Topical in Finnish Film / October 2009

This is the October 2009 edition of the Topical in Finnish Film newsletter of The Finnish Film Foundation, published in the beginning of each month. The aim of this newsletter is to present a short summary of current national news, such as the next premieres and local audience figures, as well as to give you some advance information of internationally important events and dates coming up during the next few weeks.

Domestic audience loves Hellsinki, Forbidden Fruit and The House of Branching Love

The number one domestic hit of 2009 is still Hellsinki (Rööperi) by Aleksi Mäkelä with 255 954 admissions. Forbidden Fruit (Kielletty hedelmä) by Dome Karukoski has surpassed the line of 100 000 admissions and The House of Branching Love (Haarautuvan rakkauden talo) by Mika Kaurismäki most probably will.

Premiering in October: Twisted Roots, The Magnetic Man and Playground

Twisted Roots (Väärät juuret) is the debut feature of Saara Saarela, The Magnetic Man (Magneettimies) a documentary film by Arto Halonen and Playground (Pihalla) by Toni Laine a Finnish-German co-production, starring Sibel Kekilli.

Pirjo Honkasalo´s new documentary film in Leipzig

The long-awaited new documentary film by Pirjo Honkasalo, Ito - A Diary of an Urban Priest (Seitti - kilvoittelijan päiväkirja), premieres in the International Competition of Documentary Films at DOK Leipzig International Festival for Documentary and Animated Films in Germany.

Films by Zaida Bergroth, Klaus Härö and Aki Kaurismäki on Asian screens

Last Cowboy Standing (Skavabölen pojat), the debut feature of Zaida Bergroth and Letters to Father Jacob (Postia pappi Jaakobille), the Oscar contender by Klaus Härö are part of the official programme of Pusan International Film Festival, South Korea. A retrospective of Aki Kaurismäki´s films takes over Tokyo.

Forbidden Fruit and Thomas multiple winners in September

During September, Finnish films won seven international awards, out of which as many as three went to Forbidden Fruit (Kielletty hedelmä) by Dome Karukoski and two to Thomas by Miika Soini. The other awards were given to The Home of Dark Butterflies (Tummien perhosten koti), also directed by Dome Karukoski, and Between Dreams by Iris Olsson.