Local films keep up good business

by Annika Pham

05/10/2007 - New local films opened strong in several Scandinavian countries last weekend, reinforcing the position of domestic films on home turf.

In Finland, JP Siili’s Ganes, the story of the famous Finnish rock band Hurriganes produced by Helsinki Filmi, had a remarkable opening with over 25,000 admissions from 52 screens for FS.

Two other local films stayed in the Top 10: The Matriarch by Markku Pölönen was number three after its third weekend (32,829 admissions), and Colorado Avenue [trailer] by Claes Olsson number eight (28,987 admissions for Sandrew Metronome). The three local films had a combined Top 10 market share of 47% last weekend.

In Norway, Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfen’s newly released thriller Bitter Flowers [trailer] took second place in the Top 10, selling 23,230 tickets from 84 prints in three days for SF Norge. Another SF title, Gone With the Woman [trailer] (Norway’s Oscar nomination entry), was sixth with 112,094 admissions in one month. The children’s film Radio Pirates (Nordisk Film) slid from fifth to tenth position.

Today’s new European release is the German Requiem [trailer, film focus] (Tour de Force).

In Denmark, Paprika Steen’s With Your Permission [trailer], released this weekend, had the second best screen average after the Viggo Mortensen vehicle Eastern Promises, last weekend’s biggest hit. Steen’s film took third place with 18,446 admissions from 44 screens for Nordisk Film.

At number eight, Ole Bornedal’s thriller Just Another Love Story [trailer] is still going strongly after six weeks (206,456 admissions in total for SF). Today’s new European openers are German title Counterfeiters [trailer] (Nordisk Film), and the German/French Zaina: Rider of the Atlas (Øst for Paradis).

In Sweden, six European films were in the Top Ten. The Norwegian animated film Elias and the Royal Yacht released by SF opened at number five, just above the Swedish hit Wonderful and Loved by All by Hannes Holm (Walt Disney). The family film Ett öga rött (Sonet Film) grabbed seventh place after a month on release. At number eight was the French film Hunting and Gathering [trailer] (SF), followed by the UK film This is England [trailer] (over 80,000 admissions for NonStop).

Åke Sandgren’s To Love Someone, freshly released by Nordisk Film, had the second best screen average and ranked tenth. Today’s new Swedish opener through Nordisk Film is Black Island Sisters by Agneta Fagerström-Olsson, produced by Giraff Film.

In Iceland, Astrópia by first-time director Gunnar B. Gudmundsson is still number two after six weeks. The fantasy/comedy film produced by Julius Kemp has now passed 40,000 admissions for SamFilm, making it one of the year’s biggest hits. Another local film, Gudny Halldorsdottir’s The Quiet Storm, released by Sena, was number four last weekend after four weeks, with 11,687 admissions.