City Helsinki Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Marta Balaga Caution! Kaisa El Ramly’s upcoming feature “Gateways & Dreams” has debuted a trailer, so watch out for moving vehicles. The tragicomic road movie, produced by Helsinki-based Inland Film Company and co-produced by Sweden’s Läsk, focuses on multiple characters stuck in their cars on one summer’s day, as well as one hitchhiker and a very special dog. Following its screenings at Helsinki Int.

Marta Balaga Director Katja Gauriloff has made history with “Je’vida,” the first feature shot in the Skolt Sámi language. “It’s my native tongue, but because of forced assimilation in Finland [of the Sámi people] I didn’t actually learn it. I am studying it only now,” she tells Variety ahead of the Toronto premiere.

Relieved Alfredo Morelos has finally ended his three-continent search for a new club as he gets set to sign for Santos.

EXCLUSIVE: Nadia Forde has joined the cast of Conflict, the Finnish political thriller series from Rebellion director Aku Louhimies and XYZ Films.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Beta Film has dropped the trailer for “Estonia,” a Scandinavian limited series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster. The eight-part cinematic show, which is represented in international markets by Jan Mojto’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”), charts the sinking of the Ms Estonia on Sept.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Noted Japanese director Ando Momoko (“Kakera: Pieces of Our Life,” “0.5mm”) has been named as the ambassador for this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. She also features, alongside her father Okuda Eiji in the festival’s newly-released poster, which recreates a scene from Ozu Yasujiro’s “Tokyo Story” and in which Okuda and Ando represent the classic film’s Ryu Chishu and Hara Setsuko characters. The poster image, shot at the rooftop garden of Kitte Marunouchi Building, with Tokyo Station in the background, was designed by Koshino Junko, who has created the festival’s key visuals for the past three years.

Arctic Circle maker Yellow Film & TV, which calls itself the biggest independent production studio in the Nordics, has signed a Chief Content Officer and added to its drama department.

EXCLUSIVE: Helsinki-based sales company The Yellow Affair has acquired world sales rights to the TIFF Centrepiece title JE’VIDA, a Sámi language historical drama by Finnish filmmaker Katja Gauriloff.

Marta Balaga FilmSharks has picked up world sales rights to Finnish children’s film “Snot & Splash: The Mystery of Disappearing Holes.” “It was a bidding war. They got offers from everybody,” said FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud. “Snot & Splash” (“Räkä ja Roiskis”) is produced by It’s Alive Films – founded by director Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö – and set for distribution in its native Finland (Scanbox), Scandinavian sub distribution by Sweden (Folkets Bio) and Norway (Norsk Filmdistribusjon), and Italy in the spring (I Wonder Pictures).

Coldplay have added more shows to their upcoming European tour, set to kick off in summer 2024.The British indie-rock veterans announced details of their new tour last week (July 20) — set to kick off in June, and feature their first-ever live dates in Greece, Romania and Finland.Featuring stops across Europe – including dates in Italy, France, Germany, Austria and more – Chris Martin and co. have now added seven additional dates to the 2024 ‘Music Of The Spheres’ tour.Extra dates in Bucharest, Lyon, Rome and Helsinki have been added as of today (July 25), as well as an additional show in Dublin’s Croke Park Stadium at the beginning of September, making for three back-to-back shows in the Ireland capital.The 2024 tour – which shares its name with the group’s latest album, 2021’s ‘Music Of The Spheres’ – arrives on the heels of their ongoing 2023 stadium shows, which kicked off in May.

Coldplay have announced a series of European stadium tour dates, set to take place in summer 2024. Find ticket information and a list of dates below.The new run of tour dates arrive on the heels of the band’s current 2023 stadium shows, which kicked off in May.

Kaytranada, Finnish superstar ALMA and Swedish-Finnish singer-songwriter Markus Krunegård have joined the main festival’s roster, along with other additions to its Backyard stage.Check out Flow Festival’s full line-up – complete with the latest additions – below.New additions to Flow Festival’s Backyard stage are Arp Frique and Coco María, who join previously announced acts Nooriyah, John Gómez, Kampire, Renata Do Valle, Awesome Tapes, HabibiFunk, Zakia, Gop Tun, Lil’ Tony, Ocean People, Marc Fred, Maria Wesander, and Dj Mojo.Previously announced performers for Flow Festival 2023 include Blur, Wizkid, Lorde and Christine & The Queens, FKA twigs, Caroline Polachek, Suede, Devo, Shygirl, Jockstrap, Moderat, Tove Lo, Amyl & The Sniffers, Kelela, Eris Drew b2b Octo Octa, Folamour, Jyoty, Kerri Chandler, Chaos In The CBD and more.The iconic Balloon 360° stage – which already had its line-up revealed in May – includes Horace Andy, Balming Tiger, DOMi & JD Beck, Meshell Ndegeocello, Alogte Oho and His Sounds of Joy, Nala Sinephro, Esa’s Afro-Synth Band, Kamazu, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Olli Ahvenlahti, Tumomo & Markus, Verneri Pohjola, Ne Galakktiset, Kaisa’s Machine, Elsi Sloan, Sonia, and Valtteri Laurell Nonet.Tickets for Flow Festival 2023 are on sale now – you can purchase yours here.

unable to answer “easy” clues, making the show difficult to watch.One of the clues read, “Going straight to HEL? Then you’re on a direct flight to this northern European country.”The returning champion, Bryan, buzzed in to offer the answer “Helsinki,” which was incorrect – it was the name of the airport, but the clue asked for the country, which is Finland.The other two contestants failed to answer even after Bryan gave them the hint, which was irritating for one viewer.“I’m sorry, how did both of the other two contestants miss ringing in with ‘Finland?’” the person asked on Twitter. “Bryan practically handed the answer to them when he mistakenly said ‘Helsinki’ instead of naming the country.”Another contestant, Alicia, had some issues with figuring out the timing with her buzzer, causing her to not successfully buzz in until after the contestants’ intros were made, which made someone on Reddit wonder if this was a record for “the furthest a game has gone without one contestant successfully buzzing in.”Perhaps the biggest issue of the night happened in “Final Jeopardy.”The clue was “Centenarian ceramic artist Beatrice Wood helped inspire one of the main characters & narrator of this film from the 1990s.”The players answered “Ed Wood,” “Toy Story” and “Ghost” respectively, but none of those movies were the right answer – host Mayim Bialik revealed that “Titanic” was the movie referenced.One fan exclaimed, “Seriously @Jeopardy, some incredibly easy Final Jeopardy questions of late, and all 3 contestants tonight missed the movie, The Titanic.

"Jeopardy!" fans seem to have just as much fun taking issue with the game show as they do watching it. The latest example of this took place after Thursday night's episode, one in which viewers accused the contestants of being unable to answer "easy" clues, making the show difficult to watch.

McKinley Franklin editor Finis Dean Smith, a stuntman regular in John Wayne Westerns who turned to Hollywood after becoming an Olympic gold medalist, died Saturday. He was 91.  Smith was born in Breckenridge, Texas and began his athletic career competing in track and field competitions, earning All-American status in the 100-meter dash in 1952. He went on to win varying athletic championships, culminating in his inclusion on Team U.S.A. as a member of the 4×100-meter relay team at the Helsinki Olympics, where he would win the gold medal. Following his graduation from University of Texas at Austin, Smith would play for the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers for a few years ahead of his career in the entertainment industry. 

As temperatures continue to climb here in the UK, it’s safe to say that Summer is well and truly here. Yet with the days now at their longest and the balmy temperatures keeping the rain at bay, more and more of us will be hoping to spend some well deserved time outside to soak in those all important rays.

EXCLUSIVE: Activist Artists Management has signed Hanna Västinsalo, the Finnish writer-director whose debut feature, Palimpsest, won an HFPA Special Prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival. The emerging filmmaker will now be represented at the company by Bernie Cahill and Jon Kanak.

Celine Dion has cancelled her 2024 ‘Courage’ world tour dates due to a neurological illness she first disclosed last year.In late 2022, the legendary singer confirmed that she has been living with a disorder called stiff person syndrome, an extremely rare autoimmune neurological condition that affects one person in a million.After the singer postponed her European tour dates to February 2023 due to “ongoing health issues”, she then pushed them back again to 2024, admitting she “wasn’t ready” to disclose details of her condition previously.Now, the 2024 dates have been cancelled, with Dion saying in a statement that she’s “heartbroken” about the decision.“It’s not fair to you to keep postponing the shows, and even though it breaks my heart, it’s best that we cancel everything now until I’m really ready to be back on stage again,” she told fans.“I want you all to know, I’m not giving up… and I can’t wait to see you again!”She added: “I’m so sorry to disappoint all of you once again.

Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann fell off the stage at the band’s first concert of the year in Vilnius, Lithuania on Monday (May 22).At the end of the gig at Vingis Park, all six members of the German industrial metal band stood at the front of the stage to thank fans and wrap up the gig, as recorded in video footage.Seconds later, Lindemann fell into an opening behind him while most of the band members remained oblivious to what happened.The band appeared the look into the void a few seconds later, though it’s not known if Lindemann sustained any injuries.The band are due to continue their European this weekend for two shows at Helsinki’s Olympiastadion on Saturday (27) and Sunday (28).They will also perform shows in Munich, Madrid, Lisbon, Budapest, Berlin, Paris and more throughout the summer, before their close out at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on August 4.

Mubi has snapped up rights to the acclaimed feature Fallen Leaves, written and directed by Aki Kaurismäki, in a competitive situation, following its world premiere in Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

“It felt like this bloody world needed some love stories now,” Fallen Leaves director Aki Kaurismäki said of his Palme d’Or contender this afternoon.

nothing in common.)“Fallen Leaves” is the first movie Kaurismaki has made since 2017’s “The Other Side of Hope” – which was, he said at the time, the last movie he would ever make. And if it’s odd that it’s the first movie after his last movie, the Cannes program says that it’s also the fourth part of a working-class trilogy (“Shadows in Paradise,” “Ariel” and “The Match Factory”) that he made three decades ago. Ansa (Alma Pöysti) works in a supermarket, at least until she’s fired for taking home a sandwich with an expired sell-by date.

Following his show-stopping performance at last weekend's Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Liverpool, it's safe to say the UK's fallen a little bit in love with Finland's Käärijä.

Scooch bandmates Russ Spencer and Caroline Barnes represented the UK with their camp cabin crew anthem Flying The Flag (For You) in 2007. Now, they tell us how they found romance as well as fame after their Eurovision performance in Helsinki. Chatting about their lasting love, Caroline says, “We both had other partners during Eurovision, but I think we eventually just came to the realisation we were in love with each other.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency The Match Factory is launching the trailer (below) of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in Competition. This gentle tragicomedy is the fourth part of Kaurismäki’s working-class quartet, following “Shadows in Paradise,” “Ariel” and “The Match Factory Girl,” which The Match Factory, the company, is named after. The film tells the story of two lonely people (played by Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen) who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night. They then try to re-find each other: the first, only, and ultimate love of their lives. Their path toward this goal is clouded by the man’s alcoholism, lost phone numbers, not knowing each other’s names or addresses, and life’s tendency to place obstacles in the way of those seeking their happiness.

Horace Andy, Balming Tiger, DOMi & JD Beck, Meshell Ndegeocello and more set set to perform at the Finnish festival’s “unique landmark”.The Helsinki-based festival will take place between August 11-13 this year, with headliners including Blur, Wizkid, Lorde and Christine & The Queens joining the likes of FKA twigs, Caroline Polachek, Suede and Devo.Other acts added to the Balloon 360° stage, which promises a “versatile group of exciting musicians”, include Jake Xerxes Fussell, Nala Sinephro, Olli Ahvenlahti, Sonia and more.The stage will also host performances from Esa’s Afro-Synth Band, assembled by DJ and producer Esa Williams, along with Finnish artists Tuomo Prättälä and Markus Nordenstreng’s Tuomo & Markus featuring trumpeter Verneri Pohjola.The previously announced Eddie Palmieri has also now withdrawn from the festival due to health reasons.A post shared by Flow Festival Helsinki (@flowfestivalhelsinki)The festival also recently announced the huge line-up for its 2023 electronic program.Tickets for Flow Festival 2023 are on sale now – you can purchase yours here and check out the full line-up on the website.The festival returned last year for the first time since before the COVID pandemic, with acts including Fontaines D.C., Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Gorillaz performing on stage at the historical Suvilahti, a former power plant area in the city.Praising its climate-conscious ethic in a review of the 2019 festival, NME wrote: “Here are a list of things that you can do at Flow Festival: eat Michelin Starred hotdogs, watch some of the biggest artists on the planet and then save it as well, all at the same time.

Johnny Marr has announced a series of headline shows, set to take place across the UK later this year.Announced today (April 25), the new tour will feature eight stops at venues across the UK and work around the numerous festival appearances the former Smiths guitarist is already set to play.The tour spans throughout summer 2023, and will kick off with a performance at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth on July 17. From there, Marr will embark on shows in Lincoln, Northampton and Tunbridge Wells for the remainder of the month, before playing four more gigs in August.These will feature sets in Wrexham, Frome and Plymouth, before ending with a show at the Empire in Middlesbrough on August 25.

Reliance Industries’ Indian content arm Jio Studios is teaming with Indian filmmaker Nagraj Manjule to make a Marathi-language film about India’s first Olympic medallist, freestyle wrestler Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (a.k.a. Khashaba). 

ALMA has released a heartwarming video for her new single ‘Tell Mama’ from her upcoming album ‘Time Machine’.Alma-Sofia Miettinen, also known as ALMA, shared that the single was inspired by being on a plane from LA to Helsinki after “COVID forced her to come back home”.“When COVID happened, I really realised that throughout my career I’ve been living for others,” she said. “I’ve been trying to make people around me happy and proud but not myself.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief C More has commissioned a second, six-episode season of ITV Studios Finland’s glossy detective drama “Helsinki Crimes” (aka “Harjunpää”). The first season of Helsinki Crimes became one of C More’s most-watched crime series to date. After its launch on Netflix last year, in regions across CEE, Benelux, Austria and the Nordics, the series was one of the top ten most-watched series, and the third most-watched in Finland.  In the new season, Chief Constable Timo Harjunpää, portrayed by Olli Rahkonen, and his murder team investigate bloody clashes between street gangs, love scams and a wave of burglaries.

Ranvir Singh has debuted a stunning new look, as she fills in for Lorraine Kelly on her morning show, Lorraine.The TV presenter, 45, showed off her new hairstyle as she spoke to Good Morning Britain's Kate Garraway, with the host gushing over the stylish new look. Changing up her hair, Ranvir opted for a full fringe and some fashionable beach-style waves.

Blur, Wizkid, Lorde and Christine & The Queens joining the likes of FKA twigs, Caroline Polachek, Suede and Devo.On the line-up for the festival’s dance stage, named the Resident Advisor Front Yard, are Eris Drew b2b Octo Octa, Folamour, Jyoty, Kerri Chandler, Chaos In The CBD and more.See the full line-up below.Flow brings a group of club music's hottest stars to the festival in cooperation with the world's leading electronic music online media @residentadvisor. Flow's RA Front Yard will feature Eris Drew & Octo Octa, Kerri Chandler, Folamour, Jyoty and more! https://t.co/BRo9IS0BVJ pic.twitter.com/qPZrPheyLj— Flow Festival (@flowfestival) March 30, 2023Tickets for Flow Festival 2023 are on sale now – you can purchase yours here.The festival made its return last year for the first time since before the COVID pandemic, with acts including Fontaines D.C., Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Gorillaz gracing its stage at the historical Suvilahti, a former power plant area in the city.Praising its climate-conscious ethic in a review of the 2019 festival, NME wrote: “Here are a list of things that you can do at Flow Festival: eat Michelin Starred hotdogs, watch some of the biggest artists on the planet and then save it as well, all at the same time.

Good Morning Britain’s co-host Ranvir Singh has revealed that the real reason she quit her political role on the show was due to exhaustion. Ranvir had quit her political editor position at the end of 2021 due to it being such an “intense time in politics”, before being promoted to the position of main regular co-host. She said: “I was at the White House, in Brussels every week for Brexit, there was the Jeremy Corbyn thing with Momentum.Trump was tweeting every day, I was in Helsinki one day, I’d be in Austria the next day.

Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus says he has submitted a unique bid to buy half of Manchester United and says he will allow fans to buy the other half.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France —  “Yours, Margot,” from  “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, Guatemalan Cannes Camera d’Or winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”) and Brazil’s Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”) have won the three prizes on offer at the first edition of Seriesmakers. A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, after an inaugural edition delivering one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, Seriesmakers backers Beta Group and Series Mania opened on Wednesday a call for admissions for a second edition.   Though all three series range hugely in setting and creators, all three see their protagonists go back to a recent past to explore events that have impacted their family (“Yours, Margot”), their modern-day country (“The Invisible Ink”), or traumas in the present (“Amigas”). 

Marta Balaga Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, behind “Compartment No. 6” and “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki”– both awarded in Cannes – will now turn his attention to new series “Yours, Margot,.”  The upcoming series is one of the 10 projects chosen for Series Mania and Beta Group’s Seriesmakers. Based on Meri Valkama’s novel, “Compartment” will be produced, just like his previous films, by Helsinki-based Aamu Film Company, with “Compartment” scribes Andri Feldmanis and Livia Ulman also on board. This time Kuosmanen dissects the experiences of Vilja, who spent her childhood in East Berlin, following her foreign correspondent father. After his death, she finds old letters to “Erich,” all from mysterious “Margot.” Now, as an adult, she decides to return to Berlin and track her down.