FINNTASTIC: NEW CINEMA FROM FINLAND
TOVE
This series puts the spotlight on three female filmmakers who have emerged as major talents from Finland over the past decade: Zaida Bergroth, Miia Tervo, and Hanna Bergholm. The subjects of the feature films selected range from a biopic celebrating the life of artist and comic book creator Tove Jansson; 
a cross-cultural love story set in Lapland; and, in time for Halloween, an inventive new take on body horror about a teen gymnast and her new…offspring. Two of the director’s features will be preceded by their earlier short works, so viewers can witness the evolution of their visual styles. Programmed in partnership with The Finnish Film Foundation. Special thanks to Alissa Simon, Jaana Puskala, Jenni Domingo, Otto Suuronen, and Arttu Manninen.
- Fri., Oct. 13 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
This moving and sensitive biopic tells of Finnish visual artist Tove Jansson (Pöysti), author and illustrator of the beloved Moomin cartoon series and books. Director Bergroth explores Jansson’s early romantic relationships with men and women, the power her successful and overbearing artist father had on her psyche, and her eventual self-acceptance and success as an artist.
- Fri., Oct. 20 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Commitment-phobic party animal Aurora (Willamo) meets Iranian refugee Darian (Amir Escandari). Darian needs to marry a Finnish woman in order to get asylum for himself and his daughter, so he proposes marriage. Aurora turns him down but agrees to help him find a wife. Preceded by Miia Tervo’s award-winning short Clumsy Little Acts of Tenderness (2015, 9 min.)
- Fri., Oct. 27 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Exploring the horrific side of the maternal instinct, Hatching begins when twelve-year-old gymnast Tinja, brings in a strange egg from the woods into her bedroom, nestling and nurturing it until it hatches. The creature that emerges becomes her closest friend and a living nightmare for Tinja’s image-obsessed mother, whose popular blog presents their family's idyllic existence as manicured suburban perfection. Preceded by Hanna Bergholm’s short horror film Puppet Master (2018, 15 min.)