Totem Racks Up Offers on ‘The Woodcutter Story,’ ‘Compartment No. 6’

“The Woodcutter Story,” a Finnish drama with a surreal contact, has been offered to Australia (Palace Movies), Baltics (Estinfilm), Sweden (Njuta), Germany (Eksystent) and France (City), Paris-based Totem Films shared solely with Selection.

Directed by Mikko Myllylahti, it sees a very good man who runs into dangerous luck: he loses his job and his spouse leaves, however Pepe (Jarkko Lahti) is making an attempt to maintain his head excessive. Even when unusual issues begin to occur in his sleepy village.

The movie, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics Week, screens Wednesday on the Helsinki Movie Competition – Love & Anarchy. It can have its North American premiere at Chicago Movie Competition and its U.Okay. premiere on the London Movie Competition.

“It’s a really unusual movie,” stated Myllylahti again in Might. Additionally opening up a few real-life encounter – and real-life woodcutter – that impressed him.

“There was one thing very Finnish about the best way he was coping with his ordeals: typically, we simply don’t battle again. The ‘Guide of Job’ addresses that, however when you don’t imagine in God, how do you strategy such misfortune? In Pepe’s case, what’s inside him is all that he has.”

Totem additionally closed two ultimate territories in Asia on Juho Kuosmanen’s Cannes hit “Compartment No.6,” with Sidus in South Korea and AT Leisure in Japan choosing up the Oscar-shortlisted movie. Its launch is deliberate for late 2022/early 2023.

“For anybody who’s ever received drunk on dangerous schnapps with a stranger, for anybody who’s ever been so alone in a nowhere-town that they’ve spoken to a dial tone simply to seem like that they had one thing to do, for anybody who’s ever been requested the right way to say ‘I like you’ of their language and has patiently sounded out the phrases for ‘Fuck you’,” enthused Selection, calling Kuosmanen’s movie “deeply pleasant.”

“[It] performs much less like a movie than an extremely detailed, richly textured reminiscence. And for all of the individuals who’ve by no means executed any of these issues, after this, you’ll have.”

Each Finnish helmers already collaborated on the script for Kuosmanen’s Un Sure Regard winner “The Happiest Day within the Lifetime of Olli Mäki,” which additionally starred Lahti within the lead position. Helsinki-based Aamu Movie Firm is behind each titles.

“There’s something fairly distinctive about Finnish cinema, with an ideal mix of darkish humor and philosophical pondering,” word Totem’s Bérénice Vincent and Laure Parelani.

“We’re grateful for our renewed partnership with Aamu, for the dangers they take, and for bringing us the voices of Juho, Mikko and plenty of others. Their movies, as completely different as they’re, communicate to humanist values of eager for connection, which is why they attain audiences all all over the world.”

Its producers appear to agree.

“Whereas ‘The Woodcutter Story’ has its roots in Northern Finland the place Mikko grew up, it was strongly embraced overseas already within the script stage for its distinctive voice. The movie’s humor communicates internationally – Mikko himself calls it ‘arctic hysteria’ – but additionally its emotional coronary heart of loss and hope,” says Aamu’s Emilia Haukka, promoted to associate earlier this 12 months.

“I’ve understood that individuals are very a lot the identical wherever you go,” provides CEO Jussi Rantamäki.

“If you’re deeply touched by one thing intimate and native, however handle to painting it clearly, it’s straightforward to boost these feelings in anybody wherever. Private and common or native and world should not opposites. They’re very shut to one another.”

The corporate will proceed to “nurture long-term relationships with filmmakers,” they state. Or with different collaborators as effectively.

“We now have been in a position to develop our household of filmmakers by [adding] few contemporary skills. Once we make one undertaking, the perfect outcome for us is that they need to share their subsequent thought as effectively,” provides Haukka.

“Bérénice Vincent has been the gross sales agent for each movies by Juho Kuosmanen, beforehand in Les Movies du Losange and now in Totem,” says Rantamäki.

“Our intention is to seek out long-term gross sales companions for all our filmmakers and for Juho and Mikko Myllylahti, Totem is an excellent match.”