Nordic Crime Commission
C More has commissioned a second, six-episode season of ITV Studios Finland’s glossy detective drama “Helsinki Crimes” (aka “Harjunpää”). The first season of Helsinki Crimes became one of C More’s most-watched crime series to date. After its launch on Netflix last year, in regions across Cee, Benelux, Austria and the Nordics, the series was one of the top ten most-watched series, and the third most-watched in Finland.
In the new season, Chief Constable Timo Harjunpää, portrayed by Olli Rahkonen, and his murder team investigate bloody clashes between street gangs, love scams and a wave of burglaries.
The series is adapted from Matti Yrjänä Joensuu’s series of novels and is written for the screen by Harri Virtanen (“Deadwind”) and directed by Matti Kinnunen (“Cargo”).
The first season of Helsinki Crimes also sold to Australia’s Sbs On Demand, AMC Networks International’s SundanceTV in Spain,...
C More has commissioned a second, six-episode season of ITV Studios Finland’s glossy detective drama “Helsinki Crimes” (aka “Harjunpää”). The first season of Helsinki Crimes became one of C More’s most-watched crime series to date. After its launch on Netflix last year, in regions across Cee, Benelux, Austria and the Nordics, the series was one of the top ten most-watched series, and the third most-watched in Finland.
In the new season, Chief Constable Timo Harjunpää, portrayed by Olli Rahkonen, and his murder team investigate bloody clashes between street gangs, love scams and a wave of burglaries.
The series is adapted from Matti Yrjänä Joensuu’s series of novels and is written for the screen by Harri Virtanen (“Deadwind”) and directed by Matti Kinnunen (“Cargo”).
The first season of Helsinki Crimes also sold to Australia’s Sbs On Demand, AMC Networks International’s SundanceTV in Spain,...
- 4/3/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
“When capital grows, do the middle and working classes inevitably have to grow poorer?” asks Salla Nurminen, a smart economics student delivering her PhD dissertation on the need to control money markets.
Two years later, having gotten a job with Finland’s Bank Inspectorate, which investigates financial skullduggery, she returns to her native town, Pello, in northern Finland, brought to its knees by a Finland’s 1991-93 banking crisis, she is spat upon in the street.
How did Finland get to this pretty pass? A Finnish “Margin Call” but spread out over six episodes and two years, the Fremantle-distributed “The Invincibles” asks why, providing a beginners guide to banking malpractice, such as “cornering” – when a bank seizes control of a company via a cohort of straw parties, offering control back to its original owner at a higher price.
Co-written with Mikko Reitala (“Blind Donna”), “The Invincibles” also exposes money market mechanisms which,...
Two years later, having gotten a job with Finland’s Bank Inspectorate, which investigates financial skullduggery, she returns to her native town, Pello, in northern Finland, brought to its knees by a Finland’s 1991-93 banking crisis, she is spat upon in the street.
How did Finland get to this pretty pass? A Finnish “Margin Call” but spread out over six episodes and two years, the Fremantle-distributed “The Invincibles” asks why, providing a beginners guide to banking malpractice, such as “cornering” – when a bank seizes control of a company via a cohort of straw parties, offering control back to its original owner at a higher price.
Co-written with Mikko Reitala (“Blind Donna”), “The Invincibles” also exposes money market mechanisms which,...
- 1/27/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
ITV Studios, Fremantle and Federation Studios, partnering with Apple Tree Productions, Elisa Viihde and TV 2 Norge, will go head to head with Nordic powerhouses Glassriver and Dr at next year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize which promises to underscore the large breadth of current Scandinavia scripted series.
Backed by the Göteborg Film Festival and Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the 7th edition of the Prize, awarded to series’ main writers, also looks set to shine a spotlight on high-profile and on-the-rise writing talent such as Icelandic thesp Anita Briem, who played Jean Seymour in “The Tudors,” and Finnish creator-director Matti Kinnunen, whose “Cargo” was reckoned one of the strongest contenders at the 2021 Prize.
Carrying a €20,000 cash endowment, the Prize will be presented on Feb. 1 to the winning series’ main writer at TV Drama Vision, the Göteborg Film Festival’s conference event and series market.
“Today there is a...
Backed by the Göteborg Film Festival and Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the 7th edition of the Prize, awarded to series’ main writers, also looks set to shine a spotlight on high-profile and on-the-rise writing talent such as Icelandic thesp Anita Briem, who played Jean Seymour in “The Tudors,” and Finnish creator-director Matti Kinnunen, whose “Cargo” was reckoned one of the strongest contenders at the 2021 Prize.
Carrying a €20,000 cash endowment, the Prize will be presented on Feb. 1 to the winning series’ main writer at TV Drama Vision, the Göteborg Film Festival’s conference event and series market.
“Today there is a...
- 12/16/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The fund is open to investing in English language projects.
Finland’s Aurora Studios is expanding its Finnish Impact Film Fund to also invest in international co-productions, at the same time the fund grows from €5.5m to €13.5m after a new round of financing.
Petri Kemppinen, CEO of Aurora Studios, explains: “We are primarily interested in Nordic and European producers and their projects, which offer opportunities for co-productions and the participation of Finnish talent. The fund is able to make investments in individual projects from €100,000 up to €1.2m.” The fund is open to investing in English language projects in the right circumstances,...
Finland’s Aurora Studios is expanding its Finnish Impact Film Fund to also invest in international co-productions, at the same time the fund grows from €5.5m to €13.5m after a new round of financing.
Petri Kemppinen, CEO of Aurora Studios, explains: “We are primarily interested in Nordic and European producers and their projects, which offer opportunities for co-productions and the participation of Finnish talent. The fund is able to make investments in individual projects from €100,000 up to €1.2m.” The fund is open to investing in English language projects in the right circumstances,...
- 11/3/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
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
Leading Finnish streamer Elisa Viihde Viaplay has ordered financial thriller “The Invincibles” from “Cargo” creator Matti Kinnunen. The series is produced by “Black Widows”’ Moskito TV. Director and head-writer Kinnunen will co-pen the show with Mikko Reitala (“Blind Donna”).
Currently in development, the eight-part TV show is set in the turbulent Finnish banking crisis of the early 1990s. The smart and idealistic 28-year-old Salla Nurminen gets a job at the Bank Inspectorate and vows to fight corrupt bankers. Her core assignment is to check on Skopbank, which has masterminded a “strike and cash in” speculation technique. Salla soon launches a cat-and-mouse game with Skop’s charismatic financial wiz Christopher Wegelius. When she discovers that Skopbank is hiding vast sums of money in the Cayman Islands tax haven, the battle gives way to a new, mutual enemy.
Kinnunen said “The Invincibles” will be a character-driven drama, inspired by real events. The...
Currently in development, the eight-part TV show is set in the turbulent Finnish banking crisis of the early 1990s. The smart and idealistic 28-year-old Salla Nurminen gets a job at the Bank Inspectorate and vows to fight corrupt bankers. Her core assignment is to check on Skopbank, which has masterminded a “strike and cash in” speculation technique. Salla soon launches a cat-and-mouse game with Skop’s charismatic financial wiz Christopher Wegelius. When she discovers that Skopbank is hiding vast sums of money in the Cayman Islands tax haven, the battle gives way to a new, mutual enemy.
Kinnunen said “The Invincibles” will be a character-driven drama, inspired by real events. The...
- 1/29/2021
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
“Cargo” begins with a lovely sequence shot of a woman, Kiki, in Eritrea, turning off the lights at her family home, tucking up her little daughter, Liah, getting into bed with husband Aman, Liah clambering in after her, and falling asleep breathing in her family, smiling slightly, happy.
It’s the last time that Kiki may have any piece of mind in Finnish director Matti Kinnunen’s “Cargo,” the first high-end series from Fremantle Finland, made for enterprising Finnish public broadcaster Yle , which competes for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best screenplay of a Nordic drama series, to be announced Feb. 3 at the Göteborg Festival’s TV Drama Vision.
Aman’s sister appears, having deserted from the army, soldiers hot on her heels. Soon Kiki, Aman and Liah are fleeing, desperate to leave Eritrea, dodging guards on the Sudan border.
Cut to Kiki’s father, at Helsinki’s...
It’s the last time that Kiki may have any piece of mind in Finnish director Matti Kinnunen’s “Cargo,” the first high-end series from Fremantle Finland, made for enterprising Finnish public broadcaster Yle , which competes for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best screenplay of a Nordic drama series, to be announced Feb. 3 at the Göteborg Festival’s TV Drama Vision.
Aman’s sister appears, having deserted from the army, soldiers hot on her heels. Soon Kiki, Aman and Liah are fleeing, desperate to leave Eritrea, dodging guards on the Sudan border.
Cut to Kiki’s father, at Helsinki’s...
- 1/27/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Titles backed or produced by HBO Europe (“Welcome to Utmark”), NBCU (“Sisterhood”), Fremantle (“Cargo”) and ITV Studios (“Thin Blue Line”) have been nominated for the 5th Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, the most prestigious Nordic award for drama series screenwriting.
In a powerful smackdown, a fifth series, “Cry Wolf,” is produced by Dr Drama, the Danish producer of Nordic Noir icons “The Killing” and “The Bridge” as well as “Borgen.”
Adding another edge to competition, the five contenders are produced by companies based in the five main Nordic countries and backed by three of its biggest public broadcasters, Sweden’s Svt, Denmark’s Dr and Finland’s Yle, as well as pan-Nordic pay TV giant Viaplay, part of the Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent).
The winner of the award, which goes to the main writer, will be announced on Feb. 3 at Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival during its TV Drama Vision,...
In a powerful smackdown, a fifth series, “Cry Wolf,” is produced by Dr Drama, the Danish producer of Nordic Noir icons “The Killing” and “The Bridge” as well as “Borgen.”
Adding another edge to competition, the five contenders are produced by companies based in the five main Nordic countries and backed by three of its biggest public broadcasters, Sweden’s Svt, Denmark’s Dr and Finland’s Yle, as well as pan-Nordic pay TV giant Viaplay, part of the Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent).
The winner of the award, which goes to the main writer, will be announced on Feb. 3 at Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival during its TV Drama Vision,...
- 12/18/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
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
With all the Hollywood glamour and star-studded red carpets that awards season entail, sometimes the craft and talent behind the films get overlooked. Last week, the Asc handed out their annual awards celebrating the most impressive achievements in cinematography, and we were happily surprise to see Peter Flinckenberg win the Asc Spotlight Award for "Concrete Night." Showcasing flawless, expressive, black-and-white cinematography, recognizing this intimate film was definitely a wise decision.
Read More: Interview with Dir. Pirjo Honkasalo on the Visually Stunning "Concrete Night"
The film was directed by Pirjo Honkasalo and it was chosen as Finland's Oscar entry in the Best Foreign Language Film race. This is the first time that a Finnish DoP was nominated, let along won a major tech award from an American association. The American Society of Cinematographers created this award last year to recognize new or forward thinking talent. The other nominees were Darius Khondji, Asc, Afc, for "The Immigrant" and Daniel Lavin, Bsc, for "Under the Skin."
“These nominees have created some of the more inspiring and imaginative visuals our members have seen recently,” said Asc Awards Chairman Lowell Peterson. “We’re proud to recognize their innovative work, and we hope at the same time to raise the profile of these films, so more audiences have a chance to see them.”
Read More: Tribeca Review - "Love and Engineering"
Flinckenberg is one of the most courageous and experienced cinematographers of the younger film generation in Finland. He has worked both in documentaries and features, and his latest works include the Oscar® nominated short "Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?"(by Selma Vilhunen, 2012), "Miss Blue Jeans" (by Matti Kinnunen, 2012), "Love and Engineering" (by Tonislav Hristov, 2014, Tribeca Film Festival) and "Pixadores" (by Amir Escandari, 2014, Idfa).
"Concrete Night" marks Finnish director Pirjo Honkasalo’s return to fiction, following years of internationally acclaimed documentaries. This boldly shot drama about the fateful misinterpretation of brotherly advise continues Honkasalo’s equally strong hand in fiction. The film clearly builds on her earlier features that premiered in Cannes, Venice and Locarno, which landed Honkasalo a spot in Tiff’s prestigious Master Series in 2013, which in previous years included Bernardo Bertolucci, Abbas Kiarostami and Michael Haneke
Based on a 1981 novel by leading author and Pirjo's life partner Pirkko Saisio, "Concrete Night" charts the last day and night of two young brothers as they roam around dreary high-rises and a hot, unforgiving Helsinki. Honkasalo envelops their dynamic in a dream-like noir tension, which leads Simo, the younger brother to emulate his brother Ilkka, who is due to start his prison sentence the next day. A boundless admiration for Ilkka, his only available role model, leads Simo to look for his identity in all the wrong places.
The film was produced by Bufo. Founded in 2007 by producers Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff and screenwriter Vesa Virtanen, Bufo has produced a number of fiction films of which many have received international recognition.
Despite all the acclaim and recognition, "Concrete Night" is still looking for a U.S. Distributor to bring this hypnotic coming-of-age tale to American screens. World sales for the film are handled by nm5579306 autoXavier Rashid[/link]'s Film Republic.
Read More: Interview with Dir. Pirjo Honkasalo on the Visually Stunning "Concrete Night"
The film was directed by Pirjo Honkasalo and it was chosen as Finland's Oscar entry in the Best Foreign Language Film race. This is the first time that a Finnish DoP was nominated, let along won a major tech award from an American association. The American Society of Cinematographers created this award last year to recognize new or forward thinking talent. The other nominees were Darius Khondji, Asc, Afc, for "The Immigrant" and Daniel Lavin, Bsc, for "Under the Skin."
“These nominees have created some of the more inspiring and imaginative visuals our members have seen recently,” said Asc Awards Chairman Lowell Peterson. “We’re proud to recognize their innovative work, and we hope at the same time to raise the profile of these films, so more audiences have a chance to see them.”
Read More: Tribeca Review - "Love and Engineering"
Flinckenberg is one of the most courageous and experienced cinematographers of the younger film generation in Finland. He has worked both in documentaries and features, and his latest works include the Oscar® nominated short "Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?"(by Selma Vilhunen, 2012), "Miss Blue Jeans" (by Matti Kinnunen, 2012), "Love and Engineering" (by Tonislav Hristov, 2014, Tribeca Film Festival) and "Pixadores" (by Amir Escandari, 2014, Idfa).
"Concrete Night" marks Finnish director Pirjo Honkasalo’s return to fiction, following years of internationally acclaimed documentaries. This boldly shot drama about the fateful misinterpretation of brotherly advise continues Honkasalo’s equally strong hand in fiction. The film clearly builds on her earlier features that premiered in Cannes, Venice and Locarno, which landed Honkasalo a spot in Tiff’s prestigious Master Series in 2013, which in previous years included Bernardo Bertolucci, Abbas Kiarostami and Michael Haneke
Based on a 1981 novel by leading author and Pirjo's life partner Pirkko Saisio, "Concrete Night" charts the last day and night of two young brothers as they roam around dreary high-rises and a hot, unforgiving Helsinki. Honkasalo envelops their dynamic in a dream-like noir tension, which leads Simo, the younger brother to emulate his brother Ilkka, who is due to start his prison sentence the next day. A boundless admiration for Ilkka, his only available role model, leads Simo to look for his identity in all the wrong places.
The film was produced by Bufo. Founded in 2007 by producers Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff and screenwriter Vesa Virtanen, Bufo has produced a number of fiction films of which many have received international recognition.
Despite all the acclaim and recognition, "Concrete Night" is still looking for a U.S. Distributor to bring this hypnotic coming-of-age tale to American screens. World sales for the film are handled by nm5579306 autoXavier Rashid[/link]'s Film Republic.
- 2/27/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
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