FINLAND AT GIFF 2016
39th festival Jan 29 - Feb 8, 2016
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME DRAGON AWARD MAIN COMPETITION
THE MINE ALEKSI SALMENPERÄ HELSINKI-FILMI OY SALES: THE YELLOW AFFAIR
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS Wed 3 Feb | 17.30 | Draken Thu 4 Feb | 12.30 | Biopalatset 3 Fri 5 Feb | 22.00 | Haga 1 Sat Feb 6 | 12.30 | Angergerds Bio Blå
Jussi, a young and ambitious civil servant finds himself in charge of the environmental permit of a huge nickel and uranium mine in Northern Finland. The Talvivaara mine, led by a charismatic globe trotting visionary Pekka Perä is introducing an entirely new method of collecting minerals whilst creating jobs in one of Scandinavia’s poorest areas. Jussi slowly discovers that several people have led him astray and that the new method has serious downsides he did not foresee. The mine is causing environmental hazards that are being hushed. A new application for another permit is brought to his desk by the same mine along with an interesting job offer and the chance of a new beginning. Jussi must decide whether he will play along and, if so, with whom.
NORDIC FILM MARKET Fri Feb 5 | 9:00 | Biopalatset 1 Sun Feb 7 | 9:00 | Göta 1
DRAGON AWARD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
RETURN OF THE ATOM MIKA TAANILA, JUSSI EEROLA KINOTAR
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS Wed 03 Feb | 20:15 | Göta 1 Thu 04 Feb | 15:00 | Göta 1 Fri 05 Feb | 10:00 | Capitol
Finland was the first country in the west to give permission to build a new nuclear power plant after the Chernobyl disaster (1986). The OL3 plant in Eurajoki is being built by the French nuclear company Areva and was supposed to be ready in five years (2004–2009), being a calling card for the nuclear industry’s second coming globally. However, the project has faced serious problems in planning, construction and safety automation, and has been delayed over nine years now. Return of the Atom portrays the strange and stressful life in a small “nuclear town” during an era of nuclear renaissance. There’s hardly any anti-nuclear resistance in Eurajoki, which creates a tense, unspoken consensus amongst local inhabitants and leaves room for paranoid scenarios.
GIFF LILLA FILMFESTIVALEN
JILL AND JOY’S WINTER SAARA CANTELL ZODIAK FINLAND OY
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS Sat 23 Jan | 17:00 | Draken Sun 24 Jan | 13:00 | Frölunda Kulturhus
The film Jill and Joy’s Winter is an enchanting story where fantasy and reality meet in a magical way. Jill and Joy might be a little happier than most little girls, as they get to live in their own house specifically designed for the two. One December evening a small car, barely the size of a shoebox, pulls up in front of their house; and a teensy-weensy family gets out; the homeless McTiny’s. The family moves in with the girls but soon finds out that not all big people have good intentions towards them.
GIFF NORDIC LIGHT
THE FENCER KLAUS HÄRÖ MAKING MOVIES Fleeing from Stalin’s secret police, an ambitious young fencer finds himself teaching small town children in a godforsaken Estonian coastal village, only to realize that this is exactly what he wants to do in life. FESTIVAL SCREENINGS Wed 03 Feb | 17:30 | Folkteatern Thu 04 Feb | 12:30 | Draken Fri 05 Feb | 12:30 | Chalmers Mon 08 Feb | 16:15 | Draken
BABYBOX KATARIINA LILLQVIST CAMERA CAGLIOSTRO
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS (part of the Nordic short film favourites) Sat 30 Jan | 15:00 | Haga 1 Mon 01 Feb | 15:00 | Haga 2 Thu 04 Feb | 10:00 | Haga 1
In a remote east European town, the evening bells can´t hide the cry of a hungry baby. His father, a street-musician named Baro, is also having a bad day. The social curator is blaming him to be a miserable parent, and shivering the whole day in a square is not healthy option for the child anyway. But Baro refuses to obey the advice of the curator: he definitely won´t put his little one into the BabyBox across the street, no way how poor they are. But the old grandfather disagrees, and finally the whole family ends down into the mysterious labyrinths of BabyBox where everything is on sale.
THE RED COUPLE (TV) HEIDI KÖNGÄS SALES: YLE SALES The Red Couple tells the story of Finnish couple Hertta Kuusinen and Yrjö Leino — both are active communists who came to influence Finnish politics for good. A love story filled with passion, commitment and guile about two people who began at the grassroots but who became full-time top politicians.
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS Thu 04 Feb | 17:30 | Biopalatset 1 Sat 06 Feb | 15:00 | Angereds Bio Blå Stället Sun 07 Feb | 15:00 | Biopalatset 1
CO-PRODUCTIONS FILMS WITH FINNISH CO-PRODUCTION PARTNERS
DON JUAN JERZY SLADKOWSKI
WHITE PEOPLE LISA ASCHAN
NEW NORDIC FILMS MARKET SCREENINGS TALE OF A LAKE MARKO RÖHR, KIM SAARNILUOTO SALES: LEVEL K
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS Thu Feb 4 | 14:00 | Biopalatset 9 Fri Feb 5 | 9:00 | Biopalatset 5
Tale of a Lake is a film about the thousands of lakes that Finland is known for. It takes the viewers on an unprecedented adventure, ranging from crystal clear springs all the way to the basins of the big lakes. It opens a whole new world of underwater nature for the viewers and tells many of the old tales and beliefs that abound in the land of thousands of lakes. The film is told through tales that are based on the myths, legends and old beliefs found in Finnish folklore.
THE LOOK OF A KILLER LAURI NURKSE SALES: EYEWELL
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS Fri Feb 5 | 12:30 | Biopalatset 8 Sat Feb 6 | 13:00 | Biopalatset 10
A former soldier of the Red Army special troops, Viktor Kärppä, has settled in Finland and would like to be a respectable family man. One day Kärppä, who makes a living doing all kinds of projects, not all of them completely legal, notices that his marriage is almost on the rocks. Before Kärppä manages to solve things out with his wife Marja he finds out that his trails have led him to a great danger as he has unwillingly became a part of the plan to assassinate the new democratic president of the Russia.
NEW NORDIC FILMS WORK IN PROGRESS
DEVIL’S BRIDE SAARA CANTELL SALES: TRUST NORDISK
WORK IN PROGRESS SESSION 2 Fri Feb 5 | 15:30 | Biopalatset 6
The story of Anna (16) takes place on Åland Island in 1666, just as the most widespread and systematic witch hunts in Scandinavian history were beginning. To Anna’s misfortune, she falls intensely in love with her friend Rakel’s husband Elias, but his infatuation with her quickly fades. This is the beginning of her lonely battle, a desperate attempt to right her wrongdoing.
LITTLE WING SELMA VILHUNEN SALES: TBA
WORK IN PROGRESS SESSION 1 Fri Feb 5 | 13:30 | Biopalatset 6
Varpu ,12, rides ponies and goes to school. Her mother Siru works as a home care worker and tries desperately to pass her driver’s test. Siru doesn’t know how to treat her daughter as a child. One night Varpu, fed up with her mother complaining and her upper-class riding buddies teasing her, steals a car and drives across the country to find her father she’s never known.
THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MÄKI JUHO KUOSMANEN SALES: TBA
WORK IN PROGRESS SESSION 1 Fri Feb 5 | 13:30 | Biopalatset 6
Olli Mäki had the chance of a lifetime. He was the first Finn ever to fight for the world championship in featherweight boxing, but lost the match humiliatingly in the second round by knock out in front of a packed stadium. He calls it the best day of his life.
EVENTS FINLAND AT GIFF 2016 Join us for drinks! At Rooftop bar, 7th floor, Scandic Rubinen, Kungsportsavenyn 24, Gothenburg Fri Feb 5, 22-24 Your personal invitation is included in your New Nordic Films bag!
THE CREATIVE INPUT Scandic Rubinen// Wed Feb 3 17.30-18.30 Organized by the Nordic Creative Europe MEDIA Desks and sound designer/producer Roar Skau Olsen
THE FINNISH FILM FOUNDATION AT GIFF 2016 PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT 4.-5.2.
PETRI ROSSI HEAD OF PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT Mobile +358 50 448 3606
4.-6.2.
HANNU TUOMAINEN FILM COMMISSIONER FEATURE FILMS, INTERNATIONAL MINORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS Mobile +358 400 475 285
4.-7.2.
HARRI AHOKAS HEAD OF DOMESTIC DISTRIBUTION Mobile +358 500 879 349
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT 2.-6.2.
MARJO VALVE FILM COMMISSIONER FEATURE FILMS Mobile +358 50 436 3820
3.-7.2.
JAANA PUSKALA HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL Mobile +358 50 593 2068
3.-6.2.
KATI NUORA HEAD OF PROMOTION AND PROJECTS Mobile +358 50 568 9191
CREATIVE EUROPE 3.-6.2.
INKERI LUNDGREN INFORMATION OFFICER Mobile +358 50 467 0760
KANAVAKATU 12 FIN-00160 HELSINKI, FINLAND TEL. +358 9 6220 300 FAX +358 9 6220 3050 SES@SES.FI WWW.SES.FI
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