Niko the reindeer conquers festivals and audiences
by Annika Pham
The Finnish/Danish/Irish/German co-production Niko & the Way to the Stars [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is breaking box office records in Finland and last Saturday picked up the Jury and Audience awards at Cinekid in Amsterdam.
This is the first time that a film has received both prizes, worth €15,000 each. Co-directors Michael Hegner and Kari Juusonen were on hand in Amsterdam to receive the awards at one of the top children’s film festivals in the world.
The 3D animated film produced by Anima Vitae and Cinemaker (Finland), A Film (Denmark), Magma Films (Ireland) and Ulysses (Germany) opened three weeks ago in Finland and has already sold 103,275 admissions from 66 screens.
The story of the little reindeer who wants to become one of Santa’s elite flying reindeer, just like his father whom he has never met, will most likely become the biggest local film of the Finnish box office in 2008.
The successful title was one of the most expensive Finnish films ever made (€6.1m) and the fastest to sell to a record number of international territories (over 100). The next countries where Niko will be released include Sweden (November 7), Denmark (December 12), Holland and France (December 17).
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