11/03/2003 - Klaus Härö's film, a Swedish-Finnish co-production, wins Canada's International Children's Film Festival

Klaus Härö’s Swedish-Finnish co-production, Elina, won the Grand Prix de Montréal at the International Film Festival that ended on 9 March.
The children's film won for “its acting, its amazing photography and the important subjects of mourning a loved one and manifesting one’s pride in oneself, specially in the context of belonging to a minority”.
Elina, which won the Crystal Bear at the last Berlin Film Festival’s Kinderfilmfest, was co-produced by Sweden’s FilmLance International and Finland’s Kinoproduction Oy. Set in the 1950s, it is the story of a 9-year-old girl, Elina, (Natalie Minnevik) who belongs to the Finnish minority of northern Sweden and lives with her widowed mother and two younger siblings. A strict Swedish mistress (Bibi Andersson) tries to force the Finnish children to speak Swedish, but Elina rebels and defends a classmate who she feels has been unjustly punished.
Elina was released by Sonet Film in Sweden on 31 January and has reported over 42.000 admissions to date. Nordisk Film International Sales are handling the worldwide sales.

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