Aurora Studios Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Marta Balaga The votes are in: Atmospheric (and claustrophobic) Finnish mystery thriller “Icebreaker,” already one of the most buzzed of projects hitting the competition, has been crowned the winner of the 8th edition of MipDrama, receiving its Coup de Coeur award. Sold by About Premium Content, created by Mia Ylönen, who exec produces with Aleksi Bardy, the Elisa Viihde-commissioned show “Icebreaker” is set on a stranded boat. As its crew members start to disappear, one by one, coastguard Sanna Tanner (Jessica Grabowsky) is trying to find answers – but what she is dealing with goes way beyond rational explanations.

Marta Balaga Be afraid, be very afraid: Finnish mystery thriller “Icebreaker” has just revealed exclusive first-look photos. Set on a stranded icebreaker, it sees coast guard Sanna Tanner (Jessica Grabowsky) leading a rescue team. She comes across a group of survivors – and a frozen body – but over the course of six days, crew members start to disappear.

Marta Balaga Picture Tree International has boarded international sales and debuted the trailer for Miia Tervo’s upcoming comedy “The Missile,” set to world premiere at Göteborg’s just-announced Nordic Competition. Produced by Finland’s Kaisla Viitala at Elokuvayhtio Komeetta and Estonia’s Daniel Kuitunen at Stellar Film, the movie will be distributed in Scandinavia by Aurora Studios. Tervo’s second feature after the award-winning “Aurora” – which opened the Swedish fest back in 2019 – teases a “uniquely crafted mix of political satire, heartfelt comedy and kitchen-sink drama, rooted in Northern brevity and melancholy,” according to its description.

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.

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.

Annika Pham Versatile Finnish helmer A.J. Annila (“Sauna,” “Shadow Lines,” “Peacemaker”) is on board to direct the thriller series with a working title of “ID” which marks HBO Max’s first commission of a Finnish premium TV show.Set in the art fraud world, the six-part series is co-created by seasoned writer Aleksi Bardy (“Tom of Finland,” “Moscow Noir”) and Mia Ylönen (“Bad Apples,” “Moscow Noir”) for Finnish production powerhouse Helsinki-Filmi, a subsidiary of Finland’s Aurora Studios.“ID” revolves around art fraud investigator Emma who goes undercover to infiltrate an auction house in Stockholm in order to investigate the firm’s connection to a notorious money launderer known as Blanko.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFinland’s Aurora Studios has launched a private equity fund aimed at film and TV content, kicking off with “Bubble,” a movie directed by Aleksi Salmenperä (“Giant”).“Bubble” will star Minna Haapkylä, Tommi Korpela, Anna-Maija Tuokko and Stella Leppikorpi.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNetflix has acquired the Finnish movie “Bordertown – The Mural Murders,” a spinoff of the popular Nordic crime series which is now in its third season. Produced by Matti Halonen and Johannes Lassila at Fisher King, “Bordertown – The Mural Murders” will start shooting next month and will be released theatrically in Finland by the newly-launched distribution banner Aurora Studios.