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The enormity of the snowy, picture-postcard vista in any Scandinavian film can never be underestimated, signifying both a fairy tale and a foreboding setting. This fascinating dichotomy is ever present in Finnish writer-director Mikko Myllylahti’s new tale, The Woodcutter Story – the title of which sounds much like folklore in itself.

This oddball, pitch-black dramedy begins with an unexplained meeting at the top of a snowy mountain between a suited corporate type and an impatient woman – quite what is going on and who these individuals are is open to interpretation, but the pair is clearly discussing the fate of the residents below of a remote, unnamed Finnish town where the story is set.

Enter Pepe the woodcutter, his family and friends who live a simple yet uneventful life – unless there is a birthday down in the only pub. What appears to be an idyllic existence is under constant threat from disruption.

Cannes Critics’ Week film “The Woodcutter Story” has debuted its trailer. It’s the feature film directorial debut from Mikko Myllylahti, the writer of Cannes Un Certain Regard winner “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Makki.” The film is being sold by French sales outfit Totem Films.

“The Woodcutter Story” centers on Pepe, a woodcutter in an idyllic small town in Finland. In the span of a couple of days, a series of tragic events gradually destroys his quiet and happy life – but Pepe seems to be fine with it all, as if he held a secret to existence that is hard to grasp.

Myllylahti was inspired to write the story following an encounter with a woodcutter who – despite having lost everything – “accepted his ordeals with a smile on his face.”

Myllylahti said: “The more I thought of him and his attitude towards life I started to realize a potential for a story,...