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RELEASES Finland

Hella W biopic on Finnish screens

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The Finnish/Estonian co-production Hella W [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, directed by Juha Wuolijoki, comes out on 70 Finnish screens today courtesy of Sandrew Metronome.

Wuolijoki’s debut feature, Christmas Story [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, was the number one film at the 2007 Finnish box office and sold to 120 world territories. His new film, the biopic Hella W, set in Finland between 1920-1940, centres on the life and work of Estonian-born Finnish playwright, businesswoman and politician Hella Wuolijoki.

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“After Shakespeare, her plays were the performed the most in Finland, and she collaborated with Bertolt Brecht,” said Wuolijoki, who is distantly connected to the historical figure. “The most fascinating about her was that she had a complex personality. She was very wealthy and yet claimed to be a Socialist. She was also convicted for spying for the Russians in 1943 and put in jail. She managed to escape death row by only one vote. Just one year after her release in 1944, she became managing director of Finnish public broadcaster YLE.”

Tiina Weckström stars as Wuolijoki, alongside Hannu-Pekka Björkman and Maria Heiskanen. The €2m film was produced by Wuolijoki’s Snapper Films, and co-produced by Riina Sildos’s Estonian company Amrion, with co-financing from YLE and support from the Finnish Film Foundation and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Next on Snapper’s agenda is the screen adaptation of Timo Parvela’s best-selling children’s books based on the character Ella. The first film of the series, Ella and Friends, is to be directed by Taneli Mustonen and will most likely start shooting this summer.

The company is also co-producing the French film Let My People Go by first-time director Mikaël Buch, starring Nicolas Maury, Carmen Maura, Jean-François Stevenin, Jarko Niemi and Outi Mäenpää. The film is currently in post-production.

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