Ulla Heikkilä’s sophomore feature, Summer Is Crazy, is now in post-production, Cineuropa has learnt. The pic was shot on location in Nagu and Helsinki.

The writer-director’s debut feature, Eden [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ulla Heikkilä
scheda film], was a coming-of-age dramedy set in a religious summer camp and premiered in 2020. Her other directing credits include the Elisa Viihde drama Are We Still Us (2023) and the second season of YLE’s popular coming-of-age series Alpha (2022). Moreover, her shorts Golgotha (2016), #Barewithme (2017) and Let Her Speak (2019) have been screened at various festivals around the world.

Set in the Finnish archipelago during the midsummer week, Heikkilä’s new endeavour is an ensemble film that follows the dreams and disappointments of one family, and their friends and lovers. After the bankruptcy of their fine-dining restaurant, the Eerolas are stuck in the seaside village of Nagu with no clear plan for the future. In the shadow of the father’s depression, both the mother and the teenage daughter rebel against this stagnant life, each in their own way. In the magical light of the midnight sun, new loves begin while others come to an end.

Key cast members are Pirjo Lonka (100 Litres of Gold [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Teemu Nikki
scheda film]), Jani Volanen (Hatching [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Hanna Bergholm
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intervista: Kārlis Arnolds Avots
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intervista: Alli Haapasalo
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intervista: Mykko Myllylahti
scheda film]), Pia Andersson and Tommi Eronen (The Missile [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]). The technical crew includes DoP Sari Aaltonen, production designer Juha-Matti Toppinen, costume designer Roosa Marttiini, make-up designer Kaisu Hölttä, editor Hanna Kuirinlahti, sound designer Arttu Hokkanen and composer Matti Ahopelto.

Budgeted at €1,320,500, Summer Is Crazy is being staged by Marja Pihlaja for Helsinki-based outfit Tekele Productions, with backing from the Finnish Film Foundation, YLE, SF Studios and Creative Europe – MEDIA.

“Summer Is Crazy is a wonderful film set in the Finnish summer. It’s great to once again be working with writer-director Ulla Heikkilä, whom we partnered with on Eden,” commented Pihlaja.

“In these undoubtedly idyllic surroundings, we follow one family, the Eerolas, and their entourage: they’re an undoubtedly unsatisfied bunch. Each character has their own strategy to run away from the disappointment called life – affairs, cynicism, ambition or alcohol. But with all the running in the world, there is one thing that you cannot escape: yourself. Summer Is Crazy is a bittersweet symphony of desires and regrets, of loves’ beginnings and of loves coming to end. Sometimes pain and joy flourish in the same place. The midsummer night will be filled with light,” adds the director.

The pic’s domestic premiere is slated for Q3 2025.