who managed to escape her politically decided
destiny, follow her own choices and experience true love.
Contact:
Minna Virtanen, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 504904119
www.vertigo.fi
Contact:
Annalisa Schmuckli,
Producer & Screenwriter
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 407743568
MInna Virtanen
Producer
14
Mohamed El Aboudi
Director
finnish film affair
short pitches
Mindfuck / Vimma
Original title: Vimma Genre: Scandic noir Director: Kasimir
Lehto Producer: Pauli Pentti Production company: First Floor
Productions Language of dialogue: Finnish, Swedish Scheduled
release: 2016 Production budget: 900 000 EUR Status of the
production: In development Looking for: Co-producers, sales
agent World sales: Available
Imagine the most amazing startup pitch you ever heard. One that opens
every investor’s wallet. One that promises to use stolen code from the NSA.
And one that is a complete lie. With his back against the wall, Tuomas
Vimma sells an amazing idea to his new employers. Now all he has to do
is make it true.
Mindfuck / Vimma is a Scandinavian noir thriller set in the world of
startups, corrupt officials and Cold War intrigue. After being a liar all his
life, Vimma is for the first time forced to make good on his word. And to
succeed, he has to beg for help from everybody he screwed over in the
past. Including his sister.
Director’s Note
Flamboyant ad executive Vimma’s life is filled with success, satire, love
and misery. The film is an adaptation of the cult novel Helsinki 12 by
acclaimed author Tuomas Vimma, the first installment in a planned trilogy.
It is a mind bubbling thriller with an anti-hero lead, stranger than life
characters, twisted emotions and an intriguing story that dives deep into
the underground of our information society.
Old is Not Dead !
Original title: Humppaa tai kuole Genre: Music documentary
Director: Jaakko Kilpiäinen Producer: Tomi Riionheimo
Production company: Indie Films Language of dialogue: Finnish
Scheduled release: Autumn 2016 Production budget: 280 000
EUR Status of the production: In development Looking for:
Distributor, co-producer World sales: Available
The band Eläkeläiset has always been a hobby for its members. It was
to be a short-term joke but since 1993 the band has released 10 studio
CD´s and played more gigs abroad than in Finland. More than 300 gigs
have been performed in German-speaking Europe, singing only in Finnish and telling stories about the problems of elderly people. This might be
the strangest Finnish music export case ever.
The film also sheds a light on Finnish popular culture and the roots of
humppa music. And as the members of the band are getting more gray
in the little hair they have left, the jokes about getting old are starting to
be not-so-funny anymore. The producer of the film has documented the
band since 1994.
Director’s Note
This is a documentary about the absurd journey of the band Eläkeläiset
(meaning ”the pensioners”) and Finnish popular culture at large: how the
German horn-based humppa music (oompah) evolved into a popular folk
dance phenomenon in the 70´s and how it was later exported back to Germany as a new form of weird folk punk. Humppa tätärää!
Contact:
Tomi Riionheimo,
Producer
tomi.riionheimo
@indiefilms.fi
Mobile: +358 405634603
www.indiefilms.fi
Contact:
Kasimir Lehto, Director
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 409625575
www.firstfloor.fi
Tomi Riionheimo
Producer
15
Jaakko Kilpiäinen
Director
finnish film affair
short pitches
Prayer
Stupid Young Heart
Original title: Rukous Genre: Drama-fantasy Director: AJ Annila
Producer: AJ Annila Production company: Mangaani Motion Pictures Language of dialogue: TBA Scheduled release: 2016/2017
Production budget: 600 000 EUR Status of the production: In
development Looking for: Co-producer, sales company
World sales: Available
Original title: Hölmö nuori sydän Genre: Drama Director: Selma
Vilhunen Producer: Elli Toivoniemi Production company: Tuffi
Films Language of dialogue: Finnish Scheduled release: 2016
Production budget: 800 000 EUR Financing in place: 30 000
EUR Status of the production: In development Looking for:
International sales, co-production World sales: Available
Iris prays God to lay punishment on her friend Mikael for bullying her.
Carefree Lenni (15), raised by a single mom, is confronted by the
pressures of adult life when his girlfriend Kiira (16) informs him that she
is pregnant. Lenni is madly in love with Kiira, and starts looking for father
figures to learn from. The only ones he knows are his racist neighbour,
Janne (36) and a Somali cab driver, Abdi (26), who has always covered
Lenni’s back. In the hopes of learning how to be a grown man, Lenni
befriends Janne. He learns to fight and hate with Janne, but in the end the
manliest thing is to be able to love and sing for the baby.
The next day Mikael’s minister father is found dead, tangled in a fishing
net on a stormy sea. The two children are led into a cruel power play as
Mikael comes up with 10 Commandments of his own in order for Iris to
seek forgiveness. Set in the outskirts of the Second World War, Prayer is
a raw yet beautiful film about guilt and forgiveness told through the eyes
of more or less innocent children.
Director’s Note
Director’s Note
A child’s imagination is sacred. It is their tool in travelling both the known
and the unknown. Yet it’s horribly vulnerable. If you aren’t careful, a child’s
imagination can run into dangerous territory if provoked by a wrong idea
or belief. Faith has far too much power to invoke the invisible. For me,
Prayer is about children who pray in order for us to notice them.
The world is full of boys like Lenni, who are lost but willing to do the
right thing, if only someone would show them how. Stupid Young Heart
expands to be the story of not only Lenni but of anyone struggling with the
responsibilities of adulthood. We all have a stupid young heart pounding
in our chests. This film gives these hearts a moment of consolation and
reinforcement.
Contact:
AJ Annila, Producer & Director
[email protected]
www.mangaani.fi
Contact:
Elli Toivoniemi, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile:+358 401721778
www.tuffifilms.com
16
finnish film affair
short pitches
WAR/PEACE
Original title: WAR/PEACE Genre: Documentary Director: Inderjit
Kaur Khalsa Producer: Essi Haukkamaa Production company:
Greenlit Productions (FI), CTM Lev Pictures (NL) Language of
dialogue: English Scheduled release: 2016 Production budget:
250 000 EUR Partners attached: Black Lion Pictures (distributor
in Finland) Financing in place: Scriptwriting support (Finnish Film
Foundation) Status of the production: In development Looking
for: Co-production partners World sales: Available
WAR/PEACE is a new-school propaganda film for peace focusing on the
question: Why do we fight, and what do we gain from it?
Everybody wants to be happy. All our actions aim towards one target: being
happier. It seems that there are two kinds of people; the ones who allow
happiness equally for all and try to sustain our nature and humanity, and
then those who look only to increase their own personal happiness. In the
documentary we look into one era in history when these two opposing
directions were in at their peak in the 1970’s, demonstrating how political
and financial decisions that were made during the era now globally affect
our everyday life.
Director’s Note
When I first heard that in the early 70’s it was a ”criminal act” to use peace
signs in the USA, that the police were allowed to use violence against hippies and arrest them with no real reason, it didn’t make any sense to me.
Why would anybody be against people who wanted peace, equality and
justice for all? In this film I will look into the reasons behind this, and also
question the morality of the human race.
Contact:
Essi Haukkamaa, Producer
essi.haukkamaa@
greenlitproductions.net
Mobile: +358 449744548
facebook.com/WarPeacethemovie
Inderjit Kaur Khalsa
Screenwriter & Director
17
finnish film affair
project development clinic
Greenlit Productions was established
in 2014 by producer Essi Haukkamaa. The
company has three feature films and two
documentaries in development. The company’s objective is to produce quality drama and documentaries and support talented filmmakers, screenwriters and directors
make their vision come to life.
About the producer
Essi Haukkamaa began her career work-
The Astronaut
ing as a reporter for the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, whilst simultaneously studying drama producing in Helsinki.
Finnish title: Astronautti Genre: Sci-fi drama Director: Pete Riski Producer: Essi
Haukkamaa Screenwriter: Antero Arjatsalo, Santeri Mäkinen Production company:
Greenlit Productions Language of dialogue: English Scheduled release: 2017
Production budget: 3 MUSD Financing in place: Scriptwriting fund (Finnish Film
Foundation), PREFIX trailer funding Status of the production: In development Looking
for: International co-production partners
The Astronaut is a feature film which has
been developed in Finland but will be shot in
the USA. The main producer (myself), director
(Pete Riski), DOP (Jean-Noël Mustonen) and
screenwriter (Santeri Mäkinen) are Finnish. The
other main talent will be from the US where we
shoot or other countries, possibly future coproduction countries.
I have some interested bodies in Australia so
one option is to do this as a Finnish-Australian-US co-production and do a studio shoot
in Australia. Negotiations are in the beginning
phase. Part of the post production will probably
be completed in Finland (such as colorgrading
and part of the VFX) but all the other parts of
the production are not yet determined, so this
would be a really ideal case for co-production.
The Astronaut wants to stay away from science
fiction clichés and instead create real, believable
characters that underline the drama of the story.
A similar style and mood can usually be found
in early Spielberg movies, which always have a
very strong emotional side.
The visual world is based on very classic
cinematic storytelling, which gives room for
the performances of the actors and underlines
different parts of the story.
About the director
Pete Riski has been working in the film
industry since the early nineties. He has
won several international awards for his
commercial and music video work.
In 2008 his first feature film Dark Floors
premiered and was instantly sold to more
than 50 countries. His more recent style
can be observed in the short film Here
With Me, which premiered in 2014.
Contact:
Essi Haukkamaa, Producer
essi.haukkamaa@
greenlitproductions.net
Mobile: +358 449744548
www.greenlitproductions.net
Representative
Director’s Note
The Astronaut is a story that has a classic mysterious science fiction side, but at the same time
it’s a very strong character-driven drama. It’s a
story of people who must find a way to survive
together, almost like a family, which has different personalities, and who don’t always play
along together.
Essi moved to Australia in 2003 and
worked for a while as a production
assistant for Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment
Group, which at that time had offices in
the Village Roadshow Studios lot in Gold
Coast. Altogether she spent 8 years in
Australia and continued to work in various
positions for drama productions.
Essi Haukkamaa
Producer
18
finnish film affair
project development clinic
one another, but then later turn against each
other due to competition and Juhana’s increasing mental problems. On the later time level,
Inka visits Juhana at a mental institution, where
he is being treated for severe depression. Now
they must face the past and finally resolve their
relationship.
Autumn
Prince
Original title: Syysprinssi Genre: Drama
Director: Alli Haapasalo Producer: Lasse
Saarinen Screenwriter: Alli Haapasalo
Principle cast: Lauri Tilkanen Production
company: Kinotar Language of dialogue:
Finnish Scheduled release: 2016
Production budget: 1,7 MEUR Partners
attached: Finnish Film Foundation, SF
Film Financing in place: Development
support (Finnish Film Foundation) Status
of the production: In development
Looking for: International collaboration
opportunities (funding & distribution)
The screenplay is an adaptation of Anja Snellman’s book Autumn Prince, which was a bestseller in Finland in the mid-90’s and has been
translated into several languages.
company founded in 1994 and has
produced over 70 films since (features,
documentary, TV fiction, short films).
Kinotar is one of the oldest active film
production companies in Finland. We aim
at producing one or two feature films every
year. We also consider documentaries
important, as well as TV fiction. Our aim is
to produce quality films for large domestic
and international audiences. The complete
list of films: www.kinotar.com
Director’s Note
About the producer
The Autumn Prince is first and foremost a love
story – a story about destiny, timing, and love
as our “maker” or our “destroyer”.
Lasse Saarinen, MD, Producer, is the
My main character is Inka, a talented and ambitious young woman with a powerful voice, but
whose insecurities have stopped her from stepping out of the shadow as a writer and a person.
What she experiences with Juhana, an unstoppable and courageous man full of life, liberates
her and finally “makes her”. Ironically, this is
something that Juhana, struggling with his own
writing and increasing mental problems, can’t
handle. As he becomes jealous and aggressive,
eventually he becomes Inka’s new shadow. The
fact that Inka abandons the most important
person in her life – and a man who is clearly
falling ill and needs her help – haunts her for
years. It is only when Inka meets Juhana again
after 15 years and finally resolves the relationship, that she can truly be free.
Representatives
lationship that forms one person and destroys
the other.
Lasse Saarinen
Producer
19
owner of Kinotar Oy. Lasse Saarinen has
worked as a producer since 1986. Lasse
has acted as an executive producer and/or
producer in all of Kinotar’s films. Before
founding Kinotar in 1994, Lasse produced
films for Film Zolfo from 1985.
About the director
Alli Haapasalo is a Finnish film director
and writer based in New York. Haapasalo’s
short films have received numerous awards
in the United States and Europe. Most
recently, her 60-minute narrative On Thin
Ice, was nominated for a Prix Europa in
2012. Haapasalo holds an MFA from the
New York University’s Tisch School of
the Arts as well as a BA from the ELO /
Aalto University in Helsinki, majoring
in film directing. The Autumn Prince is
Haapasalo’s first full-length feature film.
Contact:
Lasse Saarinen, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 505961763
www.kinotar.com
The Autumn Prince is a love story about a re-
The film is set on two time levels – the years
1980 and 1996. The earlier setting recounts the
love story of Inka and Juhana – young, rebellious writers, who first find their soul mates in
Kinotar is a Helsinki-based production
Alli Haapasalo
Director
finnish film affair
project development clinic
is the daughter of the deceased shadow king.
Alva’s half-brother Halvar killed their father to
get to the throne. Halvar needs Alva because
only a shadow can fetch the box in which an evil
spirit is locked. Halvar wants to control the evil
power, because he does not have the powers of
the shadow folk. But the evil spirit wants to get
into Alva’s body due to her exceptional abilities. So begins the adventure to fight the evil.
The story is based on the Finnish book Underfors by Maria Turtschaninoff.
Director’s Note
Below
Helsinki
Original title: Helsingin alla (”Alistadi”)
Genre: Fantasy for children and young
people Director: Anna Maria Hutri
Producer: Ella Piesala Screenwriter:
Anna Maria Hutri Production company:
FremantleMedia Finland Language of
dialogue: Finnish Financing in place:
Screenwriting support (Finnish Film
Foundation) Status of the production: In
development Looking for: Feedback of
the content
Below Helsinki is a fantasy film that tells the story of Alva and Joel. The story pictures a world
where the existence of fairytale characters, like
trolls and witches, is as possible as any percieved
reality. The story deals with themes like courage, heritage, responsibility. It is a story about
the difficulty of forgiving and overcoming the
past without redemption. The film also deals
with politics concerning nuclear power. Is nuclear waste the heritage we want to pass on to
our children?
But most importantly Below Helsinki is a love
story - a first love, between the teenagers Alva
and Joel. Their love story runs like burning
blood through the veins of the film.
creators, producers and distributors
of television brands in the world. It
is responsible for many of the world’s
highest rated prime time entertainment,
drama, serial drama, factual entertainment
and kids & family programming, with
capabilities that extend from content
creation to licensing, digital and branded
entertainment, gaming and home
entertainment.
About the director
Anna Maria Jóakimsdóttir Hutri has
roots in Iceland, Denmark and Sweden
from the time before settling in Finland.
She works as a film director and scriptwriter in film and television as well as directing commercials. Most of her directing work have been dramas and children’s
films. Her short film SAM has been awarded at short film festivals like Clermont Ferrand and Brest and Blue Dolphin was selected to compete at Nordic Panorama. She
has also directed the hour long road movie
Georg & Lydia and the children’s short film
Apple Thieves. She graduated from the ELO
/ Aalto University in 2003 with an MA in
new media and a BA in photography and
is currently doing an MA in directing at
the Theatre Academy Helsinki.
Contact:
Ella Piesala, Executive Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 504143635
www.fremantlemedia.fi
Representative
Below Helsinki is a fantasy film about the
power of friendship, forgiveness and finding
yourself. Alva knows she is adopted, but cannot
remember the first three years of her life. She
finds out that there is another city below Helsinki, populated by trolls and witches. In the past
the shadow folk, who were able to transform
themselves into shadows, also lived there. Alva
FremantleMedia is one of the largest
Anna Maria Hutri
Director, Screenwriter
20
finnish film affair
project development clinic
Sons of Lumière is a production com-
pany that wants to go back to the roots of
cinema. We are inspired by the curiosity
the first filmmakers approached their work
with. We believe that such an approach can
also create something new. The company
is owned by producers Mete Sasioglu and
Miika J. Norvanto.
About the director
Maria Lappalainen recently graduated
Charm of Tango
Original title: Mustalaistango Genre: Music comedy Director: Maria Lappalainen
Producer: Mete Sasioglu, Annalisa Schmuckli Screenwriter: Maria Lappalainen Principle
cast: Ritva Palm Production company: Sons of Lumière Language of dialogue: Finnish
Financing in place: Scriptwriting support (Finnish Film Foundation) Status of the
production: Script in development Looking for: Co-producers and financing
The Charm of Tango is a comedy about a
middle aged gypsy woman Hulda, who has
sacrificed her dreams to sing tango in order to
be the perfect wife to her dashingly handsome
husband Rainer, whom she adores. When
Rainer is accidentally killed on their 25th
wedding anniversary, Hulda gets the blame.
Rainer’s family puts a vendetta upon Hulda.
Now Hulda has to escape the avengers and
travel North to the family eldest and ask him to
proclaim her innocence. On the road Hulda and
Rainer’s ghost keep bickering and settling the
scores of their quarter of a century relationship.
Hulda realizes that her true calling is not to
serve her husband but to sing tango.
ing the sometimes imagined demands of love
as well as culture and tradition. As she finally
finds the courage to break those chains and become her true self, she realizes that now through
her music she is able to offer love to her people
and help them find the same peace and dignity which she has found. The story is universal.
We all struggle at times between the outside
demands and the inner needs. The chains that
hold us back may be different, but the balancing
act is one. Charm of Tango states that it’s never
too late to find the right path.
Representatives
Director’s Note
The Charm of Tango is a tribute to Finnish tango and gypsy music. The bitter sweet and melodramatic tone of these music genres is in line
with the core of the story. The absurdity and the
supernatural aspects of the plot owe to the storytelling traditions of gypsy culture. The main
character Hulda has lost herself when follow-
Maria Lappalainen
Writer & Director
21
Mete Sasioglu
Producer
from the Helsinki Film School ELO with
an MA in screenwriting. She has previously graduated as a fiction film director
from the All Federation Institute of Cinema (VGIK) in Russia. Maria has directed
short films and documentaries, including
the prize winning documentary On Edge
and the feature length documentary Fight
for a River.
About the producers
Mete Sasioglu has studied film and
television at the Metropolia University
of Applied Sciences. He has produced
commercials, short films and music videos
and the feature film The Latch (2013).
His latest production, Curious Skin, is a
documentary about the dance artist Tero
Saarinen. Sasioglu is the CEO of two
production companies, Filmfly and Sons
of Lumière.
Annalisa Schmuckli has studied pro-
duction at the Helsinki Film School ELO.
She has produced several short films and
worked as a freelancer in a number of feature film productions, specializing in international co-productions. To develop the
Charm of Tango Annalisa has joined forces
with Mete Sasioglu’s company the Sons of
Lumière. In 2014 she also founded her own
production company Empire Pictures.
Contact:
Maria Lappalainen, Writer & Director
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 443568273
www.sonsoflumiere.com/
mustalaistango
finnish film affair
project development clinic
Oddity is a newly founded collective fo-
cusing on independent and experimental
films. We are curious about investigating
mixed techniques and playing with the relationship between structure and narrative
content in films.
About the producer
Anna Nuuros is a co-founder of Oddi-
Coincidence, Nemesis, Chaos
Original title: Rastlantı, kader ve kaos Genre: Drama Director: Sevgi Eker Producer:
Anna Nuuros Screenwriter: Sevgi Eker Production company: Oddity Language of
dialogue: Turkish, Kurdish Scheduled release: April 2016 Production budget: 590 000
EUR Status of the production: In development Looking for: Partners, co-producers,
inspiring new acquaintances
Rastlantı, kader ve kaos is a story of the last
24 hours of three individuals unknown to each
other - one of them is living in the past, one
is waiting for the future and one knows he is
about to die. The chain of events bringing them
together is observed through a theme of causality. Stylistic inspiration comes from naturalism, cinema verité and dogma 95. Fragmented
conception of time and subjective perception
of empathy form the precept for the film structure and narrative. The dramaturgical outcome
is an abstraction, an equation of sorts, created
by the arrangement of events and the addition
of information.
tual glasses of a sort, used to define the world.
The tradition of causality in the grammar of cinema is, at times, confusing in all its artificiality.
We are intrigued by the idea of constructing a
movie with 3.5 individual parts, all under the
principle of each scene for itself, rather than one
scene for the sake of the other. The dramaturgical outcome is visible in the whole, yet it cannot
be reduced back to its parts.
Representatives
Director’s Note
Coincidence, Nemesis and Chaos are notions
with limitless possibilities of interpretation. Regardless of the event, the definition used has
the power to change its meaning. At the same
time, they can be seen as nothing more than
mere variations of the same concept, concep-
Sevgi Eker
Director
Anna Nuuros
Producer
22
ty. Currently, she is studying film producing and film editing at Aalto University /
ELO Helsinki Film School. Anna also has
a M.Sc. degree from Helsinki University of
Technology and she has worked in communications and IT at international corporations. Rastlantı, kader ve kaos is the first
feature length film for her as a producer.
About the director
Sevgi Eker is a co-founder of Oddity.
Before joining Aalto University / ELO
Helsinki Film School, where she majors
in film editing, she studied international
politics and international relations at
Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. Sevgi
also has studied Time and Space Art at
the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and is
currently studying a side major in Middle
East Studies at the University of Helsinki.
Rastlantı, kader ve kaos is her first feature
length film as a director.
Contact:
Sevgi Eker, Director
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 445021054
finnish film affair
project development clinic
About the director
Heidi Lindén, 28, studied for an MFA
Collection
Original title: Collection Genre: Thriller,
Action, Adventure Director: Heidi Lindén
Producer: TBC Screenwriter: Tom J.J.
Saxman Principle cast: Andrea Björkholm
(SE) as Ven Production companies: Film
Polska (PL), Krzysztof Solek, Looking for
a Finnish production company Language
of dialogue: English, Italian, Polish,
French, German Scheduled release: 2017
Production budget: 3-4 MEUR Partners
attached: Film Polska (PL), Black Lion
Pictures (Distributor in Finland) Sponsors:
Varusteleka – Military and outdoor,
Paparazzi – Model Man-agement, Lumene
– Arctic skincare and make–up, Aseanic
Trading – Asian food supply, Herkkutalo –
Catering, Agency Avenue A – representing
Actors in Scandinavia Status of the
production: In development Looking for:
Scandinavian producers, co-producers
worldwide, distributors worldwide
Collection is a story of three fates, interwoven
within a dystopian future, where Europe has
fallen into a new dark age.
A young peasant girl, Lily (13), is kidnapped
by the feudal Lord Baron’s (60), (known as The
Collector) militia and taken back to his fortress in the city. Despite warnings about her
being cursed due to her exotic appearance and
red hair, she is added to Baron’s collection. She
is taught manners, submission and the art of
pleasure, as she’s kept well-guarded from the
grotesque world outside the Harem chambers.
Ven (27), part of the militia (who has kept her
gender hidden) shares an intimate moment with
the amber-haired girl she is ordered to guard.
Ven soon finds herself obsessively in love with
the prepubescent girl and decides to help Lily
escape her enslavement.
in Film Directing both at the NYU Tisch
School of the Arts in New York and the
ELO Helsinki Film School. Her first feature film Indebted (2012), which she also
produced and performed the leading role
in, won the Best Debut award at the London Film Festival. Heidi has worked for
several production companies such as
NICE Drama in Scandinavia, the Finnish
Broadcasting Company and MTV3 as a
writer, director and actress. In 2014, Heidi
directed three original shorts: 66 cigarettes,
Coffin and Premiere, and is the main writer
in a TV series called Black Finland (in preproduction). Heidi is enthralled by crime,
thrillers and action.
Contact:
Heidi Lindén, Director
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 451637725 (FI),
+49 1628947547 (DE)
www.collectionfilm.com
Little does anyone know that the seemingly innocent little girl is conspiring acts beyond anyone’s wildest nightmares.
The plot of the film and the setting makes it
possible for us to cast actors from all around
the world. The film’s fictional Europe has broken down into different ruling factions, and national borders have eroded. This makes it believable that people from the same village speak a
multitude of languages, as some of them have
been traveling as vagrants for years, and as some
might have been kidnapped from different regions.
Representatives
Director’s Note
We see huge potential and opportunity to unite
many countries, crew and cast, as well as to find
authentic locations and studio set-up. At this
time the location is also still undecided, despite our Eastern European romanticism. While
pitching the idea at Berlinale 2014 and Cannes
2014, we found the response to be quite promising.
23
Heidi Lindén
Original Idea,
Director
Kerttu Hakkarainen
Original Idea,
Cinematographer
finnish film affair
project development clinic
Tast Films is a new Helsinki-based
independent film production company
lead by Producer Maria Forsström and
Writer-Director Jan Forsström. The
company is currently in development
of its first feature film The Great Bear,
scheduled to shoot in Summer 2015. Tast
Films’ mission is to produce powerful,
adult dramas for international audiences.
About the producer
Originally
from Finland, Maria
Forsström moved to the UK in 2004.
The Great Bear
Original title: Suuri Karhu Genre: Drama Director: Jan Forsström Producer: Maria
Forsström Screenwriter: Jan Forsström Principle cast: Laura Birn Production company:
Tast Films Language of dialogue: Finnish, English, Russian Scheduled release: March
2017 Production budget: 750 000 EUR Status of the production: In Development
Looking for: Meeting sales agents, distributors, representatives of film festivals
The Great Bear is the second feature film by
writer-director Jan Forsström. It is a drama
which deals with several themes such as
loneliness, isolation and the dark side of love.
It is being developed as an ensemble piece
with Laura Birn attached as the young woman
Annika, the female lead, who - suffering from
a lack of purpose - embarks on a journey with
the charismatic yet mysterious Chyong-Caj, a
travelling Russian shaman who is convinced
Annika has special powers. The aim of The Great
Bear is to become a film that is mysterious,
seductive, scary and shocking, but most of all
adult, accurate and real in the way it provides
insight into the inner world of a troubled and
lonely character, who in the end shares the same
needs as all of us.
realised that the story is very cinematic, and
perfect material for an intense, intimate psychodrama. There are elements of suspense and
even horror, but for me it’s first and foremost a
sad and hopefully touching psychological portrait of a lonely and repressed woman, who has a
lot of dangerous rage but also a need for beauty,
love and intimacy hidden inside her.
Representatives
Director’s Note
The Great Bear is based on my own short story
to be published as part of a collection of short
stories in the spring of 2015. At some point I
Maria Forsström
Producer
Jan Forsström
Writer & Director
24
After graduating with a BA in Arts in 2006
she joined the film production company
Vita Nova Films. She has been involved
in the management of all of VNF’s
productions including Prima Primavera,
a feature film by Janos Edelenyi. She has
produced several acclaimed short films
funded by the UKFC/BFI. Maria is a 2010
graduate of EAVE Producer’s Workshops.
She splits her time between London,
where on top of her film work she works
as a freelance TV Producer, and Helsinki,
where she recently set up Tast Films with
Jan Forsström.
About the director
Jan Forsström is a writer, director, editor
and script editor. He graduated with a Master’s degree from the ELO / University of
Art and Design in Helsinki in 2006. Forsström has written several award-winning
short films, and three feature films including The Visitor, by J-P Valkeapää, which
premiered at the Venice Film Festival in
2008, Last Cowboy Standing by Zaida Bergroth (awarded the Flash Forward prize in
Pusan Film Festival in 2009) and The Good
Son, also by Bergroth, which premiered in
Toronto in 2011. The Princess of Egypt was
Forsström’s debut feature film as a director.
Contact:
Maria Forsström, Producer
[email protected],
[email protected]
Mobile: +44 7849110445 /
+358 443020948
www.tastfilms.com
finnish film affair
project development clinic
Pohjola-filmi is a film production com-
pany that specializes in northern cinema.
We make features and short films, documentaries and fiction. What counts is not
the form but the content: we want to say
something important about this world and
the people in it. Pohjola-filmi was founded in 2009 by producer Elina Pohjola and
screenwriter Mike Pohjola. Pohjola-filmi
is partly owned by Helsinki-filmi since
May 2013.
The Lesson
About the producer
Original title: Oppitunti Genre: Drama Director: Marja Pyykkö Producer: Elina Pohjola
Screenwriter: Petra Forstén Production company: Pohjola-filmi Language of
dialogue: Finnish Scheduled release: 2016 Production budget: 1,3 MEUR Financing
in place: Scriptwriting and development support (Finnish Film Foundation) Status of
the production: In development Looking for: Co-production partners, sales agent,
international distribution, comments and advice on how to reach the international
audience as well as possible
The Lesson tells the story of the young teacher
Mari who suffers from childlessness. Mari and
her husband Timo are just about to finalize their
adoption process, when Mari’s 16-year-old student Pasi, who has a crush on her, unfoundedly
accuses Mari of touching him. This rumor escalates into a big lie that starts to spread via Internet. When a police investigation ensues, Mari
is expelled. Pasi gains new friends at school because of what has happened, and gets special
support from her classmate Sini, who has her
own motives for helping Pasi keep up the lie.
In order to not to lose everything, Mari has to
make Pasi confess the lie.
The Lesson is in development; we are currently
in the midst of financing the film and are happy
to talk about co-operation. Production-wise we
are concentrating on finishing the script and are
about to start casting and scouting.
a mother herself. Mari dreams of being a loving
mother to her soon-to-be adopted daughter,
and easygoing but professional teacher to her
students.
Pasi on the other hand is still very much a child,
but is thrown into mixed feelings and situations;
love, sex and conspiracy when what he truly
lacks is a warm hug from his mother.
Both Mari and Pasi are struggling to find their
way into the light. What is the truth and are they
strong enough to cope with it?
Representatives
MA studies in film and TV producing
at the ELO / Aalto University of Art
and Design. Before starting her own
production company, Pohjola-filmi, Elina
has worked in the production of several
Finnish feature films. At the moment
Elina is producing three feature length
films at Pohjola-filmi that will premiere in
2015; one fiction and two documentaries.
Besides those projects Pohjola-filmi has
several films in development.
About the director
Marja Pyykkö (b. 1975) has graduated
from the ELO / University of Art and
Design Helsinki in 2006. Her first feature
film Run, Sister, Run portrays the rebellion
of the Finnish youth and her second
feature Village People is a tongue-incheek comedy about people up in Finnish
Lapland longing for a miracle; something
or someone to change their lives for
good. The Lesson is Marja Pyykkö’s third
feature film. As a second-generation film
professional, she has lived and breathed
film since an early age.
Contact:
Elina Pohjola, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 445031881
www.pohjolafilmi.fi
Director’s Note
What caught my attention already in the first
draft of The Lesson was its strong characters and
the theme that ties them together. Mari is a naive
young teacher who truly loves children, even
more so when she has not been able to become
Elina Pohjola (b. 1981) has finished her
Elina Pohjola
Producer
Petra Forstén
Screenwriter
25
finnish film affair
project development clinic
Aamu Film Company was founded in
2001. We have produced both fiction and
documentary films of various lengths. We
aim to build lasting relationships with directors and screenwriters who have a
unique approach to filmmaking. We usually start from short films and proceed to
international feature films in order to allow
their style, content and ensemble to reach
their peak. We know that content always
shapes the form. We know that every filmmaking process has to be custom-made for
the content in question.
Thick Lashes of Lauri
Mäntyvaara
About the producer
Original title: Lauri Mäntyvaaran tuuheet ripset Genre: Drama comedy Director:
Hannaleena Hauru Producer: Jussi Rantamäki Screenwriter: Hannaleena Hauru
Production company: Aamu Film Company Language of dialogue: Finnish Scheduled
release: Autumn 2016 Production budget: 1,2 MEUR Financing in place: Scriptwriting
support (Finnish Film Foundation) Status of the production: In development Looking
for: Co-producer, sales agent
Speedskater Lauri Mäntyvaara’s (17) eyelash-
es are so thick, that when he looks Heidi (15)
in the eyes across the parking lot, the breeze
caused by Lauri’s blinking knocks Heidi down
on the asphalt. Heidi’s best friend Satu (15) witnesses all this. She promises to support Heidi in
conquering Lauri, because this - if anything - is
a sign of true love.
Heidi escapes with Lauri to an island adventure
while Satu fails to distract Lauri’s speedskating
team from following them. The European Cup
is just around the corner and to ensure success,
Lauri’s coach insists upon no distractions. Heidi
begins a chase with her water scooter against the
speedskaters in order to save Heidi’s romance.
The Baltic Sea freezes in July. Satu starts to realise she might lose Heidi forever to Lauri, but
she will not give up. In the end it is friendship
that counts, and you must keep believing in
crazy love.
hood. In addition I’m endlessly attracted by that
pure blue flame of emotions that’s seen when experiencing love for the very first time.
I’ve been dealing with friendship, contemporary
relationships and falling in love in most of my
films and writing. This film is about a hormonal storm occurring in the Finnish archipelago. I want to deal with the pain of growing up
thoroughly but with a bright tone, wanting to
make my friends laugh rather than cry while I
share this story. Ok, viewers are allowed to shed
tears as long as they’re equally from laughter
and sorrow.
Representatives
Director’s Note
Whereas brief moments of poetry and melancholy are awesome, in the longrun it’s humour
that keeps me standing and has walked me
through from puberty to some kind of adult-
Hannaleena Hauru
Director
26
Jussi Rantamäki
Producer
Jussi Rantamäki (b. 1980) started work-
ing as a producer at Aamu Film Company
in 2008 and became the sole owner of the
company in 2013. His first two productions
premiered at the Berlinale and the Cannes
Film Festival. He participated at EAVE and
was the Finnish producer on the move in
Cannes in 2013. He likes Carcassonne
board games, free diving, good wine,
wine and going to the Midnight Sun Film
Festival.
About the director
Hannaleena Hauru (b. 1983) is a Finnish
director, screenwriter and European
film activist. She graduated from ELO
Film School Helsinki in 2011 (MA).
Hannaleena’s short films have been
making waves in Oberhausen, Berlinale
Generations, Cannes Critics’ week,
Uppsala and Tampere with their precise,
poetic atmosphere and strong inner world
of the characters. Sometimes Hannaleena
goes to her flat in Helsinki to take care of
her houseplants. She loves ponies, guys,
cargo containers, sauna during summer
nights, bellinis, Monkey Island II, and she’s
usually single.
Contact:
Jussi Rantamäki, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 407355977
www.aamufilmcompany.fi
finnish film affair
project development clinic
Aamu Film Company was founded in
2001. We have produced both fiction and
documentary films of various lengths. We
aim to build lasting relationships with directors and screenwriters who have a
unique approach to filmmaking. We usually start from short films and proceed to
international feature films in order to allow
their style, content and ensemble to reach
their peak. We know that content always
shapes the form. We know that every filmmaking process has to be custom-made for
the content in question.
About the producer
Jussi Rantamäki (b. 1980) started work-
Tower of Silence
Original title: Hiljaisuuden torni Genre: Drama Director: Hamy Ramezan Producer: Jussi
Rantamäki Screenwriter: Hamy Ramezan Production company: Aamu Film Company
Language of dialogue: Farsi, Finnish Scheduled release: 2016 Production budget: 1,2
MEUR Financing in place: Scriptwriting support (Finnish Film Foundation) Status of the
production: In development Looking for: Co-producer, sales agent
An Iranian family has escaped from the war
in Iran. Father Alborz (41), mother Bolour
(38), their son Aslan (12) and their daughter
Vanda (8) arrive in cold and snowy Finland
as refugees in 1988. The hideous war is left
behind and the painful escape has ended and
they are safe. But the parents, who have been
under tremendous pressure, collapse after
their arrival. The children’s mother becomes
exhausted and their father turns unpredictable
and distant. Aslan has to manage on his own in
an unfamiliar environment and take care of his
little sister. Aslan survives and manages to pull
the broken family back together only to realize
that her sister wasn’t there. She was killed in a
school bombing during the war.
journey into the human psyche that deals with
the psychosocial consequences of war and the
physical and mental attempts to flee from them.
The past is never revisited - just its influence on
the present day is seen. The deceased little sister lives in the imaginary world of Aslan, but
her presence is merely a metaphor representing the loss of his home and part of his own
identity to war.
Hamy Ramezan
Director
27
About the director
Hamy Ramezan is a Finnish-Iranian film
director and scriptwriter. Best known for
his movie Keys of Heaven (2014), which
won four awards in total at the Tampere
International Short Film Festival (2014),
Hamy Ramezan is quickly becoming one
of the newest marvels of Finnish cinema.
His latest co-directed film Listen (Kuuntele, 2014) had its premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes 2014. Hamy is
currently working on his first full-length
feature film.
Contact:
Jussi Rantamäki, Producer
[email protected]
Mobile: +358 407355977
www.aamufilmcompany.fi
Representatives
Director’s Note
This is a story of a child who escaped the war
and violence in his home country, only to realize that in the sanctuary of his new home, the
sorrows of the past cannot be escaped. It is a
ing as a producer in Aamu Film Company
in 2008 and became the sole owner of the
company in 2013. His first two productions have premiered at the Berlinale and
the Cannes Film Festival. He participated
in EAVE and was the Finnish producer on
the move in Cannes in 2013.
Jussi Rantamäki
Producer
TO WATCH THE FILMS IN THE LINE UP GO TO
www.finnishfilmaffair.fi/ FILMS
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