17/02/2012

Norwegian director Aleksander Nordaas’s fantasy-thriller Thale, and Finnish director Timo Vuorensola’s dark sci-fi comedy Iron Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tero Kaukomaa
interview: Timo Vuorensola
interview: Timo Vuorensola
film profile], have both been selected for the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas - originally a music festival, now also a major showcase for genre films, which runs from March 9-18.

Thale, which will be domestically released by Euforia Film on February 17, will screen in the Emerging Vision section, while Iron Sky – which had its international launch as a Panorama Special on February 11 in the Berlin International Film Festival – will unspool in the Midnight Programme.

Starring Silje Reinåmo, Erlend Nervold and Jon Sigve Skard, Thale – which is based on the Huldra myth in Norwegian folklore - follows two crime-scene cleaners who discover a hidden cellar under a cabin – with a mysterious girl and a secret some would go far to keep. It is Nordaas’s second feature produced by Bendik Heggen Strønstad for Yesbox Productions, after Circle (2005), which earned him the Young Talent award at the Bergen International Film Festival.

Scheduled for an April 4 local release by BVI Finland, Iron Sky offers an alternate take on history: instead of flat out losing World War II in 1945, a large group of Nazis flee to the dark side of the Moon. Now, in 2018, they are poised to attack the unsuspecting Earth with a massive armada of flying saucers. The international cast for the €7.5 million production includes Christopher Kirby, Julia Dietze, Götz Otto, Peta Sergeant, Udo Kier and Stephanie Paul.

The theatrical trailor Iron Sky producer Tero Kaukomaa released on February 9 exceeded one million views on the web within 24 hours. Before the world premiere, UK international sales outfit Stealth Media Group has licensed the film to more than 20 territories, including ongoing negotations with the US, Russia and India.