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With its stationary long-shots of domestic life, “Family Time” is like the “Paranormal Activity” of dysfunctional-holiday-gathering movies: There’s a sense of spying on people who don’t realize they’re under a microscope. Of course, Tia Kouvo’s debut feature is duly scripted, directed and professionally acted. But her approach is so effectively low-key, you might occasionally forget you’re watching a staged fiction.

There’s no new ground broken by this seriocomedy of three generations in one ordinary clan enduring each other over Christmas, then glimpsed in their separate lives afterward. Yet the canny level of observation — at once casual, caustic and empathetic — makes for a film that adds up to considerably more than the sum of its seemingly offhand parts. Finland’s Oscar submission won Jussi Awards for best film, direction and screenplay, and while it seems unlikely to make a splash internationally, it marks Kouvo as a promising talent.

Finland has picked the dramedy Family Time to represent the country for the 2025 Oscars in the best international feature category.

The film, by writer/director Tia Kouvo, is a sharp look at the familial ties that bind, following three dysfunctional generations as they come together at their grandparents’ house over the holidays. Ria Kataja, Elina Knihtilä, Leena Uotila, Tom Wentzel and Jarkko Pajunen star in the dark comedy which puts the cringe back in Christmas.

Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka produced the feature for Aamu Film Company together with Vilda Bomben Film. The film is a feature adaptation of Kouvo’s 2018 short of the same name.

Family Time premiered in Berlinale’s Encounters section last year and bowed in Finland last November. It went on to sweep Finland’s Academy Awards, the Jussis, taking best film, best director and best screenplay. The Match Factory is handling international sales.

Finland has...

Tia Kouvo’s debut feature follows an annual family Christmas get-together that sees the usual tensions rise.

Screen can reveal the trailer for Tia Kouvo’s debut feature Family Time which is world premiering at the Berlinale (February 16-26) in the Encounters strand.

The comedy-drama follows an annual family Christmas get-together that sees the usual tensions rise. It’s based on Kouvo’s s 2018 short of the same name which picked up a special mention at Helsinki International Film Festival (Love & Anarchy).

Family Time is produced by Finland’s Aamu Film Company in co-production with Sweden outfits Vilda Bomben Film and Film i Väst.

Free Skate Trailer — Roope Olenius‘ Free Skate (2022) movie trailer has been released by Indiecan Entertainment. The Free Skate trailer stars Veera W. Vilo, Leena Uotila, Karoliina Blackburn, Saara Elina, Miikka J. Anttila, Jevgeni Haukka, and Regina Launivuo. Crew Veera W. Vilo wrote the screenplay for Free Skate. Jussi Huhtala created the music for the [...]

Continue reading: Free Skate (2022) Movie Trailer: Veera W. Vilo Faces Her Dark Past in the Hopes of Being a Top Figure Skater...

Fizz-e-Motion has acquired international sales rights to coming-of-age skating thriller “Free Skate,” and will present it to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin next month. Indiecan has North American rights. The producer will handle Scandinavian distribution. Fizz-e-Motion has debuted the trailer (below).

The film, directed by Roope Olenius, centers on a promising figure skater who flees from Russia to Finland to escape her inhumane circumstances. Despite the bright future and new possibilities, her past won’t let go of her. She realizes facing her troubled past is her only option to make it to the top.

The screenplay is written by Veera W. Vilo, based on her own experiences as a gymnast, her colleagues’ similar experiences, and disturbing stories of female athletes and dancers that have come to light after the start of the #metoo movement.

In a statement, Olenius said: ”The film not only discusses the practice methods,...

Fresh off Juho Kuosmanen’s win at Cannes – where his “Compartment No. 6” was awarded the Grand Prix in July, sharing the prize with Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero” – Finland’s Aamu Film Company will focus its attention on Tia Kouvo’s “Family Time,” scheduled to shoot in February and March 2022.

Produced by Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka, the film, primarily set at Christmas, will show a family of eight struggling to communicate and echoing Tolstoy’s statement that while all happy families are alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

“I have been working with the same directors for years, saying no to many interesting projects. Then I saw Tia’s graduation short and realized we have to find room for one more,” says Rantamäki, also behind Kuosmanen’s Un Certain Regard winner “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki” and Hamy Ramezan’s Berlinale entry “Any Day Now.

GÖTEBORG, Sweden — Chosen to close the discussion dedicated to discrimination against elderly people at the Göteborg Film Festival, Pamela Tola’s “Ladies of Steel” fitted right into this year’s focus on feminism and gender at the Swedish event. Which managed to deliver on its 50/50 promise, with 54% of the presented films being directed by women.

“Of course you always want to be chosen because of your talents or capabilities, but I am very happy that we are opening up to the fact that there is still work to be done towards achieving equality in the film industry. After all, it’s enough to look at the Oscars,” the Finnish helmer told Variety.

In her second outing as a feature director following 2018’s “Swingers”, Jussi-nominated actress decided to focus on a trio of elderly ladies. Finding themselves on the lam after one of them seemed to have accidentally murdered her husband,...