04/10/2012 - Mika Kaurismäki's new feature about the reunion of son and father exceeds 200,000 admissions domestically and wins the Audience Award at the St Petersburg Film Festival

On the local charts for six weeks as an SF Film release, from a total of 204,597 admissions, Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki's new feature, Road North [+see also:
trailer
film profile], is only the second Finnish film to pass 200,000 admissions this year, and it is not only popular among the Finns.

Last weekend (October 3) his own Marianna Films Oy production received the Audience Award at the 1st St Petersburg International Film Festival (replacing the St Petersburg Kinoforum, which has turned into an umbrella for three other local film events). Voters gave it 4.8 stars out of five.

Starring Vesa-Matti Loiri and Samuli Edelmann, and scripted by Sami Keski-Vähälä with Kaurismäki, Road North is the story of Timo, an concert pianist, who one day finds a shabby-looking man at his door – his father, who left the country when Timo was three. They embark on a journey to the north of Finland and learn to know each other again.

The film was not Kaurismäki's only entry in this week’s list of Top Ten Films – he also produced Finnish director Arto Koskinen's documentary, Litmanen-The King, portraying legendary footballer Jari Litmanen. Also an SF release, the film came in No 5, selling 6,133 tickets during the opening week.

The Finnish director is currently preparing his €8 million new version of Kristina of Sweden, starring Swedish actress Malin Buska (who takes over the role from Greta Garbo in US director Ruben Mamoulian's Queen Christina (1933).

Scripted by Canadian award-winning screenwriter Michel Marc Bouchard, the production by Sweden's Anagram, Marianna Films, Canada’s Triptych Media, Germany's Starhaus Filmproduktion and France's Arsam is scheduled to commence principal photography in February 2013 on Swedish locations.