‘It’s the Cosiest Film I Have Ever Made’: Finnish Helmer Aleksi Salmenpera Embraces His Softer Side in ‘Bubble’

Annika Pham Mikko Pöllä and Roope Lehtinen, seasoned Finnish showrunners and co-founders of Fire Monkey (“White Wall,” “Bad Apples”), are bringing to market a handful of premium dramas in post and development.Headlining their production slate under REinvent’s sales banner is the thriller “Enemy of the People,” from “Man in Room 301” helmer Mikko Kuparinen, currently in post.Co-created by Lehtinen and Timo Varpio (“Easy Living”), the eight-part TV show boasts a stellar cast, including Kreeta

He’s not like a regular dad, he’s a cool dad! Matt Damon took his three daughters, Alexia, 22, Isabella, 15, and Stella, 10, out for a Harry Styles concert on Sunday, October 3 at Madison Square Garden, proving his bona fides as one of the best dads in town. The Bourne Identity star went casual for the occasion, wearing a short-sleeved black button down shirt over a white T-shirt, fitted, dark grey jeans, and a black baseball cap.

Annika Pham Paris-based APC (About Premium Content) has acquired world sales rights on the six-part Finnish thriller “A Good Family,” currently filming in Estonia before moving back to Finland.The high-end drama about love, marriage and parenthood is based on Finnish author and screenwriter Petri Karra’s 2019 novel “The Dark Light” (“Musta Valo”).

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentA trio of well-experienced Finnish producers, Eero Hietala, Lasse Koskinen and Ilkka Hynninen, have joined forces to launch Take Two Studios, a production company which will focus on premium drama, documentaries and podcasts. Hietala and Hynninen previously co-founded Aito Media in 2003 and produced more than 1,700 hours of programming during their 18-year run as co-CEO’s.

“Venom” is, by far, the worst comic book movie franchise out there — the black sheep, er blob, of Marvel and not even a part of the popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. Watching it, unless you’re already a demented diehard fan, is utter agony.Venom, for the blissfully uninitiated, is a symbiotic alien who’s latched onto the body of San Francisco newspaper columnist/schlub Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), and eats human brains to stay alive.

Marta Balaga Taking place at the Zurich Convention Center two days before its official theatrical release, the Swiss premiere of “No Time to Die” attracted a slew of local celebrities, Zurich Film Festival delegates and even Finnish racing driver Kimi Räikkönen, all of whom were eager to witness Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007.The event marked the film festival debut for a James Bond movie, and the gathered audience rose to the occasion with no-nonsense opinions about the 25th instalment in

Will Tizard ContributorLocal characters in Finnish TV and film are increasingly diverse in ethnicity, disabilities and gender roles, according to industry insiders who took on the issue in Helsinki on Friday at the Finnish Film Affair, but there is still a long way to go.“We know this is not just a Finnish challenge – this is a global challenge,” said Keely Cat-Wells, CEO and founder of C Talent and Zetta Studios, who has also advised organizations from UCLA to Virgin Media on disability

Will Tizard ContributorFinnish film productions, which tend to be small-scale, have some of the lowest carbon footprints in Europe, panelists agreed at the Finnish Film Affair industry event on Friday.

Marta Balaga The Finnish Film Foundation, which receives its funding through the Ministry of Education and Culture from lottery and pool funds allocated for promoting film art, is facing new budget cuts. Its CEO, Lasse Saarinen, speaks to Variety about his battle to minimize the damage.The cut of 440,000 euros ($515,000) introduced this year might be followed by an additional 1.94 million euros ($2.28 million), making up approximately 8.8% of the foundation’s subsidy and operating budget.

a new film adaptation of Super Mario Bros has been revealed, with fans reacting with confusion and derision online.The animated film, produced by Illumination, the studio behind Minions, was announced yesterday during a Nintendo Direct broadcast.

Will Tizard ContributorThe Finnish Film Affair industry event awarded the upcoming feature “Bubble” with top honors for its fiction in progress pitch on Thursday, capping a competition in which six projects presented a wide range of stories, settings and styles.Mainly Finnish productions pitched their films, some seeking international partners, with most hoping for sales, festival and distribution deals.“Bubble,” the story of a teenage girl whose life is turned upside down when her mother

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Glen Kamara has put pen to paper on a new contract that will keep him at Ibrox until the summer of 2025. The Finland international was a bargain signing from Dundee in January 2019, and has gone on to become one of Steven Gerrard 's key men.

Marta Balaga Pop singer Kikka, a.k.a. Kirsi Hannele Viilonen, who passed away in 2005 at just 41 years old, will finally get her due in the upcoming biopic being produced by Helsinki’s Komeetta.

Will Tizard ContributorThe spectacular rise of green-haired Finnish pop star Alma has inspired one of Finnish Film Affair’s most buzzy documentaries in progress, “Alma – Who Am I?” Finnish director and actor Pamela Tola spoke to Variety about her film.

Alicia Silverstone is going digital in her search for love. The actress has joined the dating app Bumble. "I always thought it sounded so fascinating. It sounded like it opened up a lot of possibility for people and created hope," the "Clueless" star told People magazine, acknowledging that she's working in collaboration with the app.

Will Tizard ContributorFinnish producers are hailing a new partnership aimed at combatting climate change on projects shooting in the country, says Anni Wessman, head of APFI, the film and TV producers’ association in Finland.The initiative, done in concert with the Albert international environmental nonprofit focused on the film and TV sector, will give producers a set of tools and metrics already embraced by 20 countries for measuring everything that factors into a production’s carbon

Marta Balaga Finnish series “Mister8,” produced by It’s Alive Films and sold internationally by Federation Entertainment, will celebrate its international premiere at Canneseries. The series festival will take place on Oct.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticWith all due respect to the streamers who kept us distracted during the pandemic, movies were meant to be seen on the big screen, in the company of others and, ideally, debated and dissected with fellow cinephiles as we exit the theater.Cautiously reopening megaplexes have restored that experience to some degree, although film festivals have been a bit more cautious to return, given that they bring together audiences from all over the world — the perfect petri

Will Tizard ContributorAs the end of the first decade of the Finnish Film Affair nears, the industry event’s director, Maria Pirkkalainen, who also heads Nordic Flair, notes its phenomenal growth, with more than 200 Finnish film projects showcased, more than 500 international guests brought to Helsinki, and the establishment of a major platform and networking forum for locals.And things keep evolving, she says: “We are thrilled to now branch out to offer this to filmmakers from our neighboring