09/05/2022 - Juho Kuosmanen’s Cannes Grand Prix winner has scored big at the “Finnish Oscars”, with The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic also noticed

Emilia Haukka, Juho Kuosmanen and Jussi Rantamäki with their Jussi Awards for Compartment No. 6 (© OneTake Productions)

There was no stopping Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile] at this year’s Jussi Awards in Helsinki at the weekend, with Juho Kuosmanen’s story about a Finnish student and a Russian miner stuck on a train together winning Best Film, Script, Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Make-up and Art Direction, as well as Best Leading Actress for Seidi Haarla. Back in Cannes, where it world-premiered, Cineuropa described Kuosmanen as “a very tender filmmaker, seemingly trying to stop himself from hugging these odd characters at any given moment and consistently delivering what some like to call ‘small stories with a big heart’.”

Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s The Gravedigger’s Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], while securing its fair share of nominations, ended up collecting the statuettes for Best Music and Best Costume Design, while Rahul Jain’s Invisible Demons, exploring the gloomy consequences of India’s growing economy in Delhi, was named Best Documentary. Acclaimed actor Heikki Nousiainen – and a previous Jussi winner for Letters to Father Jacob [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – got the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Finally, Teemu Nikki’s Venice revelation The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö
interview: Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö an…
film profile] was granted the Nordisk Film Award and €20,000 – with the jury praising the cinematography by Sari Aaltonen – as well as the Best Leading Actor gong for Petri Poikolainen, who delivered a touching speech. In September, Poikolainen, who suffers from MS, opened up about his experiences after the film’s premiere: “I contacted Teemu because I thought it would be fun to meet up again. I never dreamt a movie would come out of it,” he said. The two met in the army, only to work on the film 24 years later. You can read the rest of the interview here.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Best Film
Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile] - Juho Kuosmanen (Finland/Russia/Estonia/Germany)

Best Director
Juho Kuosmanen – Compartment No. 6

Best Actress
Seidi Haarla – Compartment No. 6

Best Actor
Petri Poikolainen – The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö
interview: Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö an…
film profile]

Best Supporting Actress
Marja Packalén – 70 Is Just a Number

Best Supporting Actor
Lasse Poser – Fucking with Nobody [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hannaleena Hauru
film profile]

Best Script
Andris Feldmanis, Livia Ulman, Juho Kuosmanen – Compartment No. 6

Best Cinematography
J-P Passi – Compartment No. 6

Best Music
Andre Matthias – The Gravedigger’s Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Finland/Germany/France/Somalia)

Best Sound Design
Sami Kiiski, Heikki Kossi – The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic

Best Editing
Jussi Rautaniemi – Compartment No. 6

Best Set Design
Kari Kankaanpää– Compartment No. 6

Best Costume Design
Anu Gould – The Gravedigger’s Wife

Best Make-up Design
Liina Pihel – Compartment No. 6

Nordisk Film Foundation Award
Teemu Nikki, Sari Aaltonen, Jani Pösö – The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic

Best Documentary
Invisible Demons – Rahul Jain (India/Finland/Germany/USA)

Best Short Film
Goodbye Tornio – Emilia Hernesniemi

Audience Award
Syke: Hätätila – Tony Laine

Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award
Heikki Nousiainen