City Helsinki Showbiz Latest News and Updates

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. 

Ricky Gervais has shared what’s included on his “luxurious” backstage rider.The comedian, who is midway through his Armageddon stand-up tour, posted a picture on Twitter showing the items on his rider request list.“When you are an international comedy mega-star, it is inevitable that your backstage rider is ridiculously luxurious,” Gervais wrote. “Sometimes your demands are a test to see if you are still important to the promoter.

Emiliano De Pablos Spanish TV production house Mediacrest is joining forces with Helsinki-based outfit ReelMedia and Finnish public broadcaster YLE to develop climate change thriller series project “17kHz.” The co-production model resulting from the “17kHz” development deal will be one focus at the showcase “Spanish Fiction Contents: New Releases & Financial Opportunities,” which takes place Feb. 20 at Berlin’s European Film Market. Organized by ICEX Spain Trade & Investment, the meeting’s panelists will include Mediacrest‘s executives Gustavo Ferrada and Winnie Baert.

Lise Pedersen Following in the footsteps of its Nordic neighbors, Finland is fast becoming a destination of choice for foreign co-productions, not least thanks to its up-front cash-back tax incentive introduced in 2017. Despite a slight drop in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, figures show a 40%-plus growth of the audiovisual industry in the past five years, distributed evenly between co-production and service production. In addition to the national rebate of 25%, productions can get up to 40% incentive money thanks to top-ups from regional film commissions. Other support mechanisms include public broadcaster YLE and the Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture (AVEK), as well as a growing number of private investors such as VOD platform Elisa Viihde and Aurora Studios,  which   are   working actively on getting Finnish content out to the world.

Naman Ramachandran MetFilm Distribution has acquired U.K. and Ireland rights to Vinay Shukla’s documentary “While We Watched.” Produced by the U.K.’s Lono Studio and BritDoc Films, the documentary is a newsroom drama intimately chronicling the working days of Indian broadcast journalist Ravish Kumar as he navigates a spiralling world of truth and disinformation. Kumar, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, was a senior journalist at Indian news platform NDTV, who resigned after billionaire Gautam Adani took over the company. “While We Watched” debuted at Toronto in 2022 where it won the Amplify Voices award, followed by Busan, where it won the Cinephile award. Most recently, the film won the international competition at Helsinki’s DocPoint Festival.

The Göteborg Film Festival has unveiled the 53 Nordic Films that will take part in the latest edition of the Nordic Film Market, running February 2 – 5. Scroll down for the list.

A trio of teens navigates relationships in contemporary Helsinki in Girl Picture, Finland’s entry for the Best International Feature Oscar. Directed by Alli Haapasalo (Love and Fury), it’s an engaging portrait of young women that’s as refreshing as it is entertaining. To call this a “Finnish Booksmart” would be doing its originality a disservice, but there are coincidental similarities as a quick-witted lesbian and her straight girl friend try to help each other with their love lives over a series of parties and amusing encounters. 

Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, who won the Cannes Grand Prize for Compartment No. 6 in 2021, will be guest of honor at the fifth Talent Village of France’s Les Arcs Film Festival, running December 10-17 in the French Alps.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent It’s pitch dark and stormy and Pelle Heikkilä, one of Finland’s biggest stars, is getting slammed by massive waves in a 10-meter-deep water tank. The shoot of “Estonia,” a Scandinavian limited series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster, is underway in Belgium at an indoor water stage. The eight-part cinematic show, which is budgeted at €15 million ($14.7 million) and is being shopped by Jan Mojto’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”) at Mipcom, charts the sinking of the MS Estonia on Sept. 28, 1994, which killed over 850 people. The series is directed by Swedish director Måns Månsson (“The Real Estate,” “Chernobyl”) and Finnish director Juuso Syrjä (“Bordertown,” “Helsinki Syndrome”), who are polar opposites, one coming from festival-friendly auteur filmmaking, the other coming from high-end commercials.

Marta Balaga Fifth Season has acquired international distribution rights to Elisa Viihde original series “The Man Who Died.” The company, formerly known as Endeavor Content, is behind “The Lost Daughter” or “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” It also handles global distribution for such hit shows as “Killing Eve,” “The Morning Show” or “Normal People.”  Based on the bestselling book by Antti Tuomainen, the six-episode series is led by Jussi Vatanen, who will next be seen in Aki Kaurismäki’s upcoming feature “Dead Leaves.” Saara Kotkaniemi and Sara Soulié, his co-star in Solar Films’ drama “Forest Giant,” also star.   

Louis Tomlinson has shared a new track called ‘Out Of My System’ and announced a 2023 UK and European tour – listen to the track below and buy tickets for the tour here.‘Out Of My System’ is the latest preview of the singer’s second solo album ‘Faith In The Future’, which follows his debut full-length effort, 2020’s ‘Walls’, and will be released on November 11. You can pre-order/pre-save the record here.Tomlinson’s forthcoming album was produced by Mike Crossey, who’s previously worked with the likes of Arctic Monkeys, The 1975 and Wolf Alice.

Ed Meza @edmezavar U.S. streaming service Topic has inked an exclusive U.S. and Canadian rights deal with Germany’s Beta Film for four European crime series ahead of this year’s Mipcom TV programming mart in Cannes. Dedicated to crime and suspense, Topic, part of First Look Entertainment, picked up the third season of critically acclaimed Austrian-German series “Pagan Peak”; Finnish title “Helsinki Syndrome”; “Silent Road” from Greece; and Croatian-Ukrainian co-production “The Silence.” The agreement also includes renewals of Italian political thriller “1992” and follow-up seasons “1993” and “1994.” Described as Italy’s “House Of Cards,” the show  examines how Italian politics were shaken to the core by a major criminal investigation against widespread corruption in the 1990s.

Christopher Vourlias The Nordic screen industries are riding a tide of recent success, from Joachim Trier’s dual Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World” (Norway), and Juho Kuosmanen’s Cannes prize winner “Compartment No. 6” (Finland), to Apple TV’s hit Norwegian crime drama “Exit.” But the Nordics have a ways to go on diversity and inclusion and can do more to support emerging talents — including taking a more mindful approach toward how on-set practices can create an unhealthy work environment. Those were the key takeaways of a panel discussion on Sept. 21 at the Finnish Film Affair, the industry arm of the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy. Moderated by Finnish TV presenter Andrea Reuter, the event brought together three up-and-coming film professionals from Nordic countries to discuss the hopes and challenges for the next generation of filmmakers from the region.

Marta Balaga LevelK has boarded Icelandic thriller “Natatorium,” directed by Helena Stefánsdóttir Magneudóttir. The film started shooting on Sept. 14, and is expected to bow locally next year. Produced by Sunna Gudnadóttir for Bjarstýn Films, marking the company’s first feature film, it’s financed with the support from the Icelandic Film Center and the Finnish Film Foundation. Scanbox, Sena and RUV YLE are behind the project as well. “I am mostly interested in working on films with female directors and/or scriptwriters, [projects] with high artistic integrity and universal appeal,” says Gudnadóttir, who previously worked on “A White, White Day,” and Iceland’s Oscar submission “Beautiful Beings.” She adds that “Natatorium” has three complex female leads, and 60% of the crew is female as well.

Marta Balaga “The Woodcutter Story,” a Finnish drama with a surreal touch, has been sold to Australia (Palace Films), Baltics (Estinfilm), Sweden (Njuta), Germany (Eksystent) and France (Urban), Paris-based Totem Films shared exclusively with Variety. Directed by Mikko Myllylahti, it sees a good man who runs into bad luck: he loses his job and his wife leaves, but Pepe (Jarkko Lahti) is trying to keep his head high. Even when strange things start to happen in his sleepy village. The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics Week, screens Wednesday at the Helsinki Film Festival – Love & Anarchy. It will have its North American premiere at Chicago Film Festival and its U.K. premiere at the London Film Festival.

Marta Balaga LevelK continues to terrify international distributors with Finnish horror “The Knocking,” directed by Max Seeck and Joonas Pajunen. The film has now been sold to over 70 countries, Variety has learned, with the company sealing further deals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Alamode Film), Latin America (Gussi), CIS (Capella Film), France (KMBO), Indonesia (PT. Falcon) and Taiwan (AV-Jet International Media). “We have been looking at many Nordic projects, especially the Finnish ones. We definitely see a shift in not just more genre projects emerging, but also in the subjects and the creativity,” says CEO Tine Klint.

Christopher Vourlias As the Finnish Film Affair embarks on the start of its second decade, the organizers of the annual industry event, which runs parallel to the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy, can both reflect on 10 years of success and look ahead for ways to continue to serve both the Finnish and the Nordic film industries. “Finnish Film Affair started in 2012 with 240 participants. This year, for our 11th edition, we have nearly 500 delegates attending from over 20 countries, with a third of them being international guests and buyers,” Finnish Film Affair director Maria Pirkkalainen told Variety on the eve of the event, which runs from Sept. 21 – 23.

Christopher Vourlias Five years ago, the Finnish Film Affair launched the first edition of its Nordic Flair training program, an initiative designed to offer career development for film professionals from across the Nordic region that takes place parallel to the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy. This year’s event focuses on sales agents, distributors, buyers and broadcast commissioners working in one or more of the Nordic countries and is designed to offer participants the tools to innovate new sales and distribution models, scout emerging Nordic filmmaking talent and lead their professional teams through challenging times. “There are many Nordic talents working internationally behind the scenes in the business of film, and with the focus this year, we want to highlight that,” says Finnish Film Affair director Maria Pirkklainen, noting that “training opportunities have been scarce for this group in general.”

Roma's victory over HJK Helsinki on Thursday night might not have seemed that important or notable.

Christopher Vourlias The Finnish Film Affair, a showcase for new films from the host country and the Nordics, will for the first time feature TV dramas at this year’s event, which runs parallel to the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy (HIFF). Alongside the 26 feature film and documentary projects being presented to industry guests during an onstage event on Sept. 22 will be a curated selection of four TV drama series from Finland. “This is something that both the local industry and our international guests have frequently requested from us,” said Maria Pirkkalainen, director of Finnish Film Affair. “We already piloted highlighting a few selected Finnish TV series in 2019 to great feedback and feel like now is the right time to continue this, especially with a record number of international guests joining us here in Helsinki.”

Marta Balaga 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.”  

Rammstein have announced plans for a European stadium tour next year.The band will hit the road on May 22, 2023 kicking off at Vingio Parkas in Lithuania before moving on to dates in Germany, Spain, Holland and France. They will wrap up their mammoth jaunt at the King Baudouin Stadium in Belgium on August 4.Tickets for the shows go on sale next Thursday (September 8) at 10am local time and can be purchased here.The latest announcement comes as the band continue their US tour in Chicago tomorrow (September 3) before wrapping up in Mexico in October.

Naman Ramachandran Guy Davidi, known for Sundance and Emmy winning and Oscar nominated documentary “Five Broken Cameras,” is Venice bound with his next film “Innocence.” The film, which is in the festival’s Horizons strand, the only documentary selected in the section, tells the story of children who were unwillingly enlisted into the Israel military service, and many of them died. Through a narration based on their diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil and interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers. “Nothing touches me more than a child’s sensitivity when they discover the world, and nothing hurts me more than seeing it getting crushed. Israel is not a place that values innocence. Its militarized identity requires the breaking down and distorting of the gentle lines of childhood. This commitment to violence has many victims, but there’s also a hidden tragedy – the collapse of parenthood,” says Davidi in his director’s note on the film, which has been 10 years in the making.

The draw for the group stage of the 2022/23 UEFA Europa League campaign has been made this lunchtime, meaning Manchester United and Arsenal have discovered who they will face in the opening stage of the competition.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Munich-based sales agency The Playmaker has sold black comedy “Holy Shit!” to distributors in several major territories ahead of its U.K. premiere at Frightfest on Aug. 28. The Playmaker has closed deals for Japan (New Select), South Korea (Lumix Media), China (Beijing Blue Media Times), France (Family Films) and Baltics (Estin Film). Scriptwriter and director Lukas Rinker’s claustrophobic real-time genre movie made its market premiere in Cannes this year. “Holy Shit!” won the Audience Award at its world premiere at this year’s Hard:Line Film Festival and was shown at the Night Visions Film Festival in Helsinki. At Fantaspoa, it received an Honorable Mention for the “best blood (and shit) bath.”

EXCLUSIVE: Darko Perić, the Serbian actor best known for his breakout role as Helsinki in Netflix’s award-winning Spanish series Money Heist, has signed with Artist International Group for management.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBeta has pre-sold sprawling Finnish drama series “Estonia” to Germany’s broadcaster Seven.One Entertainment Group, the parent company of ProSieben. The eight-hour drama, about the deadliest civil maritime disaster in recent European history, is now in its third week of shooting.

Rangers are considering a swoop for Finnish youngster Kai Meriluoto, according to a report in the player’s homeland.

Future Islands frontman Samuel T Herring is set to make his acting debut in new television drama, The Changeling.Herring will star in the upcoming Apple TV+ drama alongside LaKeith Stanfield.As per Deadline, the show is being billed as a “fairytale for grown-ups” and is based on Victor LaValle’s bestselling book of the same name.Stanfield will star as Apollo, a new father and bookseller, while Herring will play William Wheeler – a man who befriends Apollo.A release date for the new show has not yet been unveiled.Earlier this year, Future Islands added more dates to their huge tour of the UK and Europe – check out dates below and buy your tickets here.The ‘Calling Out In Space’ tour comes on the back of the band’s 2020 album ‘As Long As You Are’. It’s the band’s UK first tour since 2018.The band – made up of Herring, Gerrit Welmers, Michael Lowry and William Cashion – will continue their worldwide tour now into October and November with a further 20 UK and European headline shows.You can see the full list of tour dates here:AUGUST 202216 – Cologne, E-Werk17 – Munich, TonHalle18 – Berlin, Columbiahalle22 – Oslo, Sentrum Scene24 – Copenhagen, Vega (tickets valid from 26 February) 25 – Copenhagen, Vega (tickets valid from 27 February) 29 – Helsinki, The House of Culture19 – Bergen, NO, USF Verftet*OCTOBER 202220 – Stavenger, Folken*22 – Gothenburg, Trädgår’n*24 – Aarhus, Voxhall*26 – Utrecht, (Ronda) (tickets valid from 15 March) 27 – Leipzig, Werk 2*28 – Nuremberg, Z-Bau Saal*30 – Prague, Lucerna Music Bar*31 – Vienna, Arena Wien*NOVEMBER1 – Budapest, Akvarium Klub*3 – Rome, Orion Live Club*4 – Milan, Fabrique5 – Winterthur, Salzhaus*7 – Paris, L’Olympia8 – Dortmund, FZW*10 – Leeds, O2 Academy*11 – Cardiff, Cardiff

A man has been accused of breaking Covid regulations after returning to Manchester Airport from Finland.

now archived on his account under a Highlight titled “PSA” — the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star wrote, “I’ve been made aware that there are fake accounts pretending to be me or people working with me.“I do not have any private or side accounts on any platforms. These are the only pages run by me and my team where we share updates and communicate,” he added, listing his official accounts across several platforms. “I ask that you remain cautious as it seems these fake accounts can be relentless.

Amber Heard went shopping with her sister at a TJ Maxx discount retail store in the Hamptons on Thursday, amid a looming $8.3 million judgment following her loss in court earlier this month against ex-husband Johnny Depp in their multi-million dollar defamation trial.  The 36-year-old actress wore blue jeans and a long-sleeved, white button-down shirt while indulging in retail therapy with her younger sister, Whitney Henriquez, at the Bridgehampton location of the national chain retailer, per TMZ. According to the outlet, it's unclear what the two purchased — if anything — from the store.  While Heard perused the aisles on the East Coast wearing black loafers with her blonde hair tied back in a bun, Depp has "moved on" from the trial, and took to the stage to perform with Jeff Beck at the Helsinki Blues Festival on Sunday in Finland.

Johnny Depp is living his best life!

Marta Balaga Despite teasing his retirement in 2017, “Le Havre” director Aki Kaurismäki will follow his Berlin Silver Bear winner “The Other Side of Hope” with a new feature film under the working title of “Dead Leaves” (“Kuolleet lehdet” in Finnish).The new project was announced on Friday by Helsinki-based company B-Plan Distribution.The film will star Alma Pöysti, who recently starred in Zaida Bergroth biopic “Tove,” about Moomins creator Tove Jansson — a film that won her a Jussi award for best actress in 2021. Jussi Vatanen, known for the drama “Forest Giant” and smash hit trilogy “Lapland Odyssey” has also joined the cast.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHappy, hungry man Phil Rosenthal is back to travel all across the sea and the land for the fifth season of “Somebody Feed Phil.” Bringing fans to five new scrumptious locations — including Oaxaca, Maine, Helsinki, Portland and Madrid — the Wednesday release on Netflix will mark the first season to not include the “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator’s father Max Rosenthal, who died in June 2021.For the first four seasons of “Somebody Feed Phil,” Max appeared over video chat to talk with his son wherever he was in the world and to tell viewers at home a joke. Rosenthal’s mother, Helen Rosenthal, was there alongside her husband Max for the bits in Seasons 1 and 2.

Christopher Vourlias Riding the high of a production-servicing boom, Estonia’s domestic industry has likewise shown no signs of slowing down. Here’s a roundup of top local productions in the pipeline, from producers who are searching for international partners in Cannes:The Invisible Fight Director: Rainer Sarnet Producers: Katrin Kissa, Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Alise Gelze, White Picture (Latvia), Amanda Livanou, Neda Film (Greece), Helen Vinogradov, Helsinki-filmi (Finland) Sarnet, whose fantasy-drama “November” played at Tribeca in 2017, returns with a ‘70s-set kung-fu comedy about a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he’s capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.