finnish films – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

GIRL PICTURE – Review by Jennifer Green

August 4, 2022August 7, 2022 Jennifer Green Aamu Milonoff, Alli Haapsalo, Daniela Hakulinen, Elonoora Kauhanen, finnish films, Girl Picture, Ilona Ahti, Linnea Leino

This Finnish film, distributed Stateside by Strand Releasing, is a Lena Dunham’s Girls-like tale of three young women figuring themselves out through relationships and sex. It’s visually interesting and offers insight into young adulthood in Finland, but there’s not quite enough story here to sustain the entire film, letting its three promising actresses down. Still, the confusion, awkwardness, excitement and anxiety of growing up are on full display in the story’s span of three Fridays in three young women’s lives.

Reviews

HATCHING – Review by Rachel West

April 14, 2022April 17, 2022 Rachel West finnish films, Hanna Bergholm, Hatching, horror, Ilja Rautsi, Siiri Solalinna, Sophia Heikkilä

The debut film from director Hanna Bergholm, Hatching is a bold Finnish body-horror that offers a new take on the doppelganger story. It is a tale of motherhood. Tween gymnast Tinja is a lonely girl who will stop at nothing to impress her unnamed influencer mother ). Starving herself and giving up on outings with classmates for her sport in order to win the approval of a mom who hides behind the sunny Instagram filters of the perfect modern Finnish family for her “Lovely Everyday Life” blog. Obsessed with appearances, Tinja’s mommy-blogging mother is not seeking a truly authentic family life, but one of smoke and mirrors expertly curated to inspire envy in her many followers.

Reviews

TOVE – Review by Martha K Baker

June 3, 2021June 3, 2021 Martha K. Baker Alma Pöysti, biopics, finnish films, Joanna Haartti, Krista Kosonen, moomins, motw, Movie of the Week, Tove, Tove Jansson, Zaida Bergroth

If you were a big fan of the Moomins but had no idea who created them, Tove will fill in all the blanks. Tove Jansson was an artist and a writer in her public life but also in her private adult life, she started with a man, then with a woman, so the feature film is perfect for Pride month.

Movie of the Week Reviews

MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 4, 2021: TOVE

May 30, 2021June 3, 2021 Jennifer Merin Alma Pöysti, biopics, finnish films, Joanna Haartti, Krista Kosonen, moomins, motw, Movie of the Week, Tove, Tove Jansson, Zaida Bergroth

It’s no surprise by now to discover that the private lives of the authors and artists behind some of the world’s most beloved children’s books were anything but calm (or G-rated). But it’s always fascinating to get a glimpse into the events, people, and places that shaped them and led to their iconic creations, and Zaida Bergroth’s Tove — which stars the excellent Alma Pöysti as Finnish Moomin mastermind Tove Jansson — is no exception.

Reviews

TOVE – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

May 25, 2021May 30, 2021 Susan Wloszczyna Alma Pöysti, biopics, finnish films, Joanna Haartti, Krista Kosonen, moomins, motw, Movie of the Week, Tove, Tove Jansson, Zaida Bergroth

Biopics are a dime a dozen these days with many often featuring the usual cliched rise- and-fall scenario. But with Tove, director Zaida Bergoth is lucky enough to focus on a uniquely alluring Finnish sketcher, painter and author best known for her Moomins, hippo-like creatures with puffy snouts that were featured in comic-strips and books. From the start, she was able to pick herself up and dust herself whenever the chips were down. That includes the opening scenes as she and her family head back to a rubble-filled Helsinki at the end of World War II.

Festivals Reviews

Sydney FF 2020: FORCE OF HABIT- Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

June 10, 2020June 10, 2020 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas 0 Comments Alli Haapasalo, Anna Paavilainen, Elli Toivoniemi, finnish films, force of habit, Jenni Toivoniemi, Kirsikka Saari, Miia Tervo, Reetta Aalto, sydney film festival 2020

Force of Habit is a cartography of sexual abuse and harassment that interweaves several scenarios — a schoolgirl harassed on public transport, an drunken office party, and a vicious, violent rape by a stranger, each helmed by a different female director — into collective whole that is an electrifying reminder that sexual abuse and harassment are everyday phenomena and until that stops being synonymous with “business as usual”, nothing will change.