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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Juho Kuosmanen
scheda film], 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Juho Kuosmanen
scheda film]. Furthermore, €850,000 went to Zaida Bergroth’s Tove [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Zaida Bergroth
scheda film], a biopic of Moomin creator Tove Jansson, produced by Helsinki-filmi and scheduled to premiere domestically in October.

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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 Aalto and produced by Zodiak Finland (€650,000), a sequel to children’s favourite take on a gigantic guinea pig, Super Furball 2 (€714,200, Yellow Film & TV), and Girl Picture [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alli Haapasalo
scheda film] (working title: Friday) by Alli Haapasalo (€712,000), staged under the banner of Citizen Jane Productions.

“It’s a film about three teenage girls on three consecutive Fridays and the transition phase in one’s life from a child to an adult. I guess I would define it as a story about feelings – and facing one’s feelings,” the director told Cineuropa. “Two of the girls fall in love for the first time, with each other, and the third is trying to feel some emotion when being intimate with a guy. These girls are all very fierce, strong, fragile and sensitive. They are real. This is a strongly feminist film for me, as it allows them to be exactly who they are. Which is a surprisingly difficult task, as I have learnt.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum, testosterone injections will be administered by the third part of the hugely popular The Reunion [+leggi anche:
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The only series in the line-up, Akseli Tuomivaara’s Next of Kin – The Unborn (Bufo), received €110,000, while four minority co-productions were also backed – starting with another Bufo effort, Boy From Heaven [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tarik Saleh
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intervista: Tarik Saleh
scheda film] (€150,000), co-produced with France’s Memento Film and Morocco’s Kasbah Film. Two documentaries revolving around the world of sports were chosen as well: Line Hatland’s Kids Cup (€22,000), co-produced by Kinocompany and Norway’s Medieoperatørene AS, and Pystymetsä and Sagafilm’s (Iceland) Raise the Bar (€32,000) by Guðjón Ragnarsson, about a girls’ basketball team in Iceland.

Joining this pair, Elli Rintala’s Fragments of Humanity went away with €92,000 (Kinocompany), while Arthur Franck will follow up The Hypnotist [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] with The Spoils of Tamminiemi, again produced by Oskar Forstén for franckforstén (€132,000). Finally, The Light Snatcher by Charlotte Airas, produced by Kaarle Aho of Making Movies (€35,000), and Sorrow Tamers, directed and produced by Mina Laamo for Koko Production (€75,000), round off the slate, alongside Tuija Halttunen’s documentary How to Kill a Cloud [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tuija Halttunen
scheda film] (working title: Clouds), awarded a sum of €94,000 in support.

“How to Kill a Cloud is the most important film I have ever had the possibility to be a part of,” producer Niina Virtanen, of Wacky Tie Films, shared with Cineuropa. “It raises questions on weather modification and ruling the atmosphere in a way I have never seen before in a documentary. Before this, I didn’t even know this sort of science existed. I can’t wait to share all of this with the audience!”