Match Factory picks up Kaurismäki’s Le Havre
by Annika Pham
German sales company The Match Factory has picked up world sales rights to Le Havre, the first French-language film by iconic Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki.
According to Hanna Hemila, who works for Kaurismäki’s production outfit Sputnik Oy and will act as line producer on the project,Le Havre will start shooting on location in the French city in March. Scripted by Kaurismäki, it is about a shoe shiner who tries to save a child refugee.
“Aki has had this project in mind for a very long time, and wrote the script last summer. He is totally prepared for shooting,” said Hemila. Le Havre stars André Wilms, Kaurismäki’s favourite actress Kati Outinen, Blondin Miguel, Elina Salo and Ilkka Koivula.
The €3.8m film is produced by Sputnik in co-production with France’s Pyramide and Germany’s Pandora, long-time supporters of Kaurismäki’s work and co-producers of his last film Lights in the Dusk [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2006). Le Havre is co-financed by Finnish public broadcaster YLE and received support from the Finnish Film Foundation. Sandrew Metronome will handle the domestic release on March 4, 2011.
Hemila is at the Berlinale to support Aleksi Salmenperä’s Bad Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (see review), which screened a few days ago in the Panorama sidebar. The film is produced by Kaurismäki.
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