Yellow Affair on Mika Kaurismäki’s Road North

by Annika Pham

17/05/2012 - For her third year on the Croisette with her Finnish/Swedish sales outfit Yellow Affair, Managing Director Miira Paasilinna is expecting brisk business on Mika Kaurismäki’s upcoming drama comedy Road North. The film is one of three titles screening at the market.

Produced by the eldest of the two Kaurismäki brothers, Mika (photo), for his company Marianna Films Oy, Road North is the story of an esteemed concert pianist who one day, finds an old man at his door, who turns out to be his estranged father that he hasn’t seen in 35 years. “It’s a warm and touching story with Mika’s trademark dark humour, but most importantly of all it boasts a universal theme of the often tenuous bond between father and son,” said Yellow Affair Managing Director Miira Paasilinna. The sales agent, who is receiving buyers at the Scandinavian Terrace, 55 La Croisette, says the closed screening of Road North on Sunday is already full. The film will be released domestically in August.

Eat Sleep Die by Swedish first-timer Gabriela Pichler is also having a closed-market screening. It’s the story of an underdog immigrant living in small-town Sweden who makes the most of her rugged life. The film is produced by Anagram Film. The third market premiere is the Finnish film Hush [trailer] by Jyri Kähönen, an action-packed thriller that asks the question of how far someone is willing to go for love. Helsinki Filmi Oy, one of Finland’s most established companies, is producing.

Yellow Affair is also representing the Critics’ Week short film entry Family Dinner by Romanian-born Stefan Contantinescou, and the director’s upcoming feature debut Viking Line Story. The co-production between Sweden (Atmo), Finland (Kinoproduction Oy) and Romania (HiFilm ) is set to start filming in the spring 2013.