02/06/2005

Klaus Härö, the director of multi-award winning film Elina has just completed his second feature film, Mother of Mine produced by Ilkka Matila for MRP - Matila & Rohr Productions.

Loosely based on Heikki Hietamies’ eponymous novel, the film is the first ever fictional feature about war children, the story of 9-year-old Eero whose mother Kirsti sends him to Sweden away from the war after his father’s death on the front. But life in a new country with a new home and a new family is not so easy and Eero has a hard time adjusting to his new environment.
In the lead roles are 10 year old Topi Majamäki, found through an extensive casting, Marjaana Maijala, Esko Salminen, veteran actress Aino-Maija Tikkanen as well as Swedish actors Michael Nyqvist and Maria Lundqvist.
Speaking about his film, the 34-year-old director said: "Although Mother Of Mine is situated in war time, it has many connections to our days. The same feelings of insecurity and rootlessness are familiar for refugee children and also many children whose parents are divorced."

The film will be released in Finland by Nordisk Film/Columbia TriStar next September, and Nordisk’s sales arm handles worldwide sales.