Update: Finnish comedy “Money Shot,” about an ex-porn star venturing out of her comfort zone, is heading to Canneseries. The producers have also shared a first trailer with Variety.
Sari, now in her forties, gets fired from her last role. Forced to find a new way to make a living, she teams up with Linnea – an aspiring director who struggles to get into film school. They start to make feminist erotic films and begin a journey to fulfil women’s desires. As well as their own.
Produced by Solar Republic and sold by Federation Studios and Nordisk Film, it stars Pihla Viitala as Sari and Reetta Ylä-Rautio as her new – and unlikely – partner in crime. Paula Vesala, Mikko Kouki, Jukka Puotila and Alex Anton are featured as well.
“It’s a comedy about making feminist porn. It’s sweet and daring, and it makes you laugh. I’m not just...
Sari, now in her forties, gets fired from her last role. Forced to find a new way to make a living, she teams up with Linnea – an aspiring director who struggles to get into film school. They start to make feminist erotic films and begin a journey to fulfil women’s desires. As well as their own.
Produced by Solar Republic and sold by Federation Studios and Nordisk Film, it stars Pihla Viitala as Sari and Reetta Ylä-Rautio as her new – and unlikely – partner in crime. Paula Vesala, Mikko Kouki, Jukka Puotila and Alex Anton are featured as well.
“It’s a comedy about making feminist porn. It’s sweet and daring, and it makes you laugh. I’m not just...
- 3/12/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Despite teasing his retirement in 2017, “Le Havre” director Aki Kaurismäki will follow his Berlin Silver Bear winner “The Other Side of Hope” with a new feature film under the working title of “Dead Leaves” (“Kuolleet lehdet” in Finnish).
The new project was announced on Friday by Helsinki-based company B-Plan Distribution.
The film will star Alma Pöysti, who recently starred in Zaida Bergroth biopic “Tove,” about Moomins creator Tove Jansson — a film that won her a Jussi award for best actress in 2021. Jussi Vatanen, known for the drama “Forest Giant” and smash hit trilogy “Lapland Odyssey” has also joined the cast. The film’s supporting cast and crew will be announced at a later date.
“Dead Leaves,” which will mark the Finnish director’s 19th feature, will start shooting at the end of August in Helsinki. According to B-Plan Distribution, it will be the fourth instalment that continues Kaurismäki’s so-called Proletariat Trilogy,...
The new project was announced on Friday by Helsinki-based company B-Plan Distribution.
The film will star Alma Pöysti, who recently starred in Zaida Bergroth biopic “Tove,” about Moomins creator Tove Jansson — a film that won her a Jussi award for best actress in 2021. Jussi Vatanen, known for the drama “Forest Giant” and smash hit trilogy “Lapland Odyssey” has also joined the cast. The film’s supporting cast and crew will be announced at a later date.
“Dead Leaves,” which will mark the Finnish director’s 19th feature, will start shooting at the end of August in Helsinki. According to B-Plan Distribution, it will be the fourth instalment that continues Kaurismäki’s so-called Proletariat Trilogy,...
- 6/10/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Greenwich Entertainment has taken North American rights to dark comedy-drama “Concerned Citizen,” which had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlinale. Salzgeber has taken the rights for Germany and Austria. Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal is selling the film.
Idan Haguel’s film, a satirical parable on the insidious ways in which privilege can unleash the prejudice within, centers on Ben, who thinks of himself as a liberal and enlightened gay man, living in the perfect apartment with his boyfriend Raz. All that’s missing to complete the picture is a baby, which the couple are trying to make a reality.
Meanwhile, Ben decides to improve his up-and-coming neighborhood in gritty south Tel Aviv by planting a new tree on his street. But his good deed soon triggers a sequence of events that leads to the brutal police arrest of an Eritrean immigrant. The guilt trip that ensues...
Idan Haguel’s film, a satirical parable on the insidious ways in which privilege can unleash the prejudice within, centers on Ben, who thinks of himself as a liberal and enlightened gay man, living in the perfect apartment with his boyfriend Raz. All that’s missing to complete the picture is a baby, which the couple are trying to make a reality.
Meanwhile, Ben decides to improve his up-and-coming neighborhood in gritty south Tel Aviv by planting a new tree on his street. But his good deed soon triggers a sequence of events that leads to the brutal police arrest of an Eritrean immigrant. The guilt trip that ensues...
- 3/25/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
As the industry starts paying closer attention to Finnish films and talent – following the Cannes success of Juho Kuosmanen’s “Compartment No. 6” and Zaida Bergroth’s crowd-pleasing “Tove” – Finnish TV drama is next in line, argued the participants of the Berlinale Series Market Focus on Finland drama showcase. Kuosmanen premiered short-form series “Zone B,” which he co-created, at the Red Sea International Film Festival in December.
“We have seen a rise in Finnish stories, because as content creators and writers, we got to be a little bit braver,” said Minna Panjanen, now behind “Next of Kin”. “The truth is, everyone needs content right now. It’s almost a mathematical impossibility to say what would be the next big thing – we all saw it with ‘Squid Game’. But we need to be braver in order to stand out.”
In “Next of Kin”, set in the near future – the series is...
“We have seen a rise in Finnish stories, because as content creators and writers, we got to be a little bit braver,” said Minna Panjanen, now behind “Next of Kin”. “The truth is, everyone needs content right now. It’s almost a mathematical impossibility to say what would be the next big thing – we all saw it with ‘Squid Game’. But we need to be braver in order to stand out.”
In “Next of Kin”, set in the near future – the series is...
- 2/16/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Versatile Finnish helmer A.J. Annila is on board to direct the thriller series with a working title of “ID” which marks HBO Max’s first commission of a Finnish premium TV show.
Set in the art fraud world, the six-part series is co-created by seasoned writer Aleksi Bardy and Mia Ylönen for Finnish production powerhouse Helsinki-Filmi, a subsidiary of Finland’s Aurora Studios.
“ID” revolves around art fraud investigator Emma who goes undercover to infiltrate an auction house in Stockholm in order to investigate the firm’s connection to a notorious money launderer known as Blanko. Under her new identity, the quiet Emma morphs into a different person, the party animal and hot-headed socialite Annika. Her change of persona triggers long-hidden memories to resurface, forcing Emma to confront her past.
Annila, who contributed earlier to HBO Nordic’s anthology series of short films “At Home” (Eristyksissä), said he is thrilled...
Set in the art fraud world, the six-part series is co-created by seasoned writer Aleksi Bardy and Mia Ylönen for Finnish production powerhouse Helsinki-Filmi, a subsidiary of Finland’s Aurora Studios.
“ID” revolves around art fraud investigator Emma who goes undercover to infiltrate an auction house in Stockholm in order to investigate the firm’s connection to a notorious money launderer known as Blanko. Under her new identity, the quiet Emma morphs into a different person, the party animal and hot-headed socialite Annika. Her change of persona triggers long-hidden memories to resurface, forcing Emma to confront her past.
Annila, who contributed earlier to HBO Nordic’s anthology series of short films “At Home” (Eristyksissä), said he is thrilled...
- 2/6/2022
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Pop singer Kikka, a.k.a. Kirsi Hannele Viilonen, who passed away in 2005 at just 41 years old, will finally get her due in the upcoming biopic being produced by Helsinki’s Komeetta. Founded by producers Daniel Kuitunen and Kaisla Viitala, the production company’s slate already includes Zaida Bergroth’s “Maria’s Paradise,” shown in Toronto in 2019, and J-p Valkeapää’s comedy “Hit Big,” currently in development.
The Finnish answer to the likes of Samantha Fox or Sabrina, as she was often referred to during the first years of her tumultuous career, quickly grabbed the public’s attention with her playful songs and a highly sexualized image. Although still best known in her native country, there are universal themes to her story, Viitala tells Variety.
“‘Kikka!’ is more than a biopic – it’s a story about an aging sex symbol, about friendship and loneliness. I think these are all universal topics,...
The Finnish answer to the likes of Samantha Fox or Sabrina, as she was often referred to during the first years of her tumultuous career, quickly grabbed the public’s attention with her playful songs and a highly sexualized image. Although still best known in her native country, there are universal themes to her story, Viitala tells Variety.
“‘Kikka!’ is more than a biopic – it’s a story about an aging sex symbol, about friendship and loneliness. I think these are all universal topics,...
- 9/22/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Maija Isola, who died in 2001, was a Finnish designer of printed textiles. She created more than 500 patterns, including home furnishings and fashion company Marimekko’s most iconic print, “Unikko” (“Poppy”), in 1964 – ironically enough, right after the company’s founder Armi Ratia declared a ban on flower patterns. But a new Finnish-German production tries to look beyond the things that made her famous, showing Isola as a person and not just an artist, says director Leena Kilpeläinen.
Produced by Merja Ritola of Greenlit Productions, with sales handled by New Docs, the film will premiere at the Helsinki Film Festival – Love & Anarchy in September, alongside the company’s other co-production “The Other Side of the River.” It will be also shown as a part of the Finnish Film Affair lineup, with Greenlit Productions bringing two new projects to the event, including psychological thriller “Lex Julia,” currently in development, and documentary “Power of the People” by Mervi Enqvist,...
Produced by Merja Ritola of Greenlit Productions, with sales handled by New Docs, the film will premiere at the Helsinki Film Festival – Love & Anarchy in September, alongside the company’s other co-production “The Other Side of the River.” It will be also shown as a part of the Finnish Film Affair lineup, with Greenlit Productions bringing two new projects to the event, including psychological thriller “Lex Julia,” currently in development, and documentary “Power of the People” by Mervi Enqvist,...
- 9/15/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Films include Emerald Fennell’s ‘Promising Young Woman’ and Blerta Basholli’s ‘Hive’.
More films than ever before are eligible for this year’s European Film Awards’ feature film and documentary film selection, with 40 feature films and 15 documentary films, and further feature film titles to be revealed in September.
Titles in the feature film selection include Blerta Basholli’s Sundance hit Hive and Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman. The latter is eligible despite being listed as a film of US origin. The European Film Academy (Efa) told Screen this was because the film reaches the number of points in...
More films than ever before are eligible for this year’s European Film Awards’ feature film and documentary film selection, with 40 feature films and 15 documentary films, and further feature film titles to be revealed in September.
Titles in the feature film selection include Blerta Basholli’s Sundance hit Hive and Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman. The latter is eligible despite being listed as a film of US origin. The European Film Academy (Efa) told Screen this was because the film reaches the number of points in...
- 8/24/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
First of all, props to the BBFC for giving Tove a 12A certificate. This Finnish biopic has more nudity and sexuality in it than just about any 12A film I’ve seen, and so what? Who cares if there’s a nipple here or a merkin there? Certainly not our nation’s ‘classifiers’, so that’s great.
Don’t be misled, though. The life of Tove Jansson – the creator of the famed Moomins– has not been turned into some erotic drama. However, in telling her life from 1944 to the mid-1950s, director Zaida Bergroth does place an emphasis on Jansson’s open relationships with men and women, which are portrayed with an intimate, sexual energy.
Her first relationship is with Atos Wirtanen (Shanti Roney), a married politician and intellectual. They cut different figures on face value, but their bohemian liberalism is shared, although there are traces of jealousy when Jansson...
Don’t be misled, though. The life of Tove Jansson – the creator of the famed Moomins– has not been turned into some erotic drama. However, in telling her life from 1944 to the mid-1950s, director Zaida Bergroth does place an emphasis on Jansson’s open relationships with men and women, which are portrayed with an intimate, sexual energy.
Her first relationship is with Atos Wirtanen (Shanti Roney), a married politician and intellectual. They cut different figures on face value, but their bohemian liberalism is shared, although there are traces of jealousy when Jansson...
- 7/12/2021
- by Jack Hawkins
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Disney to give Marvel superhero film the widest release since UK cinemas reopened in May.
After a delay of more than a year, Disney has finally released Marvel superhero adventure Black Widow in the UK and Ireland, and will deliver the territory’s widest theatrical release since cinemas began reopening in May.
The comic book adaptation, starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Cate Shortland, opened in 622 venues in the UK on Wednesday (July 7) – two days ahead of the US – and generated £1.2m of its first day of release. The takings were impacted by England’s win over Denmark in the...
After a delay of more than a year, Disney has finally released Marvel superhero adventure Black Widow in the UK and Ireland, and will deliver the territory’s widest theatrical release since cinemas began reopening in May.
The comic book adaptation, starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Cate Shortland, opened in 622 venues in the UK on Wednesday (July 7) – two days ahead of the US – and generated £1.2m of its first day of release. The takings were impacted by England’s win over Denmark in the...
- 7/9/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The story of Tove Jansson’s artistic struggles and daring bisexual affairs in 1940s Finland is energised by a shining central performance from Alma Pöysti
A quietly blazing and passionate performance by Alma Pöysti brings the bisexual Finnish artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson to life in this emotional but low-key drama directed by Zaida Bergroth. Covering a decade or so of Jansson’s life from the mid 1940s, it tells of her first madly-in-love relationship with a woman and the story of how her doodles on scraps of paper became a worldwide sensation. Where biopics often end up with a cardboard-tasting blandness, the focus on Jansson’s interior world gives this film moments that really come to life.
It begins with Jansson as a penniless artist in her 20s, with steady blue eyes and bluntly cropped short blond hair. Not for the first time she is swallowing the disappointment...
A quietly blazing and passionate performance by Alma Pöysti brings the bisexual Finnish artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson to life in this emotional but low-key drama directed by Zaida Bergroth. Covering a decade or so of Jansson’s life from the mid 1940s, it tells of her first madly-in-love relationship with a woman and the story of how her doodles on scraps of paper became a worldwide sensation. Where biopics often end up with a cardboard-tasting blandness, the focus on Jansson’s interior world gives this film moments that really come to life.
It begins with Jansson as a penniless artist in her 20s, with steady blue eyes and bluntly cropped short blond hair. Not for the first time she is swallowing the disappointment...
- 7/8/2021
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Tove director Zaida Bergroth: “We had a wonderful production designer [Catharina Nyqvist Ehrnrooth] who studied every little detail and she was able to build this wonderful place for us.” Photo: Sami Kuokkanen
Zaida Bergroth’s Tove (Finland’s 2021 Oscar submission), screenplay by Eeva Putro, stars Alma Pöysti (Xavier Picard and Hanna Hemilä’s Moomins On The Riviera) as Tove Jansson, the creator of Moomins and Krista Kosonen (in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 with Carla Juri and in Bergroth’s Miami) as theatre director Vivica Bandler with Shanti Roney, Joanna Haartti, Robert Enckell, Kajsa Ernst, Jakob Öhrman, Eeva Putro, Liisi Tandefelt, Wilhelm Enckell.
During our conversation Zaida brings up a scene in Tove that she calls Aki Kaurismaki’s Paris, I remark that Lars von Trier’s Melancholia may have been influenced by the Moomins, and Alma Pöysti is quoted as saying “we are Moomin-marinated children.” We also...
Zaida Bergroth’s Tove (Finland’s 2021 Oscar submission), screenplay by Eeva Putro, stars Alma Pöysti (Xavier Picard and Hanna Hemilä’s Moomins On The Riviera) as Tove Jansson, the creator of Moomins and Krista Kosonen (in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 with Carla Juri and in Bergroth’s Miami) as theatre director Vivica Bandler with Shanti Roney, Joanna Haartti, Robert Enckell, Kajsa Ernst, Jakob Öhrman, Eeva Putro, Liisi Tandefelt, Wilhelm Enckell.
During our conversation Zaida brings up a scene in Tove that she calls Aki Kaurismaki’s Paris, I remark that Lars von Trier’s Melancholia may have been influenced by the Moomins, and Alma Pöysti is quoted as saying “we are Moomin-marinated children.” We also...
- 6/10/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Art, love, jealousy and freedom are themes at the heart of Tove, the biopic of Swedish-Finnish Moomins creator Tove Jansson (Alma Pöysti). Her drawings of the hippo-like Moomintrolls became world famous, graduating from books and comic strips to theater, TV series, movies and even a theme park. But the Tove we meet in 1944 Helsinki is struggling to pay the rent with her paintings, little knowing that her fortune will be made by the cartoons her sculptor father mocks.
Written by Eeva Putro and directed by Zaida Bergroth, and releasing domestically via Juno Films on June 3 and in the UK on July 9 through Blue Finch Film, the story explores evolving definitions of art through this father-daughter tension. But its deeper focus is on Tove Jansson as a person, and the fascinating milieu in which she lives.
This is liberal, post-war Helsinki, where artists mingle with politicians at illegal parties, sipping cocktails and swapping partners.
Written by Eeva Putro and directed by Zaida Bergroth, and releasing domestically via Juno Films on June 3 and in the UK on July 9 through Blue Finch Film, the story explores evolving definitions of art through this father-daughter tension. But its deeper focus is on Tove Jansson as a person, and the fascinating milieu in which she lives.
This is liberal, post-war Helsinki, where artists mingle with politicians at illegal parties, sipping cocktails and swapping partners.
- 6/1/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
Finland’s official submission for the ‘Best International Feature’ category at the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021 is Tove, the fifth film from Zaida Bergroth, which premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. Together with actress Alma Poysti, who stars as one of Finland’s most notable writers and artists, Tove Jansson, they spoke with me on the making of the film. A warm and intimate portrait of Jansson post WWII as she began to channel the creative energies which she would become known for (including the impetus for her beloved Moomins cartoon strip), Bergroth and Poysti share their thoughts on and connections to Jansson as well as the process of bringing this subject to life.…...
- 6/1/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
"In my family we feel sorry for people who are not artists," says Tove Jansson (Alma Pöysti) at one point in this film. She's standing up for a new acquaintance, Vivica (Krista Kosonen), against the latter's disapproving upper class father. It's different for Vivica, though. She can afford to dabble, whilst Tove relies on her art to survive. Everything Tove does has to be for real.
Zaida Bergroth's biopic about the Finnish artist, who is best known as the creator of the Moomins, was named Best Feature Film at last year's OutShine and was Finland's 2021 Oscar submission. Though narratively simple, it's a dazzling piece of work which perfectly captures the essence of the artist and both the necessity and cost of authenticity. Pöysti, who voiced Niiskuneiti in the Finnish language version of big screen adventure Moomins On The Riviera, is extraordinary in the lead and must surely be a.
Zaida Bergroth's biopic about the Finnish artist, who is best known as the creator of the Moomins, was named Best Feature Film at last year's OutShine and was Finland's 2021 Oscar submission. Though narratively simple, it's a dazzling piece of work which perfectly captures the essence of the artist and both the necessity and cost of authenticity. Pöysti, who voiced Niiskuneiti in the Finnish language version of big screen adventure Moomins On The Riviera, is extraordinary in the lead and must surely be a.
- 5/31/2021
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Tove Juno Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Zaida Bergroth Writer: Eeva Putro Cast: Alma Pöysti, Krista Kosonen, Shanti Roney, Joanna Haartii, Robert Enckell Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 5/25/21 Opens: June 3, 2021 Few scenes are as bracing as a winter’s plunge into Lake Isojärvi following […]
The post Tove Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Tove Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 5/30/2021
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Lgbtiq+ film festival comprises 26 features and four world premieres.
BFI Flare: London Lgbtiq+ Film Festival has revealed the programme for its 35th edition, which will take place virtually from March 17-28.
The festival has selected 26 features, which include four world premieres, six international premieres and one European premiere.
Scroll down for full list of titles
Receiving their world premieres are Peeter Rebane’s Firebird, a love story set in the Soviet Air Force during the Cold War; Daniel Sánchez López’s German feature Boy Meets Boy, about two young men who fall for each other over the course of a...
BFI Flare: London Lgbtiq+ Film Festival has revealed the programme for its 35th edition, which will take place virtually from March 17-28.
The festival has selected 26 features, which include four world premieres, six international premieres and one European premiere.
Scroll down for full list of titles
Receiving their world premieres are Peeter Rebane’s Firebird, a love story set in the Soviet Air Force during the Cold War; Daniel Sánchez López’s German feature Boy Meets Boy, about two young men who fall for each other over the course of a...
- 2/23/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Swedish sports drama Tigers, the story of teenage soccer star Martin Bengtsson, was named the Dragon Award winner for Best Nordic Film at the 2021 Göteborg Film Festival, Scandinavia’s top film event. The festival was held virtually this year because of the pandemic.
The Tigers film was based on Bengtsson’s autobiography, wherein he wrote of his experiences with top Italian football squad Inter Milan. The screenplay was by Ronnie Sandahl, best known for Janus Metz’s 2017 tennis biopic, Borg vs McEnroe.
The Dragon Award comes with a $478,000 cash prize. Erik Enge, who plays Bengtsson in the film, was named Göteborg’s Best Actor honor.
“Many of the films of this year’s Nordic competition had characters wanting to be the best versions of themselves while struggling with the pressures of success,” said a statement from the Göteborg jury. “The winning film gives a rare glimpse into a world many wish to enter,...
The Tigers film was based on Bengtsson’s autobiography, wherein he wrote of his experiences with top Italian football squad Inter Milan. The screenplay was by Ronnie Sandahl, best known for Janus Metz’s 2017 tennis biopic, Borg vs McEnroe.
The Dragon Award comes with a $478,000 cash prize. Erik Enge, who plays Bengtsson in the film, was named Göteborg’s Best Actor honor.
“Many of the films of this year’s Nordic competition had characters wanting to be the best versions of themselves while struggling with the pressures of success,” said a statement from the Göteborg jury. “The winning film gives a rare glimpse into a world many wish to enter,...
- 2/7/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Swedish helmer-writer Ronnie Sandahl’s “Tigers” – a rare glimpse inside the world of professional soccer following a protagonist who struggles with the pressures of success – came away the biggest winner at Sweden’s 43rd Göteborg Film Festival, scoring the best Nordic film kudo, this year worth approximately $48,000.
The film’s lead actor, Erik Enge, also nabbed the fest’s award for best actor for his subtle, nuanced performance as a 17-year-old professional player hired by the Italian club Inter Milan.
The Golden Globe-nominated Danish film “Another Round,” from director Thomas Vinterberg, claimed the audience choice award for a film in the Nordic competition. Meanwhile, the critics’ jury opted for director-writer Ninja Thyberg’s feature debut, “Pleasure,” a bold and daring documentary-like descent into the subterranean world of the L.A. porn industry, with a tour de force performance from newcomer Sofia Kappel.
Swedish-born, Denmark-based Dp Linda Wassberg claimed the Sven...
The film’s lead actor, Erik Enge, also nabbed the fest’s award for best actor for his subtle, nuanced performance as a 17-year-old professional player hired by the Italian club Inter Milan.
The Golden Globe-nominated Danish film “Another Round,” from director Thomas Vinterberg, claimed the audience choice award for a film in the Nordic competition. Meanwhile, the critics’ jury opted for director-writer Ninja Thyberg’s feature debut, “Pleasure,” a bold and daring documentary-like descent into the subterranean world of the L.A. porn industry, with a tour de force performance from newcomer Sofia Kappel.
Swedish-born, Denmark-based Dp Linda Wassberg claimed the Sven...
- 2/7/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
In many parts of the world, you would never need to explain that Tove Jansson was the creator of the lovable hippo-like creatures named the Moomins. In Jansson’s native Finland and neighboring Sweden, she is as well-known as Walt Disney and her characters as beloved as Mickey Mouse. And her influence extends well beyond the borders of her home country, with the Moomins universe exists in nearly 50 languages and as many cultures.
Jansson lived from 1914 to 2001, her fascinating life spanning almost the entirely of the 20th century. But the new biopic “Tove” (her name is pronounced Tu-vey) focuses on a 10-year period, beginning as World War II was drawing to a close in 1945. The film, the fifth feature by Finish director Zaida Bergroth, depicts Jansson’s romantic relationships with men and women, and the unexpected personal and creative endeavors that led to her ultimate success as an artist.
Classically...
Jansson lived from 1914 to 2001, her fascinating life spanning almost the entirely of the 20th century. But the new biopic “Tove” (her name is pronounced Tu-vey) focuses on a 10-year period, beginning as World War II was drawing to a close in 1945. The film, the fifth feature by Finish director Zaida Bergroth, depicts Jansson’s romantic relationships with men and women, and the unexpected personal and creative endeavors that led to her ultimate success as an artist.
Classically...
- 1/22/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Biopic of Moomins creator Tove Jansson is Finland’s submission for the Oscar.
LevelK has closed a slew of new deals on Tove, the biopic of artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson, which Finland has submitted for the international feature Oscar.
The deals are led by Juno Films, which has acquired US rights, Films We Like for Canada, and Blue Finch Film Releasing for the UK and Ireland.
Further deals include to Switzerland (Dcm), Benelux (Remain in Light), Austria (Polyfilm Verleih), Israel (Dbs Satellite) and Thailand (Movies Matter).
Previously announced sales include to Russia/Cis (Russian World Vision), Baltics (Estin...
LevelK has closed a slew of new deals on Tove, the biopic of artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson, which Finland has submitted for the international feature Oscar.
The deals are led by Juno Films, which has acquired US rights, Films We Like for Canada, and Blue Finch Film Releasing for the UK and Ireland.
Further deals include to Switzerland (Dcm), Benelux (Remain in Light), Austria (Polyfilm Verleih), Israel (Dbs Satellite) and Thailand (Movies Matter).
Previously announced sales include to Russia/Cis (Russian World Vision), Baltics (Estin...
- 1/20/2021
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
The largest film festival in Scandinavia, predictably going online owing to the pandemic, will open with Zaida Bergroth's Tove. The 44th edition of the Göteborg Film Festival (29 January-8 February) will show 70 films from 39 countries. But while this year's focus is, unsurprisingly, on social distances, the event is set to push the idea even further by introducing “The Isolated Cinema” – an initiative that allows, among other things, one “solitary film enthusiast” to experience the festival's offering on the island of Pater Noster for a duration of seven days. The prospect of “no phone, no family, no friends” didn't discourage many applicants, though. “We talked a lot about how this pandemic has affected us and our film experiences, and we wanted to experiment with that,” says artistic director Jonas Holmberg. “Take that to the extreme by giving one person access to our 60 premieres and nothing else. This...
The festival’s 44th edition runs online (due to the pandemic) Jan 29-Feb 8.
The Goteborg Film Festival has unveiled its slimmed-down lineup of 70 films from 39 countries (compared to the usual size of about 400 films); the festival’s 44th edition runs online (due to the pandemic) Jan 29-Feb 8.
Goteborg will open with the Swedish premiere of Zaida Bergroth’s Tove, a biopic of Finnish artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson; and will close with the European premiere of Frida Kempff’s Knocking, an unnerving psychological drama about a woman hearing strange noises in her new house. Knocking premieres at Sundance and is sold by Bankside.
The Goteborg Film Festival has unveiled its slimmed-down lineup of 70 films from 39 countries (compared to the usual size of about 400 films); the festival’s 44th edition runs online (due to the pandemic) Jan 29-Feb 8.
Goteborg will open with the Swedish premiere of Zaida Bergroth’s Tove, a biopic of Finnish artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson; and will close with the European premiere of Frida Kempff’s Knocking, an unnerving psychological drama about a woman hearing strange noises in her new house. Knocking premieres at Sundance and is sold by Bankside.
- 1/12/2021
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Rolling off a strong year for Scandinavian filmmaking, the virtual 44rd edition of the Goteborg Film Festival will kick off with Zaida Bergroth’s “Tove,” which will compete alongside Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round” and Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure,” among other Nordic pics.
Telling the story of one of Finland’s most beloved and inspiring artists, “Tove” broke box office records in Finland last year in spite of the pandemic, and now ranks as the highest grossing Finnish film in the last 40 years.
“Tove,” which is also Finland’s Oscar candidate, will be one of the seven films vying for the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film. The lineup comprises “Another Round,” one of the most prominent titles in Cannes 2020’s official selection, and “Pleasure,” which is set to world premiere at Sundance, as well as Ronnie Sandahl’s “Tigers,” Lisa Jespersen’s “Persona Non Grata,” Itonje Søimer Guttormsen’s “Gritt...
Telling the story of one of Finland’s most beloved and inspiring artists, “Tove” broke box office records in Finland last year in spite of the pandemic, and now ranks as the highest grossing Finnish film in the last 40 years.
“Tove,” which is also Finland’s Oscar candidate, will be one of the seven films vying for the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film. The lineup comprises “Another Round,” one of the most prominent titles in Cannes 2020’s official selection, and “Pleasure,” which is set to world premiere at Sundance, as well as Ronnie Sandahl’s “Tigers,” Lisa Jespersen’s “Persona Non Grata,” Itonje Søimer Guttormsen’s “Gritt...
- 1/12/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Finnish author Tove Jansson is most known for creating the enduringly popular children’s characters the Moomins, which have spanned comics, books and TV series since she first came up with them in the 1940s. She is now the subject of a biopic, Tove, which is Finland’s submission for the International Feature Oscar this year.
“Tove Jansson is the national treasure of Finland, an icon,” says director Zaida Bergroth during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders International. “I was really pleased [to make the film] but I was a bit worried because I needed to find my own way to the character, to feel that I was the right director to tell her story.”
For actress Alma Pöysti, it was an equal level of responsibility to depict Jansson in a film about her life. “It was such an honor, but the ground disappeared underneath my feet when I got the part,...
“Tove Jansson is the national treasure of Finland, an icon,” says director Zaida Bergroth during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders International. “I was really pleased [to make the film] but I was a bit worried because I needed to find my own way to the character, to feel that I was the right director to tell her story.”
For actress Alma Pöysti, it was an equal level of responsibility to depict Jansson in a film about her life. “It was such an honor, but the ground disappeared underneath my feet when I got the part,...
- 1/9/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadline kicks off the New Year and movie awards season with our first edition of Contenders International, which gets underway this morning at 8 a.m. Pt. The event showcases 22 titles from 15 studios, streamers and distributors with presentations including clips and filmmaker/talent Q&As. In all, 19 of the films are official submissions to the Best International Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Due to the pandemic Contenders International will be presented virtually, so click here to register and join the livestream. You can additionally follow along for the day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram via @Deadline and #DeadlineContenders. See the full schedule of panels below.
While international markets have been a profit center for the studios for many years, local films have begun to take on greater importance outside festivals and indeed their home countries. That was particularly the case in 2019 with South Korea’s Parasite, which went on...
Due to the pandemic Contenders International will be presented virtually, so click here to register and join the livestream. You can additionally follow along for the day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram via @Deadline and #DeadlineContenders. See the full schedule of panels below.
While international markets have been a profit center for the studios for many years, local films have begun to take on greater importance outside festivals and indeed their home countries. That was particularly the case in 2019 with South Korea’s Parasite, which went on...
- 1/9/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
One cinephile to watch festival premieres in total isolation.
Goteborg Film Festival is to offer one cinephile the chance to watch its line-up of features completely isolated on a remote Swedish island.
Scandinavia’s largest film festival has moved entirely online for its 44th edition, which runs January 29 to February 8.
But one film enthusiast will get the chance to spend a week watching premieres from its programme in a specially created “Isolated Cinema” on the barren Pater Noster island in the North Sea. The viewer will watch festival films, which comprises 60 titles, and record a video diary about the experience.
Goteborg Film Festival is to offer one cinephile the chance to watch its line-up of features completely isolated on a remote Swedish island.
Scandinavia’s largest film festival has moved entirely online for its 44th edition, which runs January 29 to February 8.
But one film enthusiast will get the chance to spend a week watching premieres from its programme in a specially created “Isolated Cinema” on the barren Pater Noster island in the North Sea. The viewer will watch festival films, which comprises 60 titles, and record a video diary about the experience.
- 1/5/2021
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
An interview with the director Zaida Bergroth about Tove, a captivating drama about the creative energy of an iconic talent and her…
Continue reading on SydneysBuzz The Blog »...
Continue reading on SydneysBuzz The Blog »...
- 1/4/2021
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
In today’s Global Bulletin, WarnerMedia appoints Vanessa Brookman as head of kids for Emea, Discovery commissions two new unscripted series while Channel 5 gets a pair of dramas and the Göteborg Film Festival selects “Tove” as its opening film.
Appointment
WarnerMedia has announced that Vanessa Brookman will be promoted to the newly created position of head of kids for Emea, effective immediately.
The move brings, for the first time, all WarnerMedia’s operational, editorial and creative responsibilities for kids’ content and channel brands in the region under a single remit. The consolidated portfolio includes Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Boing and Cartoonito as well as digital properties on third-party and WarnerMedia streaming platforms.
Brookman will collaborate closely with Johannes Larcher and Christina Sulebakk at HBO Max to improve the platform’s offerings for kids before it launches across Emea markets.
A near-six-year vet at WarnerMedia, Brookman has worked in senior content,...
Appointment
WarnerMedia has announced that Vanessa Brookman will be promoted to the newly created position of head of kids for Emea, effective immediately.
The move brings, for the first time, all WarnerMedia’s operational, editorial and creative responsibilities for kids’ content and channel brands in the region under a single remit. The consolidated portfolio includes Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Boing and Cartoonito as well as digital properties on third-party and WarnerMedia streaming platforms.
Brookman will collaborate closely with Johannes Larcher and Christina Sulebakk at HBO Max to improve the platform’s offerings for kids before it launches across Emea markets.
A near-six-year vet at WarnerMedia, Brookman has worked in senior content,...
- 12/11/2020
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Bookmark this page for all the latest international feature submissions.
Submissions for the best international feature film award at the 2021 Academy Awards have started to come in, and Screen is keeping a running list of each film below.
Scroll down for the full list
The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021. It was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Submitted films must have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. (Last year it was October-September.
Submissions for the best international feature film award at the 2021 Academy Awards have started to come in, and Screen is keeping a running list of each film below.
Scroll down for the full list
The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021. It was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Submitted films must have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. (Last year it was October-September.
- 11/18/2020
- by Ben Dalton¬Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The audience share of domestic films reached 71.6% in October, according to the Finnish Film Foundation. With no American blockbusters in sight, and even as cinemas operate at reduced capacity due to the pandemic, Finnish productions are faring relatively well at the local box-office. According to the Finnish Film Foundation, the audience share of domestic films has reached 71.6% in October, with children's film Ricky Rapper and the Fake Vincent – the eighth in a hugely popular series, directed by Maria Sid and produced by Solar Films – as well as Zaida Bergroth's take on beloved Moomin creator Tove Jansson, Tove, gathering more than 100,000 spectators by the end of October and counting. The good news doesn't end there: among the ten most watched films, a whopping six are Finnish productions. They include Lost Boys (Helsinki Filmi Oy and Tekele Productions), already...
- 11/10/2020
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
The Moomins, with their hippo-like silhouettes, are beloved cartoon characters familiar to readers around the globe. But less is known about their creator, the bisexual, Swedish-speaking, Finnish visual artist and author Tove Jansson and her surprisingly unconventional life. The engaging biopic “Tove,” from Finnish helmer Zaida Bergroth, goes a long way toward remedying that knowledge gap. Featuring a mesmerizing lead performance by Alma Pöysti, the sensuously textured film, shot on 16mm, concentrates on a formative decade in Tove’s life (from the mid-1940s to mid-’50s) and explores her artistic and personal passions, and the challenges they entail. With multiple hooks, sales and festival interest should be strong.
Born in 1914 and raised in an artistic, bohemian family in Helsinki, Tove is the eldest child of a prominent sculptor father (Robert Enckel) and a supportive graphic-artist mother (Kajsa Ernst). Although a student of painting, she, like her mother, also creates illustrations,...
Born in 1914 and raised in an artistic, bohemian family in Helsinki, Tove is the eldest child of a prominent sculptor father (Robert Enckel) and a supportive graphic-artist mother (Kajsa Ernst). Although a student of painting, she, like her mother, also creates illustrations,...
- 9/9/2020
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Industry registration closes on September 2.
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) organisers on Tuesday (September 1) announced a selection of 30 global acquisition titles outside the Official Selection.
TIFF Industry Selects titles hail from 29 countries and have been hand-picked by TIFF’s industry and festival programming teams and will screen to accredited users on the festival’s dedicated press and industry platform, TIFF Digital Cinema Pro. Industry registration closes on September 2.
2020 TIFF Industry Selects Titles:
A Good Man (France) Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
After Love (UK) Aleem Khan
And Tomorrow The Entire World (Germany/France) Julia Von Heinz
Apples (Greece) Christos Nikou
Baby Done (New...
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) organisers on Tuesday (September 1) announced a selection of 30 global acquisition titles outside the Official Selection.
TIFF Industry Selects titles hail from 29 countries and have been hand-picked by TIFF’s industry and festival programming teams and will screen to accredited users on the festival’s dedicated press and industry platform, TIFF Digital Cinema Pro. Industry registration closes on September 2.
2020 TIFF Industry Selects Titles:
A Good Man (France) Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
After Love (UK) Aleem Khan
And Tomorrow The Entire World (Germany/France) Julia Von Heinz
Apples (Greece) Christos Nikou
Baby Done (New...
- 9/1/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Alma Pösti plays the Finnish painter Tove Jansson.
Denmark-based sales company LevelK has landed its first deals on Tove, the biopic of Moomins creator Tove Jansson.
The film has sold to Japan (The Klockworx) and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Estin Film). The Moomins are extremely popular in Japan; the country has produced several series featuring the animated characters, and opened the MoominValley theme park in Sanno, Saitama last year.
Screen can also reveal the exclusive first trailer for the film, above.
Set from 1944 to 1956, the Swedish-language film shows how painter Tove Jansson finds worldwide success from an unexpected side project,...
Denmark-based sales company LevelK has landed its first deals on Tove, the biopic of Moomins creator Tove Jansson.
The film has sold to Japan (The Klockworx) and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Estin Film). The Moomins are extremely popular in Japan; the country has produced several series featuring the animated characters, and opened the MoominValley theme park in Sanno, Saitama last year.
Screen can also reveal the exclusive first trailer for the film, above.
Set from 1944 to 1956, the Swedish-language film shows how painter Tove Jansson finds worldwide success from an unexpected side project,...
- 6/23/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
The Danish firm will be selling a highly varied selection, ranging from genre films to biopic dramas and documentaries from various countries. Danish sales agent LevelK is ready for the upcoming Cannes Marché du Film, which this year is unspooling digitally from 22-26 June, and the company is bringing a total of six films from various countries to be screened at the virtual market. The Danish horror flick Breeder by Jens Dahl (3 Things) follows Mia, who, while researching a health-supplement company, discovers that biohacking experiments are being performed. When she digs further, she is trapped and tortured. Written by Sissel Dalsgaard Thomsen (The Return) and produced by Amalie Lyngbo Quist and Maria Møller Christoffersen (Koko-di Koko-da) for Beo Starling, the film is also featured in the Frontières Platform’s Buyers Showcase slate this year (see the news). Currently in post-production, the Finnish biopic Tove by Zaida Bergroth (Miami,...
Liang was previously sales and acquisitions manager.
Danish sales agency LevelK has promoted Debra Liang to head of sales, with immediate effect.
Liang joined the company three years ago as part of the Screen Australia: Gender Matters – Brilliant Careers initiative.
She moves up from sales and acquisitions manager to her new role.
Prior to working at LevelK, she worked as a freelancer in production across live-action, animation, shorts and music videos.
Liang’s focus will be on acquiring English-language titles; she will cover all key territories.
LevelK’s upcoming slate includes Tove, Zaida Bergroth’s biopic of Moomins creator Tove Jansson...
Danish sales agency LevelK has promoted Debra Liang to head of sales, with immediate effect.
Liang joined the company three years ago as part of the Screen Australia: Gender Matters – Brilliant Careers initiative.
She moves up from sales and acquisitions manager to her new role.
Prior to working at LevelK, she worked as a freelancer in production across live-action, animation, shorts and music videos.
Liang’s focus will be on acquiring English-language titles; she will cover all key territories.
LevelK’s upcoming slate includes Tove, Zaida Bergroth’s biopic of Moomins creator Tove Jansson...
- 4/27/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
20 new projects, including Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment Number 6 and Zaida Bergroth’s Tove, have received production support in March. Amid the current coronavirus scare, the Finnish Film Foundation has cemented its belief in a brighter future by granting production support to 20 projects – backing that amounts to almost €6.5 million. A total of €750,000 have gone to Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment Number 6, currently shooting in Russia under the watchful eye of Aamu Film Company, following the international success of his debut feature, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki. Furthermore, €850,000 went to Zaida Bergroth’s Tove, a biopic of Moomin creator Tove Jansson, produced by Helsinki-filmi and scheduled to premiere domestically in October. Tove wasn’t the only title marking the presence of Helsinki-filmi, with Marja Pyykkö’s Wedding of the Century getting €484,999. This was followed by the features Love on the Spot, to be directed by Reetta...
The film is set in the 1940s and 50s.
Alma Pöysti is set to play famed artist, author and Moomins creator Tove Jansson in Zaida Bergroth’s Swedish-language biopic Tove which has started shooting in Helsinki. The actress is Swedo-Finnish, like Jansson herself.
Produced by Helsinki-filmi, whose credits include Tom of Finland, Dogs Don’t Wear Pants, Tove is the first feature based on Jansson’s life. It will also be Pöysti’s first lead screen role. She has previously played Jansson on stage at Svenska Teatern in Helsinki.
“I needed to find somebody who would have the right kind of aura,...
Alma Pöysti is set to play famed artist, author and Moomins creator Tove Jansson in Zaida Bergroth’s Swedish-language biopic Tove which has started shooting in Helsinki. The actress is Swedo-Finnish, like Jansson herself.
Produced by Helsinki-filmi, whose credits include Tom of Finland, Dogs Don’t Wear Pants, Tove is the first feature based on Jansson’s life. It will also be Pöysti’s first lead screen role. She has previously played Jansson on stage at Svenska Teatern in Helsinki.
“I needed to find somebody who would have the right kind of aura,...
- 1/16/2020
- by 1100142¦Wendy Mitchell¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
A third works in progress category, a new masterclass strand and an increased focus on TV among additions.
The industry activities of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival have been steadily expanding in recent years with more sessions and an increase in international guests headed to the Estonian capital for the 2019 edition which starts today, November 25.
Remaining relatively small has proven one of Tallinn’s greatest advantages, according to Marge Liiske, managing director of Industry@Tallinn and Baltic Event.
“Even French producers say it’s easier for them to approach French sales agents here than it is in Cannes,” she says.
The industry activities of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival have been steadily expanding in recent years with more sessions and an increase in international guests headed to the Estonian capital for the 2019 edition which starts today, November 25.
Remaining relatively small has proven one of Tallinn’s greatest advantages, according to Marge Liiske, managing director of Industry@Tallinn and Baltic Event.
“Even French producers say it’s easier for them to approach French sales agents here than it is in Cannes,” she says.
- 11/25/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Maria Pirkkalainen now heads the Helsinki event, which attracted 400 industry attendees.
The Finnish Film Affair wraps today with its best project award going to Oasis Of Now, the debut feature of Finnish-Iranian director and screenwriter Hamy Ramezan. The story follows a family seeking asylum in Finland, and Shahab Hosseini will lead the cast.
Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka of Aamu Film Company will produce; the company’s credits include Cannes award-winner The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki. The best project prize comes with a cash award of €3000 ($3320) to support the film’s international marketing.
“The film has...
The Finnish Film Affair wraps today with its best project award going to Oasis Of Now, the debut feature of Finnish-Iranian director and screenwriter Hamy Ramezan. The story follows a family seeking asylum in Finland, and Shahab Hosseini will lead the cast.
Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka of Aamu Film Company will produce; the company’s credits include Cannes award-winner The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki. The best project prize comes with a cash award of €3000 ($3320) to support the film’s international marketing.
“The film has...
- 9/19/2019
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
At twelve years old, Maria Åkerblom heard the voice of an angel. It came in a dream and she spoke its words to those around her as though in a trance. She became a traveling sensation as soon as the pious caught on, going city to city to tell God-fearing Finnish people that salvation was real. Eventually she grew into an adult with a flock of believers in tow—each devout “child” selling his/her possessions to donate their earnings to the cause. The sect became more and more insulated until abuse ran rampant and crimes led back to their door. And through it all she held tightly to her truth with many never wavering in their fealty. Their purpose relied on Maria’s sanity, so to them she was.
While director Zaida Bergroth’s Maria’s Paradise is quick to admit the events created by screenwriters Jan Forsström and Anna Viitala aren’t “real,...
While director Zaida Bergroth’s Maria’s Paradise is quick to admit the events created by screenwriters Jan Forsström and Anna Viitala aren’t “real,...
- 9/6/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
The festival also adds more Gala and Special Presentations to its line-up, and announced its Masters and Wavelengths sections. The 44th Toronto International Film Festival (5-15 September) has announced the selection of its Contemporary World Cinema section, this year hailing from 48 countries. The section will open with Atiq Rahimi’s third feature Our Lady of the Nile and will also include the world premieres of The Barefoot Emperor by Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens (King of the Belgians), Maria’s Paradise by Zaida Bergroth (Miami), Nobadi by Karl Markovics (Superworld), and Resin by Daniel Joseph Borgman. Furthermore, two more titles were added to the Gala selection and 16 to Special Presentations, including the world premieres of Jason Lei Howden‘s Guns Akimbo and Gregor Jordan‘s Dirt Music, rounding up the programmes for a total of 20 and 55 films respectively. On the other hand, eleven films by acclaimed and established auteurs were.
LevelK has picked up Zaida Bergroth’s “Maria’s Paradise,” ahead of its screening at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films and at Toronto’s World Contemporary Cinema section.
Bergroth is an habitué of the Toronto International Film Festival and a favored Finnish director for programmer Steve Gravestock who has praised in the past her “sensitivity and intelligence,” displayed in her previous films “Last Cowboy Standing” and Toronto picks “The Good Son” and “Miami.”
Her latest feature “Maria’s Paradise” is set in the 1920s in Finland and is based on a true story. We follow charismatic cult leader Maria Åkerblom as she leads her group of devout followers to a remote house in Helsinki.
Among them is the adoring teenager and orphan Salome. Maria is sentenced to prison, accused of violent crimes, but manages to escape and re-joins her devotees. Meanwhile, Salome has befriended a street girl, Malin, and is...
Bergroth is an habitué of the Toronto International Film Festival and a favored Finnish director for programmer Steve Gravestock who has praised in the past her “sensitivity and intelligence,” displayed in her previous films “Last Cowboy Standing” and Toronto picks “The Good Son” and “Miami.”
Her latest feature “Maria’s Paradise” is set in the 1920s in Finland and is based on a true story. We follow charismatic cult leader Maria Åkerblom as she leads her group of devout followers to a remote house in Helsinki.
Among them is the adoring teenager and orphan Salome. Maria is sentenced to prison, accused of violent crimes, but manages to escape and re-joins her devotees. Meanwhile, Salome has befriended a street girl, Malin, and is...
- 8/13/2019
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
The 25th New Nordic Films, unspooling Aug. 20-23 parallel to the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, will kick off with the critically-lauded “A White, White Day” by Hlynur Pálmason. The Icelandic drama which world premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, is among 19 films set to screen, of which 13 are world market premieres such as Jesper W. Nielsen’s thriller “The Exception,” Venice Critics Week’s pick “Psychosia,”, Venice Days’ entry “Beware of Children”, Jens Jonsson’s “The Spy” and Jesper Ganslandt’s “438 Days”.
The hot Works in Progress session has 20 titles to be pitched to more than 300 attendees. Gauging this year’s crop, New Nordic Films’ managing director Gyda Velvin Myklebust underlines the large number of local films, genre-driven and reality-based stories, as well as the healthy gender balance -half the films are female directed. “There are many new female talents to watch out for,” says Myklebust, citing the...
The hot Works in Progress session has 20 titles to be pitched to more than 300 attendees. Gauging this year’s crop, New Nordic Films’ managing director Gyda Velvin Myklebust underlines the large number of local films, genre-driven and reality-based stories, as well as the healthy gender balance -half the films are female directed. “There are many new female talents to watch out for,” says Myklebust, citing the...
- 8/13/2019
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
The project is directed by 15 female writers and directors.
Tuffi Films short film anthology One-Off Incident won the Finnish Film Affair’s work in progress award, which goes to the project presented that is most likely to attract international attention.
One-Off Incident is an anthology of short films about how power is used against women in their private lives as well as in society. The project will also include an awareness campaign.
The project is directed by 15 female writers and directors and curated by Tuffi Films’ group of female producers; it was pitched by director Alli Haapasalo and Tuffi producer Elli Toivoniemi.
Tuffi Films short film anthology One-Off Incident won the Finnish Film Affair’s work in progress award, which goes to the project presented that is most likely to attract international attention.
One-Off Incident is an anthology of short films about how power is used against women in their private lives as well as in society. The project will also include an awareness campaign.
The project is directed by 15 female writers and directors and curated by Tuffi Films’ group of female producers; it was pitched by director Alli Haapasalo and Tuffi producer Elli Toivoniemi.
- 10/1/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
In Miami, a winding road trip of a slow-burning crime thriller, the exotic-dance gyrations of half-sisters Anna and Angela have a silly, sexy charm. It’s the offstage dance between them, and the shifting interplay of affection, admiration, distrust and resentment, that fuels this absorbing journey through genre territory.
With exceptional lead performances by Finnish star Krista Kosonen and Sonja Kuittinen, in her first film role, Zaida Bergroth’s third feature (after Last Cowboy Standing and The Good Son) is a compelling double character study. Though its central section could be tighter and its final stretch presents an overload of incident, the...
With exceptional lead performances by Finnish star Krista Kosonen and Sonja Kuittinen, in her first film role, Zaida Bergroth’s third feature (after Last Cowboy Standing and The Good Son) is a compelling double character study. Though its central section could be tighter and its final stretch presents an overload of incident, the...
- 9/4/2017
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
‘Miami’ Trailer: Sexy and Ambitious Tiff Drama Follows a Pair of Stripper Sisters on the Run — Watch
A heady mix of crime caper, neon dazzle, and American-ized dreams, all topped with a generous nod to movies like “Magic Mike” and “Showgirls,” Zaida Bergroth’s ambitious “Miami” appears to be taking the “stripper movie” into an entirely new direction. The filmmaker’s third feature — following festival favorites “The Good Son” and “The Last Cowboy Standing” — turns her keen eye for fraught familial relationships to something new: sisters.
Read More:‘Black Kite’ Clip: Refugee-Turned-Filmmaker Tarique Qayumi Brings Unique Historical Drama to Tiff — Watch
“Miami” follows the glamorous Angela (Krista Kosonen), who arrives in a tiny Finnish town armed with her exotic dancer pals and her dazzling personality, only to get mixed up with some bad dudes after the show is over (one gets the sense that Angela is always just one big scrape away from disaster). Angela hightails it out of town, armed with a brand-new sidekick: her shy...
Read More:‘Black Kite’ Clip: Refugee-Turned-Filmmaker Tarique Qayumi Brings Unique Historical Drama to Tiff — Watch
“Miami” follows the glamorous Angela (Krista Kosonen), who arrives in a tiny Finnish town armed with her exotic dancer pals and her dazzling personality, only to get mixed up with some bad dudes after the show is over (one gets the sense that Angela is always just one big scrape away from disaster). Angela hightails it out of town, armed with a brand-new sidekick: her shy...
- 8/17/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Projects participated in the Nordic festival’s works in progress event.
Ruben Ostlund got buyers and festival programmers hopping with excitement in Goteborg as he presented the first footage from his forthcoming fifth feature The Square during the festival’s work in progress pitches.
Ostlund screened about seven minutes from one scene of the new film, during which a controversial performance artist (played by Terry Notary) makes guests at a black-tie art gala very uncomfortable. “You know I love awkward situations,” the director said.
Goteborg’s audience of industry experts commented that they were impressed by the confidence of the unnerving scene, which showed Ostlund working on a bigger scale even than his last hit, Force Majeure.
At a festival session later for the public, Ostlund previewed a second clip from the film, in which a museum director (Claes Bang) delivers a self-centered video apology to a boy he had accused of being a thief.
Another high-profile...
Ruben Ostlund got buyers and festival programmers hopping with excitement in Goteborg as he presented the first footage from his forthcoming fifth feature The Square during the festival’s work in progress pitches.
Ostlund screened about seven minutes from one scene of the new film, during which a controversial performance artist (played by Terry Notary) makes guests at a black-tie art gala very uncomfortable. “You know I love awkward situations,” the director said.
Goteborg’s audience of industry experts commented that they were impressed by the confidence of the unnerving scene, which showed Ostlund working on a bigger scale even than his last hit, Force Majeure.
At a festival session later for the public, Ostlund previewed a second clip from the film, in which a museum director (Claes Bang) delivers a self-centered video apology to a boy he had accused of being a thief.
Another high-profile...
- 2/6/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
A total of 21 projects are set to be presented at the event, which last year showcased Cannes hit The Happiest Day In The Life of Olli Mäki.
The fifth edition of the Finnish Film Affair runs from September 20 -22. The programme will showcase 40 Finnish titles, screening 24 recent releases and presenting a further 21 films as works in progress, 11 of which are currently in production while 10 are in development.
Expectation is high as it was at the Finnish Film Affair works in progress presentations in 2015 that sales agents and buyers got their first look at Aamu Film Compnay´s The Happiest Day In The Life of Olli Mäki, directed by Juho Kuosmanen, which won the Un Certain Regard best film prize at this year´s Cannes Film Festival.
A jury will select a Best Pitch from the eleven Works in Progress projects. The following projects will be vying for the prize awarded by a jury comprising Sergei Rakhlin, chair...
The fifth edition of the Finnish Film Affair runs from September 20 -22. The programme will showcase 40 Finnish titles, screening 24 recent releases and presenting a further 21 films as works in progress, 11 of which are currently in production while 10 are in development.
Expectation is high as it was at the Finnish Film Affair works in progress presentations in 2015 that sales agents and buyers got their first look at Aamu Film Compnay´s The Happiest Day In The Life of Olli Mäki, directed by Juho Kuosmanen, which won the Un Certain Regard best film prize at this year´s Cannes Film Festival.
A jury will select a Best Pitch from the eleven Works in Progress projects. The following projects will be vying for the prize awarded by a jury comprising Sergei Rakhlin, chair...
- 9/19/2016
- ScreenDaily
Wendy Mitchell talks to four Finish producers headed to Edinburgh, which is hosting a territory focus on the Scandinavian territory this year.
As part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Finnish focus, four Finnish producers are headed to the festival for meetings and a panel discussion. The wider delegation also includes the filmmakers who have their current films screening in the focus.
Screen caught up with the producers about their new projects during a visit to Helsinki in May.
Helena Mielonen, Bufo Films and B-Plan Distribution
Mielonen runs the marketing department of Mark Lwoff and Misha Jaari’s production...
As part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Finnish focus, four Finnish producers are headed to the festival for meetings and a panel discussion. The wider delegation also includes the filmmakers who have their current films screening in the focus.
Screen caught up with the producers about their new projects during a visit to Helsinki in May.
Helena Mielonen, Bufo Films and B-Plan Distribution
Mielonen runs the marketing department of Mark Lwoff and Misha Jaari’s production...
- 6/16/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
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