Sometimes films highlight little-known events in their country of origin that wind up catalyzing a re-evaluation of their nation’s history. Finnish director Klaus Härö’s “Never Alone” is shaping up to be that sort of film. It follows the deportation from Finland of eight Austrian-Jewish refugees by the Gestapo during World War II and the work of Abraham Stiller, a pillar of the Helsinki Jewish community, who tried to stop it from happening.
Despite Finland’s uneasy alliance with Nazi Germany during the early years of the war, Jewish citizens of Finland had their government’s protection in spite of some Finnish officials who would have preferred to comply with the Gestapo’s requests to expel them all.
It’s the first cinematic treatment of this subject, which producer Ilkka Matila says was too painful a story for the Finnish state and the entire society to speak about publicly.
Despite Finland’s uneasy alliance with Nazi Germany during the early years of the war, Jewish citizens of Finland had their government’s protection in spite of some Finnish officials who would have preferred to comply with the Gestapo’s requests to expel them all.
It’s the first cinematic treatment of this subject, which producer Ilkka Matila says was too painful a story for the Finnish state and the entire society to speak about publicly.
- 9/29/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Stop Making Sense, the remastered concert film that sowed delight at TIFF, opens on 300 Imax screens in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland. Locations Stateside number 260 ahead of a nationwide release next week.
The 1984 Talking Heads extravaganza from Jonathan Demme is presented in its new iteration by A24 — meaning the decades-old movie can now extend its reach to a new, younger audience that is A24’s core fan base. Opening numbers are hard to gauge since there aren’t many comps but there are parties, discos, stars and sellouts with film looking at about $1.5 million, including Thursday previews.
A 40th anniversary large-format special premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month had people dancing in the aisles and broke Imax records. It was the company’s highest grossing live event, earning $640.8k and selling out 25 screens across 165 Imax locations in North America and the BFI Imax in London.
The 1984 Talking Heads extravaganza from Jonathan Demme is presented in its new iteration by A24 — meaning the decades-old movie can now extend its reach to a new, younger audience that is A24’s core fan base. Opening numbers are hard to gauge since there aren’t many comps but there are parties, discos, stars and sellouts with film looking at about $1.5 million, including Thursday previews.
A 40th anniversary large-format special premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month had people dancing in the aisles and broke Imax records. It was the company’s highest grossing live event, earning $640.8k and selling out 25 screens across 165 Imax locations in North America and the BFI Imax in London.
- 9/22/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Project previously won Screen’s Best Pitch Award at Tallinn’s Baltic Event co-production market in 2011.
The Playmaker Munich is to handle international sales for Finnish director Klaus Härö’s World War II drama Never Alone (Ei Koskaan Yksin), which won Screen’s Best Pitch Award when it was pitched at Tallinn’s Baltic Event co-production market in 2011.
Since then, Härö has been busy with other projects such as the 2015 Golden Globe nominated and Oscar-shortlisted The Fencer and his first foray into English-language films with the drama My Sailor, My Love.
He has now turned his attention back to Never Alone,...
The Playmaker Munich is to handle international sales for Finnish director Klaus Härö’s World War II drama Never Alone (Ei Koskaan Yksin), which won Screen’s Best Pitch Award when it was pitched at Tallinn’s Baltic Event co-production market in 2011.
Since then, Härö has been busy with other projects such as the 2015 Golden Globe nominated and Oscar-shortlisted The Fencer and his first foray into English-language films with the drama My Sailor, My Love.
He has now turned his attention back to Never Alone,...
- 11/28/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Buyer plans early 2023 theatrical release.
Germany’s Global Screen has reported a strong response in Toronto to Klaus Haro’s TIFF Contemporary World Cinema selection My Sailor, My Love and has struck a deal with Signature for UK & Ireland.
Härö’s English-language debut premiered last Friday (September 9) and stars James Cosmo and Bríd Brennan as a retired sea captain and the home help he falls for, much to the chagrin of his grown-up daughter who feels she has never truly known her father. Catherine Walker also stars.
Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Wikman wrote the screenplay. Haro’s 2015 Finnish drama The Fencer...
Germany’s Global Screen has reported a strong response in Toronto to Klaus Haro’s TIFF Contemporary World Cinema selection My Sailor, My Love and has struck a deal with Signature for UK & Ireland.
Härö’s English-language debut premiered last Friday (September 9) and stars James Cosmo and Bríd Brennan as a retired sea captain and the home help he falls for, much to the chagrin of his grown-up daughter who feels she has never truly known her father. Catherine Walker also stars.
Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Wikman wrote the screenplay. Haro’s 2015 Finnish drama The Fencer...
- 9/16/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Finnish director Klaus Härö makes his English-language debut with Toronto Film Festival premiere “My Sailor, My Love.” A gentle drama about a retired sea captain falling in love one last time will be spotlighted at the Helsinki-based event Finnish Film Affair next. Global Screen is handling the sales.
Härö, an experienced filmmaker behind Golden Globe-nominated “The Fencer,” didn’t feel “desperate” to make a movie in English, he says.
“I hope it doesn’t feel forced. With English, there is always this thought that maybe this way, it will reach more people. But it just felt natural to set it in Ireland.”
“I love the loneliness of this landscape, its proximity to the sea. Also, ‘The Fencer’ was shot in Estonia and my next film will be in Finnish, German, Hebrew and Yiddish.”
Produced by Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho for Making Movies, as well as David Collins for Ireland...
Härö, an experienced filmmaker behind Golden Globe-nominated “The Fencer,” didn’t feel “desperate” to make a movie in English, he says.
“I hope it doesn’t feel forced. With English, there is always this thought that maybe this way, it will reach more people. But it just felt natural to set it in Ireland.”
“I love the loneliness of this landscape, its proximity to the sea. Also, ‘The Fencer’ was shot in Estonia and my next film will be in Finnish, German, Hebrew and Yiddish.”
Produced by Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho for Making Movies, as well as David Collins for Ireland...
- 9/14/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Howard (James Cosmo) lives what appears to be a hermitic life of unwavering obstinance. He doesn’t even open the door when his daughter Grace (Catherine Walker) and her husband Martin (Aidan O’Hare) arrive—a seemingly inconsequential fact until you realize it’s his birthday and she’s there to ready for the celebration. It would be easy to dismiss his demeanor as immovable then. Why would he act like this with his loved ones if that wasn’t how he acts with everyone? Except attending the local bar afterwards to celebrate more inexplicably sees Howard suddenly sparkling to life. He regales the children with tales at sea, enjoys a slice of their cake (not Grace’s), and seems a decade younger. Where then is the disconnect? What are we missing?
While Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Vikman’s script keeps the particulars of Howard’s relationship with his family hidden for a short while,...
While Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Vikman’s script keeps the particulars of Howard’s relationship with his family hidden for a short while,...
- 9/9/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
James Cosmo, Catherine Walker, Brid Brennan star.
Germany sales agent Global Screen has acquired worldwide sales rights to Finnish filmmaker Klaus Haro’s English-language debut My Sailor, My Love.
The film shot last year in Ireland. It stars James Cosmo, Catherine Walker and Brid Brennan.
My Sailor, My Love tells the story of a retired sea captain who falls in love with his home aid; but his middle-aged daughter does not approve of the relationship.
The film is written by Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Wikman.
It is produced by Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho for Finland’s Making Movies ; and...
Germany sales agent Global Screen has acquired worldwide sales rights to Finnish filmmaker Klaus Haro’s English-language debut My Sailor, My Love.
The film shot last year in Ireland. It stars James Cosmo, Catherine Walker and Brid Brennan.
My Sailor, My Love tells the story of a retired sea captain who falls in love with his home aid; but his middle-aged daughter does not approve of the relationship.
The film is written by Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Wikman.
It is produced by Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho for Finland’s Making Movies ; and...
- 2/13/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The Disciple, Finland's Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S. : None Yet. Producer: Långfilm Productions Finland Oy
Human lives are in constant transition, always adapting to ever-changing, unpredictable circumstances. Part of that process often includes replacing things that are no longer useful or no longer exist. Separations, moving to a different city or a different school, and more definitively, death, force individuals to replace the people in their lives in order to fill a void or seeking a second change. That's what Ulrika Bengts' suspenseful drama The Disciple (Lärjungen) explores in an almost-deserted island that serves as a microcosm for her characters to fully expose their need to be in control.
Set in the late 1930s and shot with the simple beauty of a classic painting, from the first frames Bengts wastes no time in showing the quietly dangerous realm the island represents. Hardworking Karl (Erik Lönngren), a thirteen year old boy, has arrived as the only available person to assist the lighthouse keeper with the arduous labor. Displeased by Karl’s age and fragile appearance, Master Hasselbond (Niklas Groundstroem), the veteran lighthouse keeper and defacto ruler, wants to send him back, arguing that whatever he can do, his own teenage boy already does. His son and most faithful follower, Gustaf (Patrik Kumpulainen), is a noble kid who wants nothing else than to please his terribly strict father even if he ridicules him and constantly reminds him that he will never amount to much. Based on the fact that the foreign boy is willing to help him with his mathematic assignments, Gustaf develops a brotherly friendship with Karl, who is diligent and proves himself useful by working around the island. Soon Hasselbond notices Karl’s talents and plans to make him his protégé.
Unafraid to use violence to assert his power and retain control over his family, Hasselbond has banned his wife Dorrit (Amanda Ooms) from playing music and has forbidden the entire family, including his young daughter Emma (Ping Mon H. Wallén), from speaking about the death of their older brother Elof. The oppressor finds in Karl a vessel for his unfulfilled aspirations and strict moral parameters. He wants him to become what neither of his two sons could be in his eyes, which turns Gustaf’s amiable relationship with Karl into hatred. The screenplay by Roland Fauser and Jimmy Karlsson efficiently conveys the story of this man with a pathological obsession with power, and it does so without the need of a religious fanaticism subplot.
The two boys and the maniacal patriarch form a trio in which the roles of teacher and student are symbiotic. Gustaf realizes his father won’t recognize his achievements, while slowly, Karl settles into his role of the devoted son who is willing to follow Hasselbond’s orders blindly. Early in the film, the father struggles to teach Gustaf geometrical concepts related to squares and equilateral triangles, shapes that must have equal sides to be complete. He wants to raise the boys in his image, poisoning them with false righteousness and by that, replacing his late firstborn with Karl to complete his vision of a family, his personal perfect triangle. All three actors in the main roles superbly tackle the emotions of their characters, and play off of each other to make this unsettling family drama stunningly frightening.
Working with a seemingly simple premise, Bengts creates an alluring piece whose haunting musical score by Peter Hägerstrand truly becomes an invisible player in the story. Added to this, the misleading peaceful atmosphere of the isolated location conceals the menacing secrets hidden inside the lighthouse. Here, Bengts' characters form a cult-like community in which their evil leader is only preoccupied with living vicariously through another individual with the purpose of denying his responsibility in the family’s tragic past. Tense and strikingly beautiful The Disciple is a film about legacy, about parents' expectations of their children and the alienating lack of individuality those expectations can impose on them.
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
Human lives are in constant transition, always adapting to ever-changing, unpredictable circumstances. Part of that process often includes replacing things that are no longer useful or no longer exist. Separations, moving to a different city or a different school, and more definitively, death, force individuals to replace the people in their lives in order to fill a void or seeking a second change. That's what Ulrika Bengts' suspenseful drama The Disciple (Lärjungen) explores in an almost-deserted island that serves as a microcosm for her characters to fully expose their need to be in control.
Set in the late 1930s and shot with the simple beauty of a classic painting, from the first frames Bengts wastes no time in showing the quietly dangerous realm the island represents. Hardworking Karl (Erik Lönngren), a thirteen year old boy, has arrived as the only available person to assist the lighthouse keeper with the arduous labor. Displeased by Karl’s age and fragile appearance, Master Hasselbond (Niklas Groundstroem), the veteran lighthouse keeper and defacto ruler, wants to send him back, arguing that whatever he can do, his own teenage boy already does. His son and most faithful follower, Gustaf (Patrik Kumpulainen), is a noble kid who wants nothing else than to please his terribly strict father even if he ridicules him and constantly reminds him that he will never amount to much. Based on the fact that the foreign boy is willing to help him with his mathematic assignments, Gustaf develops a brotherly friendship with Karl, who is diligent and proves himself useful by working around the island. Soon Hasselbond notices Karl’s talents and plans to make him his protégé.
Unafraid to use violence to assert his power and retain control over his family, Hasselbond has banned his wife Dorrit (Amanda Ooms) from playing music and has forbidden the entire family, including his young daughter Emma (Ping Mon H. Wallén), from speaking about the death of their older brother Elof. The oppressor finds in Karl a vessel for his unfulfilled aspirations and strict moral parameters. He wants him to become what neither of his two sons could be in his eyes, which turns Gustaf’s amiable relationship with Karl into hatred. The screenplay by Roland Fauser and Jimmy Karlsson efficiently conveys the story of this man with a pathological obsession with power, and it does so without the need of a religious fanaticism subplot.
The two boys and the maniacal patriarch form a trio in which the roles of teacher and student are symbiotic. Gustaf realizes his father won’t recognize his achievements, while slowly, Karl settles into his role of the devoted son who is willing to follow Hasselbond’s orders blindly. Early in the film, the father struggles to teach Gustaf geometrical concepts related to squares and equilateral triangles, shapes that must have equal sides to be complete. He wants to raise the boys in his image, poisoning them with false righteousness and by that, replacing his late firstborn with Karl to complete his vision of a family, his personal perfect triangle. All three actors in the main roles superbly tackle the emotions of their characters, and play off of each other to make this unsettling family drama stunningly frightening.
Working with a seemingly simple premise, Bengts creates an alluring piece whose haunting musical score by Peter Hägerstrand truly becomes an invisible player in the story. Added to this, the misleading peaceful atmosphere of the isolated location conceals the menacing secrets hidden inside the lighthouse. Here, Bengts' characters form a cult-like community in which their evil leader is only preoccupied with living vicariously through another individual with the purpose of denying his responsibility in the family’s tragic past. Tense and strikingly beautiful The Disciple is a film about legacy, about parents' expectations of their children and the alienating lack of individuality those expectations can impose on them.
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
- 11/14/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
A sweet coming-of-age story with just enough of that trademark Swedish sexuality to make it attractive to art house audiences, "Swedish Beauty" plays like a combination of "Cinema Paradiso" and "Summer of '42". The tale of a 15-year-old boy's near simultaneous introductions to the world of sex and filmmaking, Daniel Fridell's film represents the triumph of the young film geek grown up to be a real movie director working with beautiful actresses. It recently received its world premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Best friends Anders and Borje live in a small village, where the chief activities revolve around the local movie house and, for Borje, finding new opportunities for masturbation. Their lives are altered with the arrival in town of the supremely sexy older teenage beauty Sofia, a dead ringer for Brigitte Bardot. The two boys immediately start scheming as to how they might get to see Sofia naked, and Anders hits upon the idea of making their own movie, featuring a nude swimming scene, of course, expressly for that purpose.
The plan soon seems to be working, with Anders embracing his status as a budding filmmaker and Sofia becoming increasingly entranced with her own image onscreen. But a Fonzie-style young tough, Billy, who has his own designs on the new arrival, foils it. Wangling his way into the film, his machinations make the neophyte director so jealous that he briefly loses control of his production. Eventually, Anders does wind up in bed with his starlet, but the sex is so impersonal and unromantic that he winds up having to be consoled by his mother.
The film well captures both the dynamics of teen sexuality -- Anders is so stressed by his own desires that he's continually running to the bathroom -- and the joy of wielding a camera for the first time and finding a new outlet for creative expression. While the plot dynamics sometimes have the formulaic feel of an "Afterschool Special", there are enough witty and insightful moments to make up for any of the screenplay's cliches. It helps, too, that the young performers are pitch perfect in their roles, and that Jenny Ulving, the actress playing the title role, more than lives up her character's status as the resident sex symbol.
SWEDISH BEAUTY
Scanbox International
Director: Daniel Fridell
Screenwriters: Gundar Andersson, Daniel Fridell, Jimmy Karlsson, Hakan Bjerking
Producer: Hakan Bjerking
Director of photography: Esa Vuorinen
Editor: Janus Billeskov-Jansen
Set designer: Eva Noren
Color/stereo
Cast:
Anders: Francisco Jacob
Borje: Victor Kallander
Sofia: Jenny Ulving
Angelika: Nadine Kirschon
Billy: Mats Helin
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Best friends Anders and Borje live in a small village, where the chief activities revolve around the local movie house and, for Borje, finding new opportunities for masturbation. Their lives are altered with the arrival in town of the supremely sexy older teenage beauty Sofia, a dead ringer for Brigitte Bardot. The two boys immediately start scheming as to how they might get to see Sofia naked, and Anders hits upon the idea of making their own movie, featuring a nude swimming scene, of course, expressly for that purpose.
The plan soon seems to be working, with Anders embracing his status as a budding filmmaker and Sofia becoming increasingly entranced with her own image onscreen. But a Fonzie-style young tough, Billy, who has his own designs on the new arrival, foils it. Wangling his way into the film, his machinations make the neophyte director so jealous that he briefly loses control of his production. Eventually, Anders does wind up in bed with his starlet, but the sex is so impersonal and unromantic that he winds up having to be consoled by his mother.
The film well captures both the dynamics of teen sexuality -- Anders is so stressed by his own desires that he's continually running to the bathroom -- and the joy of wielding a camera for the first time and finding a new outlet for creative expression. While the plot dynamics sometimes have the formulaic feel of an "Afterschool Special", there are enough witty and insightful moments to make up for any of the screenplay's cliches. It helps, too, that the young performers are pitch perfect in their roles, and that Jenny Ulving, the actress playing the title role, more than lives up her character's status as the resident sex symbol.
SWEDISH BEAUTY
Scanbox International
Director: Daniel Fridell
Screenwriters: Gundar Andersson, Daniel Fridell, Jimmy Karlsson, Hakan Bjerking
Producer: Hakan Bjerking
Director of photography: Esa Vuorinen
Editor: Janus Billeskov-Jansen
Set designer: Eva Noren
Color/stereo
Cast:
Anders: Francisco Jacob
Borje: Victor Kallander
Sofia: Jenny Ulving
Angelika: Nadine Kirschon
Billy: Mats Helin
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
A sweet coming-of-age story with just enough of that trademark Swedish sexuality to make it attractive to art house audiences, "Swedish Beauty" plays like a combination of "Cinema Paradiso" and "Summer of '42". The tale of a 15-year-old boy's near simultaneous introductions to the world of sex and filmmaking, Daniel Fridell's film represents the triumph of the young film geek grown up to be a real movie director working with beautiful actresses. It recently received its world premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Best friends Anders and Borje live in a small village, where the chief activities revolve around the local movie house and, for Borje, finding new opportunities for masturbation. Their lives are altered with the arrival in town of the supremely sexy older teenage beauty Sofia, a dead ringer for Brigitte Bardot. The two boys immediately start scheming as to how they might get to see Sofia naked, and Anders hits upon the idea of making their own movie, featuring a nude swimming scene, of course, expressly for that purpose.
The plan soon seems to be working, with Anders embracing his status as a budding filmmaker and Sofia becoming increasingly entranced with her own image onscreen. But a Fonzie-style young tough, Billy, who has his own designs on the new arrival, foils it. Wangling his way into the film, his machinations make the neophyte director so jealous that he briefly loses control of his production. Eventually, Anders does wind up in bed with his starlet, but the sex is so impersonal and unromantic that he winds up having to be consoled by his mother.
The film well captures both the dynamics of teen sexuality -- Anders is so stressed by his own desires that he's continually running to the bathroom -- and the joy of wielding a camera for the first time and finding a new outlet for creative expression. While the plot dynamics sometimes have the formulaic feel of an "Afterschool Special", there are enough witty and insightful moments to make up for any of the screenplay's cliches. It helps, too, that the young performers are pitch perfect in their roles, and that Jenny Ulving, the actress playing the title role, more than lives up her character's status as the resident sex symbol.
SWEDISH BEAUTY
Scanbox International
Director: Daniel Fridell
Screenwriters: Gundar Andersson, Daniel Fridell, Jimmy Karlsson, Hakan Bjerking
Producer: Hakan Bjerking
Director of photography: Esa Vuorinen
Editor: Janus Billeskov-Jansen
Set designer: Eva Noren
Color/stereo
Cast:
Anders: Francisco Jacob
Borje: Victor Kallander
Sofia: Jenny Ulving
Angelika: Nadine Kirschon
Billy: Mats Helin
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Best friends Anders and Borje live in a small village, where the chief activities revolve around the local movie house and, for Borje, finding new opportunities for masturbation. Their lives are altered with the arrival in town of the supremely sexy older teenage beauty Sofia, a dead ringer for Brigitte Bardot. The two boys immediately start scheming as to how they might get to see Sofia naked, and Anders hits upon the idea of making their own movie, featuring a nude swimming scene, of course, expressly for that purpose.
The plan soon seems to be working, with Anders embracing his status as a budding filmmaker and Sofia becoming increasingly entranced with her own image onscreen. But a Fonzie-style young tough, Billy, who has his own designs on the new arrival, foils it. Wangling his way into the film, his machinations make the neophyte director so jealous that he briefly loses control of his production. Eventually, Anders does wind up in bed with his starlet, but the sex is so impersonal and unromantic that he winds up having to be consoled by his mother.
The film well captures both the dynamics of teen sexuality -- Anders is so stressed by his own desires that he's continually running to the bathroom -- and the joy of wielding a camera for the first time and finding a new outlet for creative expression. While the plot dynamics sometimes have the formulaic feel of an "Afterschool Special", there are enough witty and insightful moments to make up for any of the screenplay's cliches. It helps, too, that the young performers are pitch perfect in their roles, and that Jenny Ulving, the actress playing the title role, more than lives up her character's status as the resident sex symbol.
SWEDISH BEAUTY
Scanbox International
Director: Daniel Fridell
Screenwriters: Gundar Andersson, Daniel Fridell, Jimmy Karlsson, Hakan Bjerking
Producer: Hakan Bjerking
Director of photography: Esa Vuorinen
Editor: Janus Billeskov-Jansen
Set designer: Eva Noren
Color/stereo
Cast:
Anders: Francisco Jacob
Borje: Victor Kallander
Sofia: Jenny Ulving
Angelika: Nadine Kirschon
Billy: Mats Helin
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 12/11/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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