22/10/2024 - The funding body has given out a total of €704,000 in support to the new projects by Tonislav Hristov, Teemu Nikki and more

Truth.com by Tonislav Hristov, which has received €160,000 in funding

Earlier in October, the Finnish Film Foundation gave out a total of €704,000 in production support to projects that include five documentaries, one short and two minority co-productions.

In Truth.com, a documentary feature by Tonislav Hristov – produced by Making Movies – a female journalist investigates fake news and trolling in the Balkans. Described as “a documentary about fakes that fly while facts stay put”, the film received €160,000. Before this, Hristov made The Magic Life of V [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Good Postman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

Making Movies is also behind Able Archer ’83 by Jani Peltonen, which received €52,000 and will go back in time to autumn 1983 and take viewers on a “nocturnal drive in the city of Helsinki”.

Polygraf received €182,000 for Fruitcakes – The Dawn of Drag, recently spotlighted during the Finnish Film Affair industry event. The doc, directed by Vesa Kuosmanen, will focus on Finnish drag-queen pioneers. Sandra Enkvist produces the story, which follows retired archivist Jolanda, who recalls his beloved friend Mummo. In 1979, they performed together in Finland’s first drag show, Happy Gays. Now, with a filmmaker, Jolanda invites a new generation of queer drag artists to re-enact their friendship.

Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason, behind the well-received Godland [+see also:
film review
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interview: Elliott Crosset Hove
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile], also got some attention – his film On Land and Sea, produced by Snowglobe and co-produced by Aamu Film Company, received €160,000. Diving into the lives of two families – Danish and Icelandic – that cultivate the rough land on the coast of Iceland through the changing seasons, the film is a co-production between Denmark, Iceland, France, Sweden and Finland. Because of climate change, the Danish family decides to build a raft and sail to a part of the island that is better suited for living, but they soon come to understand that from now on, they will live and die together. Katrin Pors, Jussi Rantamäki and Didar Domehri are producing.

Mörkö by Emilia Hernesniemi, produced by Venla Hellstedt for Dionysos Films, was given €68,000 and Jaana Puhakka’s Naurua pimeässä €64,000. Elokuvatuotanto Kuvani produces the latter.

The series Our Love, another co-production (this time between Sweden and Finland), received €51,000. Directed by Hannah Reinikainen and Lia Hietala, it zooms in on a group of teenagers. They are 14 years old, and the world seems full of opportunities, but suddenly, puberty hits, along with all the drama that comes with it. Melissa Lindgren and Marianne Mäkelä are producing for Story and napafilms, respectively.

Finally, Teemu Nikki is readying his short film Placeholder (€55,000), produced by Aino Suvanto for It’s Alive Films. Nikki is known for the features Euthanizer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teemu Nikki
film profile] and The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö
interview: Teemu Nikki, Jani Pösö an…
film profile].