News

At its latest edition, which takes place parallel to the Helsinki Intl. Film Festival — Love & Anarchy, the Finnish Film Affair will again host its well-received Nordic Flair training program, an initiative designed to offer career development for film professionals from across the Nordic region.

After a 2022 edition that focused on sales agents, distributors, buyers and broadcast commissioners, this year’s event will host actors working in one or more of the Nordic countries. Maria Pirkkalainen-Barber, head of Finnish Film Affair and Nordic Flair, says the goal in Helsinki is to offer a launching pad for rising talents looking to take the next step in their careers.

“The opportunities for actors to develop their own chances for an international breakthrough can be challenging, and access to agents and casting directors is competitive. Not to mention how the pandemic years made it more difficult for actors to build international networks,” Pirkkalainen-Barber says.

Ruben Ostlund’s satire won awards including best film and best director.

Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle of Sadness swept Sweden’s Guldbagge Awards on Monday night, winning six prizes including best film and best director.

The satire also won best actress in a supporting role for Dolly de Leon, who recently secured a Bafta nomination for her performance as cleaner-turned-leader Abigail, and best actor in a supporting role for Croatian actor Zlatko Burić.

Sofie Krunegård won the best costume design prize and Stefanie Gredig won the best makeup award for their work on the film.

Triangle Of Sadness won the...

Ruben Östlund’s Oscar contender Triangle of Sadness continues to build award buzz, on Monday night sweeping Sweden’s Guldbagge Awards, taking six trophies, including Best Film and Best Director.

The capitalism satire also picked up Best Supporting Actress trophy for Dolly de Leon, the Filipino breakout whose turn in Triangle as Abigail —a cleaner on a luxury yacht who becomes the de facto leader of the one-percenters left over after a shipwreck —has put her on Hollywood’s radar.

Croatian actor Zlatko Burić, a scene-stealer in Triangle as the obnoxious Russian billionaire Dimitry, took the Best Supporting Actor nod, just a month after scooping the same prize at the European Film Awards. Sofie Krunegård also won the Guldbagge for Best Costume Design for Triangle, and Stefanie Gredig took the award for Best Make-Up.

Östlund’s dramedy, which co-stars Harris Dickinson, Woody Harrelson, and the late Charlbi Dean, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival,...

The award honours films for teenagers aged 12-14.

The European Film Academy has nominated Cyril Dion’s Animal, Sanna Lenken’s Comedy Queen and Lars Montag’s Dreams Are Like Wild Tigers for its 2022 Young Audience Award (Yaa).

Selected by film experts and teenagers around Europe, the three films will now be watched online and in cinemas by young juries in 42 countries.

The recipient of the award, which honours European films for teenagers aged 12-14, will be announced at an awards ceremony on November 13 in Erfut, Germany.

In Animal, Dion follows two teenagers who travel around the world to meet...

REinvent International Sales has closed on several deals Alex Herron’s English-language horror thriller “Dark Windows” after unveiling the movie’s first footage at Cannes.

“Dark Windows” is being sold as part of REinvent Chills’ label for genre films. The story is about four teenagers who were involved in a car crash and decide to stay at a summerhouse in the countryside to work through their grief. A masked man then appears to terrorize them.

REinvent has sold the movie to Latin America (Gussi), as well as Hungary, Czech Republic a,d Slovakia (Vertigo). Sf Studios will distribute in the Nordics.

The movie stars Annie Hamilton (“Inventing Anna”), Anna Bullard, Rory Alexander, Joel Saemundsson and Morten Holst.

Herron is a Norwegian director whose recent credits include “Leave,” a horror film about a young woman who tries to find her origins after being abandoned as an infant at a cemetery. Also represented by REinvent,...

REinvent International Sales has closed major territory sales on “UFO Sweden,” a science fiction movie adventure from Crazy Pictures, a Swedish film collective whose past credits includes the 2018 hit movie “The Unthinkable.”

Described as a mix between “X-Files” and “Stranger Things,” “UFO Sweden” is set in a small town and follows a teenage rebel placed in foster care, who suspects that her father is not dead, but has been kidnapped by UFOs. With the help from a UFO association, she is determined to find out the truth. REinvent International Sales has sold “UFO Sweden” to Germany (Telepool), Spain (A Contracorriente Films) and Hungary (Vertigo). Other deals are in discussions.

Crazy Pictures got the idea for the film after learning about UFO-Sweden, which investigates mysterious phenomena and manages the world’s largest UFO archive, Archives for the Unexplained in Norrköping, Sweden.

“UFO Sweden” shot in Norrköping, Sweden, in September. Sf Studios...

Spanish director Carla Simón has won the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, for her second feature “Alcarràs,” a moving drama about a Catalan farming family facing eviction from their land. She received the prize from jury president M. Night Shyamalan, capping a strong night for female filmmakers. Full report to follow.

Official Competition

Golden Bear for Best Film: “Alcarràs,” Carla Simón

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: “The Novelist’s Film,” Hong Sangsoo

Silver Bear Jury Prize: “Robe of Gem,” Natalia Lopez Gallardo

Silver Bear for Best Director: “Fire,” Claire Denis

Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush,” Meltem Kaptan

Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: “Before, Now and Then (Nana),” Laura Basuki

Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush,” Laila Stieler

Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: “Everything Will Be Ok,” Rithy Panh

Special Mention: “A Piece of Sky,...