News

Covered with laurels for his recent series “Soviet Jeans” (audience award at Series Mania 2024) and for his features “Modris” (Latvia’s Oscar submission 2014) and “Oleg” (Cannes Director’s Fortnight entry 2019), Latvian writer/director Juris Kursietis is competing at Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival’s Official Selection with “The Exalted,” due to world premiere Nov. 14.

The satire about cultural clashes between Eastern and Western Europe, seen through the prism of an upper-class couple, has just been acquired by newly launched French sales outfit B-Rated International, outside the co-producing countries Estonia, Latvia, and Greece.

“The Exalted” offers a harsh and cynical portrayal of the upper class,” said Arnaud Chevallier, formerly at Mediawan International Sales and founder of the Paris-based outfit. “We admire the pic’s brilliant and subtle directing and are convinced that it will resonate with foreign audiences due to its globally relevant themes and multiple languages spoken throughout the film.

Distribution veteran Wendy Lidell will depart Kino Lorber as SVP of theatrical acquisitions and distribution at the end of June after eight years to pursue a new, undisclosed, chapter.

Kino Lorber chairman and CEO Richard Lorber made the announcement on Friday and hailed Lidell as “the rarest amalgam of smart cinephile and canny business executive”.

Kino Lorber chief revenue officer Lisa Schwartz will oversee theatrical distribution and acquisitions in the interim and continue to report to Klmg president Ed Carroll.

Lidell joined the company in 2016. During her tenure she shepherded three documentaries to Oscar nominations – Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire At Sea,...

Exclusive: Kino Lorber SVP of Theatrical Acquisitions & Distribution Wendy Lidell will depart the company at the end of June following a great eight year run at the indie distributor.

The company’s Chief Revenue Officer Lisa Schwartz will oversee theatrical distribution and acquisitions in the interim and will continue to report to President Ed Carroll. Reporting to Schwartz will be SVP Marketing and Communications Nicholas Kemp, VP Press and Publicity Kate Patterson, VP Theatrical Distribution & Repertory Acquisitions George Schmalz, and Director Theatrical Distribution Maxwell Wolkin.

Schwartz and Carroll, former top executives at AMC Networks, joined Kino Lorber in early 2023.

Lidell has been at Kino Lorber since 2016, overseeing all theatrical acquisitions and distribution efforts and shepherding three documentaries to Oscar nominations – Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire at Sea, Talal Derki’s Of Fathers and Sons most recently Kaouther Ben Hania’s decorated Four Daughters.

Other theatrical releases on her watch include Long Day’s Journey Into Night,...

Netflix has unveiled a suite of Nordic features and series, partnering on projects with the likes of Working Title, Jo Nesbø, Milad Alami, Dome Karukoski and Sf Studios.

Little Siberia, a Finnish film from Finnish-American director Dome Karukoski, whose credits include Goteborg premiere Tom Of Finland and Jrr Tolkein origin story Tolkein, directs an adaptation of Antti Tuomainen’s novel of the same name. The everyday life of the small village of Hurmevaara is shaken when a meteorite falls through the roof of a car one night.

Cast includes Eero Ritala, Malla Malmivaara, Tommi Korpela and Martti Suosal, with Ina Sohlberg,...

Netflix announced six new Nordic feature film productions at its Next on Netflix showcase in Stockholm on Monday.

The showcase, which followed similar events in Germany and London last week, gave updates on 26 titles across film and TV, including 12 new titles. For the new Nordic TV line-up, read here.

On the cinema front, new Nordic movies include an adaptation of the Key Series crime whodunnit books about Private detective Julia Stark, by Alex Ahndoril, the pseudonym for husband and wife writers Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril.

Working titled The Key Series, the debut feature-length instalment will see Julia Stark hired by a wealthy family to solve a murder been committed at their estate in the northwest of Sweden.

Banijay company Filmlance is lead producing. Casting and the delivery date has yet to be confirmed.

The platform is also getting behind Little Siberia from Finnish director Dome Karukoski, whose feature...

Amsterdam-based Big Blue is set to produce the upcoming series “Kiss My Feet,” alongside Finnish company Helsinki-filmi.

Selected for Series Mania’s Forum Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, the six-episode drama is created by Daan Gielis and Mark Van De Grift, loosely based on their own experiences.

In the show, successful marketer Max finds himself in a spiritual community in Finland, trying to help out his brother Lucas – apparently, his mysterious guru is interested in building an international brand. Soon, Max and his girlfriend Daphne’s view on family, and trust, will drastically change.

“I know writer Daan Gielis very well, we have worked together before and this project was always simmering somewhere. It’s such an unusual story. Some people are very invested in spiritual communities, others prefer to stay away. What if that division happens within one couple?,” said Big Blue’s CEO Fleur Winters.

The company is also behind...

“Death Is a Problem for the Living,” now also in Italy.

The Finnish black comedy, directed by Teemu Nikki of “Euthanizer” fame, will premiere at the Rome Film Festival in October.

“I am so proud of everything we have made together, especially ‘Euthanizer’ and [Venice Horizons Extra winner] ‘The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic,’ but this one is certainly the most consistent. And the most surprising, because you really don’t know what’s going to happen to these characters,” says Jani Pösö, who produces for Helsinki-based It’s Alive Films.

Co-produced by Andrea Romeo for Italy’s The Culture Business, and scored by Marco Biscarini, it will be distributed in Italy by I Wonder Pictures in the spring, with Scandinavian Film Distribution overseeing the Finnish release.

In the film – previously known as “The Player” – gambling addict Risto (Pekka Strang) and his kind neighbor Arto, who just found out he...

Awards

The European Film Academy has revealed the nominations for Lux – The European Audience Film Award. The award is presented by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy in partnership with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas.

The nominated films are: “20,000 Species of Bees” by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain); “The Teacher’s Lounge” by İlker Çatak (Germany); “Fallen Leaves” by Aki Kaurismäki; “On the Adamant” by Nicolas Philibert; and “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” by Anna Hints.

The five nominated films will now be subtitled in all 24 EU languages. The winner will be determined by the general public and the members of the European Parliament (each holding 50% of the vote) and announced during an awards ceremony in March 2024.

European Film Academy chair and president of the Lux jury Mike Downey said: “We know that cinema not only enhances the imagination but also shows our entire world in multiple perspectives and...

SkyShowtime, the European streaming joint venture of Comcast and Paramount Global has unveiled a teaser trailer for six-part original crime drama series Codename: Annika at the Stockholm International Film Festival outdoor cinema, Sommarbio.

The Finnish-Swedish production, which originally had the working title ID, was part of a deal that the streamer struck early this year with Warner Bros. Discovery for exclusive rights across all of Europe to 21 HBO Max European originals. Codename: Annika will launch on SkyShowtime in September.

Created by Mia Ylönen and Aleksi Bardy of production company Helsinki-Filmi (Tove, Ladies of Steel, Tom of Finland, Heart of a Lion, Lapland Odyssey) and directed by Finnish director Aj Annila (Peacemaker), the show promises to take audiences behind the scenes of the world of high-class art fraud, while also exploring “the reality of navigating a double identity.”

The series stars Sannah Nedergård (Yellow Sulphur Sky) as Finnish art fraud investigator Emma/Annika.

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in 20th Century Studios’ A Haunting In Venice. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

The chilling teaser trailer and poster for Kenneth Branagh’s “A Haunting in Venice,” screened for convention attendees at the 2023 CinemaCon Convention in Las Vegas this week. The unsettling supernatural thriller based upon the novel “Hallowe’en Party” by Agatha Christie and directed by and starring Oscar® winner Kenneth Branagh as famed detective Hercule Poirot, will open in theaters nationwide September 15, 2023.

In addition, Branagh announced that Hildur Guđnadóttir, the acclaimed composer from Iceland who won an Oscar, Golden Globe®, Grammy®, and BAFTA for “Joker” and an Emmy® and Grammy for “Chernobyl,” and who most recently scored “TÁR” and “Women Talking,” will compose the score.

“A Haunting in Venice” is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve and is a terrifying mystery...

The chilling teaser trailer and poster for Kenneth Branagh’s ‘A Haunting in Venice’, was screened for convention attendees at the 2023 CinemaCon Convention in Las Vegas. The unsettling supernatural thriller based upon the novel ‘Hallowe’en Party‘ by Agatha Christie and directed by and starring Oscar® winner Kenneth Branagh as famed detective Hercule Poirot, will open in theatres nationwide September 15, 2023.

In addition, Branagh announced that Hildur Guđnadóttir, the acclaimed composer from Iceland who won an Oscar, Golden Globe®, Grammy®, and BAFTA for “Joker” and an Emmy® and Grammy for “Chernobyl,” and who most recently scored “TÁR” and “Women Talking,” will compose the score.

‘A Haunting in Venice‘ is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve and is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world’s most glamorous city, Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying,...

Set mostly in England, back before it was officially called England — and centuries before Great Britain was so much as a glint in the eye of James I — director Ed Bazalgette’s workmanlike historical epic “The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die” wraps up the events of “The Last Kingdom,” the Netfix drama series based on Bernard Cornwell’s “Saxon Tales” novels. Playing like “Game of Thrones” with more history and fewer dragons, the film opens with several smaller kingdoms, including Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia, gearing up for a power struggle exacerbated by the recent death of Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, and worsened by the surreptitious attempts of the Danes to sow discord.

The hero of the hour is Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon), a young Saxon and the protagonist of the TV series, who fans will know was raised by Danes after a Danish attack wiped out most...

Irish producer and film industry activist Mike Downey has received the inaugural lifetime achievement award of the Stockfish Film Festival in Iceland for his contributions to the international film industry.

The award, presented at a private ceremony Wednesday night, recognizes achievement from professionals in the “academe, production, distribution, film festival and market scenes.”

Downey, founder of Film and Music Entertainment (F&me), has production credits on more than 100 feature films, including Dome Karukoski’s Tom of Finland, Volker Schlöndorff’s Return to Montauk, Agnieszka Holland’s Charlatan and Adrian Sibley’s documentary The Ghost of Richard Harris. He is currently working on Holland’s highly-anticipated upcoming Franz Kafka biopic Kafka. He’s a member of the BAFTA Council, the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

But Downey is arguably better known within the film industry for his tireless activism on behalf of filmmakers in crisis.

REinvent International Sales has inked a raft of deals across its slate of high-concept series, including “Transport” (pictured) and “Enemy of the People,” rolling off of MipTV.

The company has sold both “Transport,” which is penned by Auli Mantila (“Silver Stars”), and the Icelandic comedy series “Ordinary People” to AMC Networks Southern Europe for Spain and Portugal.

“Transport” is an eight-part TV show following a young journalist investigating a chip found in baby food. She crosses paths with an insurance investigator and a bank manager who are both connected to the case. The series stars Emmi Parviainen (“Shadow Lines”), Maria Heiskanen (“Everlasting Moments”), Pirkko Hämäläinen (“Devil’s Bride”) and Geert van Rampelberg (“De Infiltrant”). Miia Haavisto (“Tom of Finland”) and Tia Talli (“Nurses”) at Tekele are producing “Transport.”

“Ordinary People,” which is produced by Glassriver, follows the ups and downs of a friendship between two young women entering adulthood and...

“You’re a horse person?” a Belgian stable owner asks Johanna, a young Finnish journalist delving into the discovery of a microchip in a baby’s meat patty at a Helsinki daycare center. Only creator-director Auli Mantila’s own horse affiliations as a qualified farrier may explain in part one of the most singular of entries at this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize: “Transport.”

This is Scandinavian crime drama, but “ordi-noir,” Mantila told the Nordisk Film & TV Fond newsletter, in that it “happens in broad daylight, involves people with no special talent or trauma, and takes place in locations anyone could just walk in.”

It also addresses a massive but little explored subject, turning on pan-European food fraud which embroils three women: Marianne, a by-the-book bank loans exec forced to money launder earnings of a sinister food import company; an insurance investigator checking the disappearance of a...

Showrun by Oscar-nominated Danish director Lone Sherfig, “The Shift” will battle it out with Series Mania top winner “Blackport” and Canneseries winner “Countrymen” for 2022’s 6th Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize.

Also in contention are Finnish crime drama “Transport” and psychological thriller “Vi y Villa,” an early show from Sweden’s Discovery Plus.

All five titles, however diverse, underscore the strong social issue drive of much upscale Nordic and indeed European drama, affording a snapshot of larger tensions coursing society at large.

Winners of the Nordic TV Drama Screenplay Award, which goes to a show’s main writer, will receive a €20,000 cash prize, announced during the Göteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision, a highlight of the festival, on Feb. 2.

“Good scripts form the basis of our strong Nordic drama series,. Writing talents should be cherished every day and celebrated through script honours and awards,” commented Liselott Forsman, CEO of...

New Regency is expanding in Asia-Pacific with the hire of Ben Bishop as VP of international sales for the region, based out of Sydney.

Prior to joining New Regency, Bishop served as president of international distribution at Vortex International, and international VP of TV sales for Asia-Pacific at “Narcos” producer Gaumont. Before Gaumont, he worked with eOne Television International for 13 years in various roles within the film and TV divisions, culminating in sales director for Australia, New Zealand and Asia. At eOne, Bishop sold projects including “La La Land,” the “Divergent” film series and “The Walking Dead.”

In January 2019, New Regency re-formed its international sales team to take back control of its international television licensing activities. With a long-standing partnership with 20th Century Fox for its global theatrical distribution, the Walt Disney Company also handles the company’s home entertainment and first pay rights. Meanwhile, New Regency’s London-based sales team,...

Two half-hour gems, Finland’s “Mister 8” and Germany’s “The Allegation,” took top-honors on Wednesday night at this year’s Canneseries, now fully consolidated as one of Europe’s major TV festivals.

The prizes are obvious recognition for the two series creators, Finland’s Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö and Germany’s Ferdinand von Schirach, and underscore the spirit of innovation at major TV companies across Europe.

“Mister 8” is backed by Finnish SVOD operator Elisa Viihde, “The Allegation” by Germany’s Rtl Group, which is currently in the throes of a high-end scripted drama revolution as it preps its lineup for its relaunched SVOD service, now called Rtl Plus, which goes live on Nov. 4.

Sold by France’s Federation Entertainment and co-written by director Nikki and producer Pösö, Canneseries best series winner “Mister 8” was described to Variety by Nikki as “a thriller with a comedy plot.”

Shot in black and white,...

Helsinki-filmi also produced ’Tom Of Finland and ’Heart Of A Lion’.

Finland’s Aurora Studios has acquired independent production company Helsinki-filmi, which has credits including Tom Of Finland and Tove.

Helsinki-filmi will continue its operations independently while becoming a subsidiary of Aurora.

Aleksi Bardy, the majority owner of Helsinki-filmi, will become a partner at Aurora and join its executive board while continuing to serve as CEO of the production company. No redundancies will be made as a result of the acquisition.

Previous Helsinki-filmi shareholders Annika Sucksdorff and Dome Karukoski will no longer be part-owners of the company after the acquisition.

The Criterion Channel has unveiled their lineup for next month and it’s another strong slate, featuring retrospectives of Carole Lombard, John Waters, Robert Downey Sr., Luis García Berlanga, Jane Russell, and Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman. Also in the lineup is new additions to their Queersighted series, notably Todd Haynes’ early film Poison (Safe is also premiering in a separate presentation), William Friedkin’s Cruising, and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Teorama.

The new restorations of Manoel de Oliveira’s stunning Francisca and Francesco Rosi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli will join the channel, alongside Agnieszka Holland’s Spoor, Bong Joon Ho’s early short film Incoherence, and Luc Dardenne & Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s Rosetta.

See the lineup below and explore more on criterionchannel.com.

#Blackmendream, Shikeith, 2014

12 Angry Men, Sidney Lumet, 1957

About Tap, George T. Nierenberg, 1985

The AIDS Show, Peter Adair and Rob Epstein, 1986

The Assignation, Curtis Harrington, 1953

Aya of Yop City,...

The hit BBC drama “The Replacement” is set for a Finnish adaptation produced by Helsinki-filmi (“Tove”) for local streamer Elisa Viihde.

The Elisa Viihde original series has started filming in the metropolitan area of Helsinki under the helm of filmmaker Jyri Kähönen. It will launch on Elisa Viihde Viaplay streaming service in 2022, and is being represented in international markets by Sony Pictures Television.

Created by Joe Ahearne and Nicole Cauverien, “The Replacement” is an intense psychological thriller about the fear of losing one’s professional and personal life.

The Finnish adaptation is a three-part series penned by Mia Ylönen (“Tom of Finland”) and Tuuli Hostikka (“Tove”). The cast includes Maria Ylipää (“Arctic Circle”), Pamela Tola (“Ladies of Steel”) and Olavi Uusivirta (“The Sixth Time”). Sara Paavolainen and Eero Saarinen feature in other key roles.

The series will follow Ella, an architect who is about to get the greatest opportunity of her career,...

The 6th edition of MipDrama, launching Friday as part of virtual conference and market event MipTV, showcases new series – most in post-production, a few wrapped – from some of the biggest and most exciting drama series players in the world. Few events will command more attention from buyers. The following are brief profiles of what they’ll be watching:

“Agatha Christie’s Hjerson”

Concept Creator: Patrik Gyllström

Prod Cos: Br•F (Sweden), TV4/CMore(Sweden), Nadcon (Germany), Zdf, Government of Aland, Agatha Christie Ltd.

Distribution Co: Zdfe

Main Broadcasters: TV4/CMore, Zdf

Move over Poirot. The latest Christie sleuth will be a dapper Finnish gourmet who, living in a modern-day Stockholm and hardly concealing his bisexuality, ushers the author and the whodunnit into the 21st century. A light and playful reimagining of a figure who only receives glancing references in Christie’s oeuvre, the series packs a powerful producer punch: Sweden...

AMC Networks has acquired six-part revenge thriller “The Beast Must Die,” produced in partnership with BritBox UK, New Regency Television International and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free.

The series, based on the novel by Nicholas Blake, centers on a grieving mother who infiltrates the life of the man she thinks murdered her son. The program stars “Chernobyl” and “Mad Men” actor Jared Harris, “The Good Wife’s” Cush Jumbo, as well as Billy Howle, Nathaniel Parker, and Geraldine James.

“The Beast Must Die” will premiere on AMC and streaming platform AMC Plus later this year.

“This series will be something special for AMC and our AMC+ subscribers. It continues a legacy of very successful relationships with the brilliant Jared Harris and our friends at Scott Free, and forges new producing partnerships with BritBox and New Regency Television,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks. “The Beast Must Die...

Biopic of Moomins creator Tove Jansson is Finland’s submission for the Oscar.

LevelK has closed a slew of new deals on Tove, the biopic of artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson, which Finland has submitted for the international feature Oscar.

The deals are led by Juno Films, which has acquired US rights, Films We Like for Canada, and Blue Finch Film Releasing for the UK and Ireland.

Further deals include to Switzerland (Dcm), Benelux (Remain in Light), Austria (Polyfilm Verleih), Israel (Dbs Satellite) and Thailand (Movies Matter).

Previously announced sales include to Russia/Cis (Russian World Vision), Baltics (Estin...

The Berlin Festival’s Finnish Shooting Star 2015 Emmi Parviainen (“Shadow Lines”), seasoned actor Maria Heiskanen (“Everlasting Moments”), Pirkko Hämäläinen (“Devil’s Bride”) and Belgian actor Geert van Rampelberg (“De Infiltrant”) are headlining the eight-part TV show “Transport.” Prix Europa winner Auli Mantila will serve as its showrunner.

Lensing the show is veteran DoP J-p Passi, multi-awarded for the film “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olly Mäki” and second unit DoP on “Chernobyl.”

Veteran producer Miia Haavisto (“Tom of Finland”) and Tia Talli (“Nurses”) of Tekele are producing for Finnish pubcaster Yle. Belgium’s Philippe de Schepper (“Black-Out”) and Jonnydepony’S Helen Perquy, an executive producer on “Tabula Rasa,” are co-producing. Nordic global distributor REinvent Studios picked up the show in February.

Producer Haavisto said “Transport” stands out as a crime drama set in the food trade. “It’s the tale of ordinary people under immense pressure, all of...

Finland’s Auli Mantila writes and directs.

Rikke Ennis’ REinvent Studios has boarded sales for suspense drama Transport, as Berlinale Series Market wraps up today (Feb 26).

Finland’s Auli Mantila writes and directs. Producers are Miia Haavisto and Tia Talli, of Finland’s Tekele Productions. Haavisto is a seasoned producer who has also worked on films including Miami, Tom Of Finland and Unknown Soldier. Co-producers are Helen Perquy and Philippe de Schepper of Belgium’s jonnydepony.

The 8 x 50’ series will start shooting in September, in Finnish and English. It explores money laundering and food fraud across Europe, particularly involving horse transport,...

Lucy Bevan, casting director on “Cats” and “Cruella,” is among the jury members for the upcoming edition of European Film Promotion’s annual European Shooting Stars. It selects Europe’s best young acting talent, with the roster unveiled ahead of the Berlin Film Festival in February, where they will receive their awards.

Bevan will be joined on the five-strong jury by Dome Karukoski, the Finnish director of “Tolkien” and other films including “Home of the Dark Butterflies” and “Tom of Finland,” both of which have been his country’s Oscar entries. Vesela Kazakova, the actor-turned-director, whose debut feature “Cat in the Wall” premiered at Locarno, is also on board.

Slovak producer Katarína Krnáčová, vice president of the Slovak Film and Television Academy and producer of “Little Harbour,” which won the Crystal Bear at Berlin in 2017, and German film journalist Rüdiger Sturm round out the judging lineup.

The jury will choose...

Four years after it was founded, the Finnish company is entering its second phase of expansion. Helsinki-based venture capital company Ipr.Vc has announced the creation of a €42 million fund specialised in European film, TV and web content. With this move, the firm is planning to raise about €60-70 million by the end of next year. Ipr.Vc, the first Nordic venture capital investment firm dedicated to media content, was founded four years ago by entrepreneurs Timo Argillander, Tanu-Matti Tuominen and Jarkko Virtanen, and invested €20 million in 16 content projects or companies, and in the development of 14 projects. Some of their backed productions include Miikko Oikkonen’s crime series Bordertown, and features such as Dome Karukoski’s Tom of Finland and Klaus Härö’s One Last Deal. During this second phase of expansion, the funds for which have been raised through a group of institutional, private and public investors, the firm will.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s family and the Tolkien Estate have come forward to disavow the upcoming Fox Searchlight biopic that stars “X-Men” actor Nicholas Hoult as the iconic “Lord of the Rings” author. The film, titled “Tolkien,” is set for release next month. A statement released by both parties says they want to “make clear that they did not approve of, authorize, or participate in the making” of the film and “they do not endorse it or its content in any way.” Tolkien’s family and the Tolkien Estate have not seen the movie but have long turned down agreeing to any official biopics.

“Tolkien” is directed by Dome Karukoski, the Finnish filmmaker behind “The Grump” and “Tom of Finland,” and features a script written by David Gleeson (“Cowboys and Aliens”) and Stephen Beresford (“Pride”). Hoult stars in the title role, while Lily Collins plays Tolkien’s lifelong love and wife Edith Bratt.

Are you a “Lord of the Rings” fan wondering where writer J.R.R. Tolkien found the inspiration to come up with Frodo, Sauron, and the entirety of Middle Earth? If you answered yes, then Fox Searchlight’s upcoming biographical drama “Tolkien” is the movie to see this summer movie season. Giving the “Rings” author the “Finding Neverland” and “Goodbye Christopher Robin” treatment, “Tolkien” looks at the life of the writer before he created Middle Earth.

The official synopsis from Fox Searchlight reads: “‘Tolkien’ explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the ‘fellowship’ apart. All of these experiences would inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-Earth novels.”

“Tolkien” is directed by Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski, best known stateside for his biopic...

Whether it’s J.M. Barrie and “Finding Neverland” or A. A. Milne and “Goodbye Christopher Robin,” no famous author is safe from the biopic treatment in which the origins of his or her greatest literary work is contextualized in their personal lives. Next up in the genre is J. R. R. Tolkien, the English writer who created Middle Earth and wrote the massively successful “The Lord of the Rings” franchise and “The Hobbit,” among other notable works like “The Silmarillion.”

The official synopsis from Fox Searchlight reads: “‘Tolkien’ explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the ‘fellowship’ apart. All of these experiences would inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-Earth novels.”

Nicholas Hoult is taking on the title role,...

The following essay was produced as part of the 2018 Nyff Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring film critics that took place during the 56th edition of the New York Film Festival.

“We could make a beautiful life together.” So pours this utterance, gently from one man’s mouth into another man’s ear in Christophe Honoré’s latest film, “Sorry Angel.” For the speaker, this implied future rests in the distance, bathed in a warm, vivid glow. But to the receiver, the words vibrate like a death rattle. “Sorry Angel” positions itself into a long, somber lineage of HIV/AIDS-crisis-related films set in the nineties, from Robin Campillo’s recent queer activist drama “Bpm (Beats per Minute)” to Gregg Araki’s 1992 blood-stained road movie, “The Living End,” but “Sorry Angel” takes care to show the audience the unsentimental side of a gruesome process of physical change.

When we first meet...

The 11th Annual QFest St. Louis, presented by Cinema St. Louis, is proud to host the local premiere of Finnish biopic Tom Of Finland at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, at the Tivoli Theatre. The event will serve as an early kickoff for the 2018 QFest St. Louis, which will be held April 4-8 at .Zack. QFest’s full schedule will be announced at the Tom Of Finland screening, which is sponsored by Cheap Trx.

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Tom Of Finland is a story of a man who simply wanted to depict the beautiful eroticism of gay men as they are and the trials and tribulations he took in order to do so. The film is more aptly split into thirds each detailing a moment in the life of Touko Laaksonen or “Tom of Finland” as an artist: the first being the time when he kept his art secret, the second...

Chicago – The lights of State Street will be a bit brighter on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 as the Gene Siskel Film Center reopens after five weeks of renovations. New seating, carpeting and wiring was put into place, capping the first major upgrade since the legendary theater opened 17 years ago.

A full slate of films are on tap for Friday, including “Loving Vincent,” “Faces Places,” “Tom of Finland,” “White Sun” and “Keep Talking.” Click the link below for details and show times.

Newly Renovated Seats in the Main Theater at the Gene Siskel Film Center

Photo credit: SiskelFilmCenter.org

The Gene Siskel Film Center is part of the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, and presents film festival celebrations (including the Black Harvest Film Festival every August), restorations, cutting edge new films and discussions/filmmaker appearances with many screenings. For more information, click here.

The Gene Siskel Film Center is located at 164 North State Street in Chicago.

John Waters has been called the “Pope of Filth,” the “Sultan of Sleeze,” the “Prince of Puke,” and the “King of Bad Taste.” Naturally, who wouldn’t want to know his favorite films of the year? Known for pushing the envelope over the edge and back again with iconic films like “Cry Baby,” “Pink Flamingoes,” and “Hairspray,” the cult filmmaker is a devoted cinephile with a wide range of interests. Waters always has a few surprises on his yearly top ten list, and 2017 is no exception.

Topping the list is Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver,” a somewhat surprising choice for the fan of all things trashy and grotesque. Making a strong showing in third place is “The Strange Ones,” a psychological thriller and feature debut by Christopher Radcliff & Lauren Wolkstein. Waters also liked Todd Haynes’ “Wonderstruck” and Woody Allen’s “Wonder Wheel.”

Read More:John Waters Touts New Indie Theater...

The onslaught of best-of-the-year lists from guilds and critics groups have only just begun, but one of the few of genuine interest each year comes from a single person: the wonderfully eccentric director John Waters, whose eclectic tastes always includes a mix of the unexpected and underseen.

Topping his list this year is Edgar Wright’s action-romance Baby Driver, which was a bright spot this past summer. Also named is one of the best-directed films of the year—and one that should be getting more love in year-end wrap-ups—Bertrand Bonello’s uncompromising Nocturama. Waters also includes a pair of Amazon Studios releases: Wonderstruck and Wonder Wheel, as well as an early 2018 release we’re looking forward to, The Strange Ones.

Check out the list below courtesy of Chaos Reigns.

1. Baby Driver (Edgar Wright)

2. I, Olga Hepnarová (Tomáš Weinreb & Petr Kazda)

3. The Strange Ones (Christopher Radcliff & Lauren Wolkstein)

4. Nocturama (Bertrand Bonello...

European Film Promotion highlights 28 European films for the 90th Academy AwardsPutting a spotlight on a record number of 28 European Oscar® entries, Efp (European Film Promotion) offers additional screenings of the films in L.A. for Academy members, journalists, U.S. distributors and international buyers. With the special support of the Efp member organizations, the event helps the productions to stand out among a record number of 92 submissions for the 90th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

This year the Efp Screenings Of Oscar® Entries From Europe were held from November 2–15 at the state of the art Dick Clark Screening Room. The campaign is financially supported by the Creative Europe — Media Programme of the European Union and the participating Efp member organizations.

Many of the European Oscar submissions feature European Shooting Stars or were made by Efp-related filmmakers. Notably four films were realized by participants of this year’s edition...

Premiering at Goteborg Film Festival where it won the Fipresci Prize and moving on to Tribeca before playing many other festivals, Tom of Finland would seem to be testing the Academy with such a gay subject, but no more so than France with Bpm, Beats Per Minute, and South Africa’s The Wound, or in the past with Milk and the Celluloid Closet, and certainly within the context of the Academy Awards’ diversity this season, with Moonlight, a possible winner of best picture, and Luca Guadagnino’s stunningly beautiful Call Me by Your Name with Armie Hammer looking to make a run at Best Actor, the Academy’s spotty record of recognizing gay-themed cinema may be improving.

Obviously, with such iconic art, the Lgbtq world would be writing at length about this film and here I quote Blade, America’s Lgbt News Source article by Michael Jortner:

But what...

Pekka Strang, the Finnish actor-director who stars in the upcoming Dome Karukoski-helmed film Tom of Finland, wishes he could have met the title character of the biopic, whose real name was Touko Laaksonen. Pekka Strang Talks Tom Of Finland Laaksonen was an iconic artist who depicted erotic gay art. His subversive style was not accepted during his lifetime, but […]

Source: uInterview

The post Pekka Strang On ‘Tom Of Finland,’ Tom’s Legacy [Video Exclusive] appeared first on uInterview.

Exclusive: Irish actor Colm Meaney has been cast in the role of Father Francis in the Fox Searchlight film Tolkien. He joins Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins in the film that was written by David Gleeson and is being directed by Tom of Finland‘s Dome Karukoski. Chernin Entertainment will produce alongside Kris Thykier. Tolkien explores the formative years of the orphaned author J.R.R. Tolkien as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a fellow group of…...

A man named Touko Laaksonen gained notoriety in the gay community under the name Tom of Finland for his erotic artwork, which featured butch muscle men in the tightest possible pants engaging each other with their exuberantly large members. His drawings are knowingly exaggerated and uncomplicatedly celebratory of images of male power like cops and bikers. Director Dome Karukoski’s disappointingly tame biopic “Tom of Finland” positions Tom (Pekka Strang) as an unlikely gay pioneer who fights on the Finnish side against the Russians in World War II and finds time to cruise for men in between missions. (Karukoski even cross-cuts.

Tom Of Finland Kino Lorber Director: Dome Karukoski Written by: Aleksi Bardy based on a story by Aleksi Bardy and Dome Karukoski Cast: Pekka Strang, Lauri Tilkanen, Jessica Grabowsky, Taisto Oksanen, Seumas Sargent, Niklas Hogner, Jakob Oftebro, Kari Hietalahti Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 10/7/17 Opens: October 13, 2017 Given that Norway and Denmark were […]

The post Tom of Finland Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

The final deadline for submitting each country’s film for consideration for the foreign-language Oscar was October 2. Last year 85 were finally deemed eligible by the Academy; this year the number is a record 92. Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants. These films are vying for the initial shortlist of 9, and final five nominations to be announced on January 23. See the final list below.

Read More:Oscar Announces Changes for Foreign-Film Voting: Now Simpler! (Sort Of.)

The frontrunners include Sweden selected Ruben Östlund’s hilarious Palme d’Or-winner “The Square” (October 27, Magnolia Pictures), an art-world satire shot in majority Swedish with some English from stars Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, and Dominic West, thus giving Östlund another shot after “Force Majeure” was a surprise 2015 Oscar omission.

Germany’s choice, Fatih Akin’s “In the Fade” (December 27, Magnolia Pictures), won Best Actress for Diane Kruger at Cannes.

The final deadline for submitting each country’s film for consideration for the foreign-language Oscar was October 2. Last year 85 were finally deemed eligible by the Academy; this year the number is a record 92. Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants. These films are vying for the initial shortlist of 9, and final five nominations to be announced on January 23. See the final list below.

Read More:Oscar Announces Changes for Foreign-Film Voting: Now Simpler! (Sort Of.)

The frontrunners include Sweden selected Ruben Östlund’s hilarious Palme d’Or-winner “The Square” (October 27, Magnolia Pictures), an art-world satire shot in majority Swedish with some English from stars Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, and Dominic West, thus giving Östlund another shot after “Force Majeure” was a surprise 2015 Oscar omission.

Germany’s choice, Fatih Akin’s “In the Fade” (December 27, Magnolia Pictures), won Best Actress for Diane Kruger at Cannes.

Dome Karukoski’s critically acclaimed Tom of Finland, the film which has already been selected as Finland’s official submission to this year’s Academy Awards to be considered for Best Foreign Film, has just dropped its trailer. The director, who has been highly sought after since Tom of Finland bowed, is currently signed on for Tolkien for Chernin Entertainment and Fox Searchlight. Tom of Finland will release in Oct. in select cities (see below) from Kino Lorber. Tom of Fi…...

"Conquer America for me." Kino Lorber has debuted an official trailer for the Finnish indie drama Tom of Finland, a fictional feature film profile of the Finnish man who became known as "Tom of Finland". After returning home from WWII, Touko Laaksonen fled to America to escape homosexual persecution. There he established himself as one of the most influential and celebrated figures of 20th century gay culture. "Tom of Finland" drew erotic art of gay men, most often wearing leather outfits, which became a symbol of gay culture at the time. Pekka Strang plays "Tom of Finland", with a cast including Lauri Tilkanen, Jessica Grabowsky, Werner Daehn, and Kari Hietalahti. This premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, and played at numerous other film festivals. It looks like it has a strong lead performance at least. Here's the first trailer (+ poster) for Dome Karukoski's Tom of Finland,...

Finland has selected Dome Karukoski's Tom of Finland as its candidate for best foreign-language film Oscar consideration.

The story of the life of artist Touko Laaksanon, who created and drew early gay icons under the name Tom of Finland, has already attracted international attention and won a Fipresci prize at Sweden's Gothenburg film festival. It is also shortlisted for the European Film Awards this year.

Finland's Oscars selection committee, which is made up of Finnish film professionals, said Monday that Tom of Finland was a "beautiful portrait of one of the most internationally famous Finns." The...

Pekka Strang gives a fine performance as Touko Laaksonen, whose leather-wearing fantasy men were an inspiration for generations to come

The story of Touko Laaksonen, the artist who helped shape the tastes of a generation of gay men, Tom of Finland is almost as handsome and glossy as the drawings of luxuriantly leather-clad fantasy figures with which he made his name. Having served during the second world war with distinction, Laaksonen (a sober, watchful performance from Pekka Strang) returns home to Finland to be reminded that, as a gay man, he is perceived as the enemy.

In a society that considered homosexuality a crime or a deviance, Laaksonen, using the pen name Tom of Finland, imagined an unfettered alternative – a sexuality that filled its figure-hugging trousers with joy and promise, along with other more obvious attributes. While Dome Karukoski’s film-making feels quite cautious next to the balls-out bravery of his subject,...

Dome Karukoski: 'When discussing with the hardcore Tom fans, the answer often was: The drawings are my sex, now I want to see the story behind the artist' Photo: Kino Lorber Dome Karukoski: 'I’ve always been an outsider. I relate to that' Photo: Kino Lorber Biopic Tom Of Finland – written by Aleksi Bardi and directed Dome Karukoski, who has recently announced a Jrr Tolkien biopic is his next project – tells the story of the Finnish artist behind the drawings that fuelled much of the gay iconography of the Seventies and Eighties. The film, starring Pekka Strang as the artist, tracks Touko Laaksonen from his experiences in the Second World War to his development of the pen name Tom of Finland – necessary because of his homeland’s draconian anti-gay laws – up to the loss and grief of the AIDS epidemic. We caught up with him via email to chat about the film.

Pekka Strang stars as the Finnish wartime artist Touko Laaksonen, whose homoerotic illustrations helped create the iconography of gay culture

Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen, known by his nom de plume Tom of Finland, is brought above the radar of cultural history in this well-acted biopic.

In postwar Helsinki, in conditions of the gravest illegality, Laaksonen produced thousands on thousands of homoerotic fetish illustrations, showing bulgingly endowed leather-clad guys having an unapologetic good time. Tom of Finland’s work reached the liberated Us in the 1960s via mail order, and he became a counterculture hero of gay liberation, virtually inventing a whole language of hedonism that influenced Queen, the Village People and the club scene.

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