15/10/2010

Over 1.2 million tickets have been sold for domestic films since the beginning of the year, up more than 150% from 2009, according to the Finnish Film Foundation.

With a 22% share of the local market so far, Finnish cinema seems to be back to its 2008 level (23%) after a dip in 2009 (15%).

For the fifth consecutive week, Arto Halonen’s Princess tops the local box office, and total admissions have exceeded 170,000. The story of a woman judged to be ill by society, who heals and brings joy to the people around her, is based on a true story. Anna Lappalainen (1896-1988) spent over 50 years at a psychiatric hospital, but her charisma and joyfulness made her a legend among fellow patients.

The debut feature by established documentary filmmaker Halonen had its world premiere at Montreal's World Film Festival. It was produced by the director’s outfit Art Films Production and released in Finland by Sandrew Metronome.

Another Finnish film was number six last weekend: the war drama Under the North Star 2 by Timo Koivusalo. The film has sold over 46,000 tickets so far after three weeks on national screens through Walt Disney Studios.

Tomorrow, local comedy road movie Lapland Odyssey will be released on 80 screens by Sandrew Metronome. Expectations are high for the newest film by Dome Karukoski, whose previous works have all exceeded 114,000 admissions in Finland.