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The Playmaker has closed several distribution deals for the World War II drama “Never Alone,” directed by Klaus Härö.

“Never Alone” has been picked up for distribution in Bulgaria (Beta Film), India (BookMyShow), Latin America (Encripta) and Spain (Twelve Oaks). As previously announced, the rights in North America were acquired by Menemsha. The film was released in Finland in January by Nordisk Films.

“Never Alone,” based on the life of Abraham Stiller, tells the story of Jewish refugees seeking safety in Finland during World War II. As Nazi influence grows, Stiller, a Jewish leader in Helsinki, must risk everything to protect his community.

The cast is led by Ville Virtanen, Nina Hukkinen and Rony Herman. The film is produced by Ilkka Matila of Mrp Matila Röhr Prods., in co-production with Samsara Filmproduktion, Taska Film, Penned Pictures and Hobab.

It is supported by the Finnish Film Foundation, the Austrian Film Institute,...

After his rise to fame as one of the stars of Shaun of the Dead over two decades ago, Nick Frost has debuted an all-new horror comedy film. He is the writer of the new film Get Away, in which he also stars.

Get Away is set to make its debut on the streaming platform Shudder on Jan. 10, 2025. This follows the movie premiering at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, last fall. Penned by Frost, Get Away was directed by Steffen Haars. Other stars of the film include Aisling Bea, Sebastian Croft, and Maisie Ayres. The film follows a family on vacation on a remote Swedish island when they discover that there's a serial killer on the prowl, and the trailer can be watched below.

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Nick Frost returns to horror comedy with Get Away, and while the film does not match Shaun of the Dead's hectic and hilarious energy, it has its moments. Frost found incredible success working alongside his frequent collaborator and friend, Simon Pegg. Together, the pair starred in the Cornetto Trilogy, an iconic set of comedy films that bend the rules of the genre. Now that he's breaking out on his own for a while, Frost continues to deliver solid comedy in a quirky folk horror setting with Get Away, a film he also wrote.

A family’s vacation to a remote island turns into a nightmare when they discover a serial killer is targeting them. Combining dark humor with chilling suspense, the show explores the family’s desperate struggle for survival as they attempt to outwit their relentless pursuer.

Director Steffen HaarsRelease Date December 6, 2024Writers Nick FrostCast Anitta Suikkari, Ville Virtanen,...

Klaus Härö’s “Never Alone” draws from real events and people during the Nazi years to tell the tale of a man who stood his ground with his ideals. Abraham Stiller (Ville Virtanen) runs a thriving textile business in Helsinki. He and his wife, Vera, are Jews who migrated from Tsarist Russia decades ago. The couple is part of local influential circles, having connections within the police as well. But how far does this immunize them or the Jewish refugee couple they take under their wing and give jobs?

What undoes the film, and whittles away some of its power is the frame narration rendered in trite, uninspired monochrome. A journalist is interviewing the businessman about his past. She questions him about Finland’s deportations of Jews in the 1940s despite it not being occupied by Germany. When she brings up the case of one deportee who survived the post-war trials,...

Sometimes films highlight little-known events in their country of origin that wind up catalyzing a re-evaluation of their nation’s history. Finnish director Klaus Härö’s “Never Alone” is shaping up to be that sort of film. It follows the deportation from Finland of eight Austrian-Jewish refugees by the Gestapo during World War II and the work of Abraham Stiller, a pillar of the Helsinki Jewish community, who tried to stop it from happening.

Despite Finland’s uneasy alliance with Nazi Germany during the early years of the war, Jewish citizens of Finland had their government’s protection in spite of some Finnish officials who would have preferred to comply with the Gestapo’s requests to expel them all.

It’s the first cinematic treatment of this subject, which producer Ilkka Matila says was too painful a story for the Finnish state and the entire society to speak about publicly.

Ville Virtanen as Kari Sorjonen, in the Finnish crime series “Bordertown.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

The first two seasons of the moody Finnish police procedural, “Bordertown” were excellent, featuring one of those troubled, eccentric, brilliant police detectives that have been so popular for many years, in many countries.

Here is the link to my laudatory review of Season 2 to bring you up to speed on characters and relevant backstories for this one: www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2024/04/bordertown-season-2-review/.

Unfortunately, Season 3 doesn’t quite live up to the first two. Again it’s 10 episodes, with each featured crime covered in two or three of them, and several subplots carried over from before and recurring throughout this one. Kari’s wife dies in the first, and the way he and daughter Janina deal with their grief is the stuff of which melodramas are made for the whole season. Many clashes and moody musings...

Ville Virtanen

“Bordertown: Season Two” continues another solid crime drama from the Scandinavian countries. It’s set in a Finnish town near the Russian border, so the subject crimes frequently come with complications from the other side of that line. Our hero is Kari Sorjonen (Ville Virtanen), a brilliant, intriguingly quirky police detective who moved there from Helsinki, seeking relative peace, allowing more time with his wife Paulina (Matleena Kuusniemi), and teen daughter Janina (Olivia Ainali). Naturally, it doesn’t work out that way, or we’d just have a pastoral travelogue, instead of a suspenseful procedural series.

Kari has a number of hand movements that help him retain and recall memories in his vaguely autistic mind. Like many such characters, his intense focus on each new crime comes at a cost, as his family feels shunted to the side, aggravated by his inability to remain engaged in the moment...

Never Alone received the Screen International Best Pitch Award at the 2011 edition of the Baltic Event co-production market.

Shooting has wrapped in Finland on Klaus Harö’s Second World War drama Never Alone, starring Ville Virtanen, based on the true story of how a prominent member of the Jewish community in Finland, tried to stop the police handing over Jewish refugees to the Gestapo to be deported to the death camps.

The film is produced by Ilkka Matila of Helsinki-based Mrp Matila Röhr Productions, as a €4.9m co-production with Austria’s Samsara Filmproduktion, Estonia’s Taska Film, Germany’s Penned Pictures and Sweden’s Hobab.

Cannes – REinvent International Sales has sold the refugee drama ‘Lost’ to AMC Networks for Spain and Portugal.

The Scandi production-distribtion shingle is presenting the title to buyers at this week’s Mipcom TV market in Cannes.

Created by Ulf Ryberg, the drama thriller tells the story of a truck driver smuggling a group of Syrian refugees into Sweden in his truck. An upsetting phone call from his soon to be ex-wife, leaves the refugees struggling for air, when his mind wanders off them.

The series is directed by Tova Magnusson (“The Most Prohibited”) and produced by Patrick Ryborn (“Backstabbing for Beginners”).

This Swedish-language film is produced by Unlimited Stories where Ryborn is a co-founder and producer. Peter Viitanen, Ville Virtanen, Sandra Stojiljkovic, Vilhelm Blomgren, Shaniaz Hama Ali star.

The six one-hour series will be released on Nov. 7. on the Swedish pubcaster Svt.

Helene Aurø, REinvent’s sales and marketing director,...

Helsinki-based Tekele has unveiled the international trailer of its first premium crime drama “Transport”, which is in the running for this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best Nordic TV screenplay. The prestigious award will be handed out Feb. 2 during Göteborg’s two-day TV Drama Vision confab.

Created and directed by Prix Europa winner Auli Mantila (“Silver Stars”), “Transport” is repped by REIvent International.

The eight-part series delves into the criminal activity of horsemeat trafficking and money laundering in Europe. It’s about ordinary people, under pressure, who somehow get involved, while a young journalist investigates the case of a microchip found in baby food. Toplining the show are Emmi Parviainen (“Shadow Lines”), Maria Heskanen (“Everlasting Moments”), Ville Virtanen (“Bordertown”) and Geert van Rampelberg (“De Infiltrant”).

“Transport” is the first major European premium TV show produced by fast-expanding Tekele, founded by seasoned producer Miia Haavisto. Speaking about her Belgium co-production partners Jonnydepony,...

Slash Film calls Knocking “an unforgettable experience” and The Hollywood Reporter praises it as “gripping from first scene to last… a horror riff on Rear Window”

Check out this scary trailer:

After suffering a traumatic incident, Molly (Cecilia Milocco) moves into a new apartment to begin her path to recovery, but it’s not long after her arrival that a series of persistent knocks and screams begin to wake her up at night. Molly’s new life begins to unravel as the screams intensify and no one else in the building believes or is willing to help her.

Knocking, which world premiered to great acclaim at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight section, is the narrative feature debut from Swedish director Frida Kempff, whose past credits include the 2010 Cannes Prix du Jury winning short Bathing Micky and the 2015 documentary Winter Buoy.

A timely psychological horror thriller built on very real human fears and anxieties,...

Stars: Cecilia Milocco, Albin Grenholm, Ville Virtanen, Krister Kern, Alexander Salzberger, Charlotta Åkerblom | Written by Emma Broström | Directed by Frida Kempff

Obviously inspired by not only societies way of treating the mentally ill but also the freakish, terrifying works of Roman Polanski (Repulsion) and Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window), Knocking is a slow-burn horror that has the audience questioning what’s happening as much as the films heroine Molly (Cecilia Milocco).

The film tells the story of the aforementioned Molly who has just moved into her new apartment in a large apartment block. However her stay is unnerved by a haunting knocking sound from upstairs. As the noises become more desperate and increasingly sound like cries for help, she confronts her neighbours, but it seems no one else can hear them. In an unsettling quest for truth, Molly soon realises that no one believes her, and begins to question if she...

Who's knocking?! Yellow Veil Pictures has unveiled a freaky teaser trailer for a Swedish psychological horror indie film titled Knocking, which originally premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year playing in the Midnight section. It's a simple yet very unsettling premise: a woman hears knocking in the walls of her new apartment. She tries to ask the neighbors, but no one believes her or wants to help her. This series of persistent knocks and screams begin to wake her up at night. Molly's new life begins to unravel as the screams intensify. "Everyone needs to be heard," is the tagline. Cecilia Milocco stars as Molly, along with Albin Grenholm, Ville Virtanen, Krister Kern, Alexander Salzberger, Charlotta Åkerblom. Described as "a timely psychological horror thriller built on very real human fears and anxieties, skillfully lensed with claustrophobic precision by Hannes Krantz and given a pulsing score by Martin Dirkov.

After two weeks of filming in Belgium in September, principal photography for the new eight-episode series is continuing in and around Helsinki. A new 8x50 Finnish-Belgian TV series is now in the making. The project, entitled Transport, is written and directed by showrunner and filmmaker Auli Mantila, best known for having directed The Collector (Finland’s bid for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1997 Academy Awards), The Geography of Fear (2000) and My Friend Henry (2004). The news was first reported by Variety. Transport revolves around the world of food trading, money laundering and the illegal transport of horses along the roads and wires of Europe. In particular, the story follows Johann (played by young actress Emmi Parviainen), a journalist who is investigating the origin of a microchip found in baby food. Alongside Parviainen are veterans Maria Heskanen (playing an insurance investigator), Pirkko Hämäläinen (a bank manager), Ville Virtanen and...

Netflix has acquired the Finnish movie “Bordertown – The Mural Murders,” a spinoff of the popular Nordic crime series which is now in its third season.

Produced by Matti Halonen and Johannes Lassila at Fisher King, “Bordertown – The Mural Murders” will start shooting next month and will be released theatrically in Finland by the newly-launched distribution banner Aurora Studios. Netflix has global rights to the movie outside of Finland.

The movie brings back “Bordertown”‘s key cast, Ville Virtanen, Anu Sinisalo and Sampo Sarkola. The screenplay is written by Miikko Oikkonen and Antti Pesonen, and Juuso Syrjä will direct.

The plot of the movie follows brilliant police investigator Kari Sorjonen chasing his arch enemy Lasse Maasalo. The movie is set against the backdrop of a social media voting contest in which people have voted on without whom the country would be better off. When three of the most-voted people disappear, Sorjonen...

Exclusive: Sales company inks raft of deals on Finland-Norway co-production.

LevelK has closed a first round of deals for debut feature director Jussi Hiltunen’s action drama Law Of The Land, starring award-winning actor Ville Virtanen (Sauna, Bad Family).

The Finland-Norway co-production sold to China (Lemon Tree Media), Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg (Just Entertainment) and Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria (HBO Central Europe).

Set in the Arctic desert of the North on either side of the Finland-Sweden border, Law Of The Land is a “modern western” that follows Lasse, a retiring policeman who gets caught up between his legitimate and illegitimate sons who are trying to kill each other. With the conflict filling the area with an atmosphere of vengeance, Lasse is forced to confront his past mistakes as he tries to prevent violence.

The film also features Antti Holma, Mikko Neuvonen and longtime...

Exclusive: Jussi Hiltunen’s Lapland-set feature is screening at Goteborg’s Nordic Film Market and Berlin’s Efm.

LevelK has taken on sales for Jussi Hiltunen’s Finnish dramatic thriller Law Of The Land.

The Denmark-based sales company will screen the film at Berlin’s Efm and it is also screening for industry at this week’s Nordic Film Market in Goteborg.

The film is a modern Western set in Arctic Lapland on the Finnish-Swedish border.

The story follows Lasse, a retiring policeman who gets caught in between two men trying to kill each other.

Nordisk Film released in January in Finland.

Producers are Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho for Making Movies in co-production with Joachim Lyng of Sweet Films (Norway) and Svein Andersen & Kjetil Jensberg of FilmCamp (Norway).

The $2.6m (€2.4m) film was backed by the Finnish Film Foundation, Yle, Eurimages, the Norwegian Film Institute, Creative Europe and FilmCamp.

Finnish director...

Sidse Babett Knudsen joins cast of Finnish-Swedish-Estonian drama.

Borgen and The Duke Of Burgundy star Sidse Babett Knudsen has joined the cast of The Eternal Road (Ikitie), the Finnish-Swedish-Estonian drama directed by Aj Annila that begins shooting in Estonia today (June 20).

Ilkka Matila produces for Helsinki-based Mrp Matila Rohr Productions while co-producers are Martin Person from Sweden’s Person Anagram and Kristian Taska from Estonia’s Taska Film.

The film, which will shoot for about six weeks between now and January 2017, is based on Antti Tuuri’s bestselling book of the same name; Tuuri has written the screenplay alongside the director.

Tommi Korpela (A Man’s Job) plays Jussi Ketola, an American who returns to his Finnish homeland during the Great Depression. He is abducted by right wing thugs and flees to establish a new life in the Soviet Union where American immigrants take part in building a worker’s paradise until Stalin’s government turns against...

The year is 1595, the 25-year war between Sweden and Russia has come to an end and new borders are being marked between Finland and Russia. Two brothers are part of a crew amending map lines who stumble across an unregistered village, deciding the only solution will be to run the new border straight through the village. On the outskirts of this village in swamped woodland a sauna is found, leading to some unnerving events and a bloody finale...

First released in 2008, Evil Rising is the second feature from Finnish director A. J. Annila (Jade Warrior) exploring murder, revenge, sin and redemption through our sibling leads. Knut and Erik couldn't be more different - one is sympathetic and the other is brutally ruthless, having already slain 74 victims, disappointedly recognising: "peace takes away entitlement to murderous acts". The film begins with a gruesome scene showing older bro for what he really is,...

Director: Antti-Jussi Annila. Review: Adam Wing. The name change is a little misleading perhaps, but there’s much to recommend about Antti-Jussi Annila’s slow burning Finnish horror hit. Sauna was released back home in 2008, a striking experience if ever there was one, but not in the way a name like Evil Rising might suggest. Sauna is a haunting, thoughtful, sombre affair that refuses to conform to modern day excess. Not quite what I was expecting from a film called Evil Rising, all it’s really missing is an exclamation mark, then at least we would surely have a candidate for ‘Most redundant film title of the year.’ It’s 1595 and the end of a twenty-five year war between Russia and Finland. Finnish brothers Eerik (Ville Virtanen) and Knut Spore (Tommi Eronen) have been commissioned to meet with Russian soldiers to form a joint commission that marks the new border.

Noomi Rapace, Beyond Pernilla August-Noomi Rapace Drama Beyond Tops Guldbagge Nominations Best Film Simple Simon Sebbe Beyond Best Foreign Language Film Fish Tank, dir Andrea Arnold Lourdes, dir Jessica Hausner The Social Network, dir David Fincher Best Director Pernilla August, Beyond Lisa Langseth, Pure Babak Najafi, Sebbe Best actress in a leading role Pernilla August, Miss Kicki Noomi Rapace, Beyond Alicia Vikander, Pure Best actor in a leading role Sebastian Hiort af Ornäs, Sebbe Joel Kinnaman, Easy Money Bill Skarsgård, Simple Simon Best actress in a supporting role Tehilla Blad, Beyond Cecilia Forss, Simple Simon Outi Mäenpää, Beyond Best actor in a supporting role Peter Dalle, Behind Blue Skies David Dencik, Cornelis  Ville Virtanen, Beyond Best screenplay Pernilla August and Lolita Ray, Beyond Lisa Langseth, Pure Jonathan Sjöberg and Andreas Öhman, Simple Simon Best cinematography Göran Hallberg, Behind Blue Skies Erik Molberg Hansen, Beyond Aril Wretblad, Easy Money Best documentary Familia,...

Before she makes her move to Hollywood and the craptacular machine that are Hollywood cut outs like MI4 & Sherlock Holmes 2, dragon tattooed girl Noomi Rapace has a few European titles in the works and the first to hit the international front is Svinalängorna (Beyond).

Directed by actress turned director Pernilla August and based on a best settling novel by Susanna Alakoski, Rapace leads the pack of great Finnish actors including Ville Virtanen (Sauna (review)) and Outi Mäenpää, as Leena, a woman who, on the morning of Christmas eve receives a phone call from the hospital of her childhood hometown explaining that her mother is dying, a call that brings up her dark childhood and leads her to seeing her mother for the first time in her adult life.

The trailer for the film is a little over dramatic (the music certainly doesn’t help though it builds a chilling mood...

After several decades in front of the camera, August is making her directorial debut with non-other than Noomi Rapace - one of Europe's best actresses who might be best known for her Millennium trilogy, but those who experienced the 2007 film Daisy Diamond know exactly how resilient and raw this actress can be. She is also working with a text that won top literary awards. - #95. Svinalängorna Director: Pernilla AugustWriter(s): August and Lolita RayProducers: Ralph Carlsson and Helena DanielssonDistributor: Rights Available. The Gist: Based on Susanna Alakoski's August-prize winning novel, Svinalängorna tells of Leena, a 34 year-old woman, living in Stockholm with her husband and two daughters. When she receives a phone call informing her of her mother's death in Ystad, her troubled past as a young girl, raised by Finnish/Swedish alcoholic parents, comes back to haunt her. Cast: Noomi Rapace, Ville Virtanen and...

One important lesson I have learned over my years running Twitch is that when a film maker you like and respect feels the need to direct you to another film maker that you've never heard of, you'd best pay attention.  And when a film maker you like and respect tells you a particular director is one of their favorites, then you'd really better pay attention.  Which leads me to Aleksi Salmenperäand his new film Paha Perhe or Bad Family.  Look on the left of that still.  See that man?  That's Ville Virtanen, one of the leads in Aj Annila's Sauna.  And, yes, it was Annila who dropped the 'favorite' word and sent me to this one.  Here's the official synopsis from the Finnish Film Institute:

Followed by an ugly divorce the father has been bringing up the son by himself while the mother has had the custody of the daughter.

I had never really thought about it, but maybe the world does need a good medieval horror film. The unrepentantly brutal and superstitious nature of the era would seem to lend itself to something pretty burly, and the longstanding cult appeal of Army of Darkness would seem to indicate that the popular interest is there. Evidently, the producers of Sauna agreed, and in making this picture, laid the groundwork for that film, for which we should be eternally grateful. It’s not that Sauna isn’t good and spooky, because it is; it simply has the same reasonable amount of clumsiness that one could expect of any filmmaker feeling out an idea. It’s simply more noticeable because you get the distinct feeling that they’re on to something.

In the aftermath of the war between Russia and Sweden (something I was unaware had even happened), brothers Knut (Tommi Eronen...