07/05/2009

The Finnish Film Foundation has awarded a total of €1.3m in production support to seven films including Arto Halonen’s feature film Princess, Estonia’s Letters to Ingela, Germany’s Father, Son and Holy Cow and the documentary Rules of Single Life by Bulgarian-born Tonislav Hristov.

Halonen, Finland’s top documentary filmmaker (Shadow of the Holy Book [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) will start filming Princess this summer. The €1.5m film was chosen “Most Marketable Project” at the Baltic Event Market in Tallinn last December. Based on a true story, it tells of a woman, diagnosed as manic depressive with symptoms of schizophrenia, who brings joy to the people around her at a psychiatric hospital. The Art Films production will be distributed by Sandrew Metronome in autumn 2010.

Sulev Keedus’ Letters to Ingela is the story of a soldier who returns home to Estonia after fighting in the Afghan War, during which he converted to Islam. The Estonian/Dutch/Finnish co-production is produced in Finland by Frame Productions.

Father, Son and Holy Cow by Radek Wegrzyn is the story of a man mourning the death of his wife, who believes she has come back in the shape of a cow. The €1.1m film produced by Germany’s Black Forest Films with Detail Film, is co-produced in Poland by Café Production/Paisa with Finland’s Snapper Films. The film will start filming in June. Sales are handled by Bavaria Film International.

Gimme Some Respect (Vähän kunnioitusta) is a new project by sound designer/filmmaker Pekka Karjalainen, Academy Award-nominated in 1994 for Hysteria. The Meguru production will start filming on May 12. Walt Disney Studios Finland will release it in the spring 2010.

Three documentaries were also granted production support, including the Finnish/Bulgarian co-production Rules of Single Life and The Spy-XV/11/69 by Pekka Lehto (The Well).