City Helsinki Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Christopher Vourlias The Finnish Film Affair, a showcase for new films from the host country and the Nordics, will for the first time feature TV dramas at this year’s event, which runs parallel to the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy (HIFF). Alongside the 26 feature film and documentary projects being presented to industry guests during an onstage event on Sept. 22 will be a curated selection of four TV drama series from Finland. “This is something that both the local industry and our international guests have frequently requested from us,” said Maria Pirkkalainen, director of Finnish Film Affair. “We already piloted highlighting a few selected Finnish TV series in 2019 to great feedback and feel like now is the right time to continue this, especially with a record number of international guests joining us here in Helsinki.”

Marta Balaga Finnish director Klaus Härö makes his English-language debut with Toronto Film Festival premiere “My Sailor, My Love.” A gentle drama about a retired sea captain falling in love one last time will be spotlighted at the Helsinki-based event Finnish Film Affair next. Global Screen is handling the sales. Härö, an experienced filmmaker behind Golden Globe-nominated “The Fencer,” didn’t feel “desperate” to make a movie in English, he says.  “I hope it doesn’t feel forced. With English, there is always this thought that maybe this way, it will reach more people. But it just felt natural to set it in Ireland.”  

Rammstein have announced plans for a European stadium tour next year.The band will hit the road on May 22, 2023 kicking off at Vingio Parkas in Lithuania before moving on to dates in Germany, Spain, Holland and France. They will wrap up their mammoth jaunt at the King Baudouin Stadium in Belgium on August 4.Tickets for the shows go on sale next Thursday (September 8) at 10am local time and can be purchased here.The latest announcement comes as the band continue their US tour in Chicago tomorrow (September 3) before wrapping up in Mexico in October.

Naman Ramachandran Guy Davidi, known for Sundance and Emmy winning and Oscar nominated documentary “Five Broken Cameras,” is Venice bound with his next film “Innocence.” The film, which is in the festival’s Horizons strand, the only documentary selected in the section, tells the story of children who were unwillingly enlisted into the Israel military service, and many of them died. Through a narration based on their diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil and interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers. “Nothing touches me more than a child’s sensitivity when they discover the world, and nothing hurts me more than seeing it getting crushed. Israel is not a place that values innocence. Its militarized identity requires the breaking down and distorting of the gentle lines of childhood. This commitment to violence has many victims, but there’s also a hidden tragedy – the collapse of parenthood,” says Davidi in his director’s note on the film, which has been 10 years in the making.

The draw for the group stage of the 2022/23 UEFA Europa League campaign has been made this lunchtime, meaning Manchester United and Arsenal have discovered who they will face in the opening stage of the competition.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Munich-based sales agency The Playmaker has sold black comedy “Holy Shit!” to distributors in several major territories ahead of its U.K. premiere at Frightfest on Aug. 28. The Playmaker has closed deals for Japan (New Select), South Korea (Lumix Media), China (Beijing Blue Media Times), France (Family Films) and Baltics (Estin Film). Scriptwriter and director Lukas Rinker’s claustrophobic real-time genre movie made its market premiere in Cannes this year. “Holy Shit!” won the Audience Award at its world premiere at this year’s Hard:Line Film Festival and was shown at the Night Visions Film Festival in Helsinki. At Fantaspoa, it received an Honorable Mention for the “best blood (and shit) bath.”

EXCLUSIVE: Darko Perić, the Serbian actor best known for his breakout role as Helsinki in Netflix’s award-winning Spanish series Money Heist, has signed with Artist International Group for management.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBeta has pre-sold sprawling Finnish drama series “Estonia” to Germany’s broadcaster Seven.One Entertainment Group, the parent company of ProSieben. The eight-hour drama, about the deadliest civil maritime disaster in recent European history, is now in its third week of shooting.

Rangers are considering a swoop for Finnish youngster Kai Meriluoto, according to a report in the player’s homeland.

Future Islands frontman Samuel T Herring is set to make his acting debut in new television drama, The Changeling.Herring will star in the upcoming Apple TV+ drama alongside LaKeith Stanfield.As per Deadline, the show is being billed as a “fairytale for grown-ups” and is based on Victor LaValle’s bestselling book of the same name.Stanfield will star as Apollo, a new father and bookseller, while Herring will play William Wheeler – a man who befriends Apollo.A release date for the new show has not yet been unveiled.Earlier this year, Future Islands added more dates to their huge tour of the UK and Europe – check out dates below and buy your tickets here.The ‘Calling Out In Space’ tour comes on the back of the band’s 2020 album ‘As Long As You Are’. It’s the band’s UK first tour since 2018.The band – made up of Herring, Gerrit Welmers, Michael Lowry and William Cashion – will continue their worldwide tour now into October and November with a further 20 UK and European headline shows.You can see the full list of tour dates here:AUGUST 202216 – Cologne, E-Werk17 – Munich, TonHalle18 – Berlin, Columbiahalle22 – Oslo, Sentrum Scene24 – Copenhagen, Vega (tickets valid from 26 February) 25 – Copenhagen, Vega (tickets valid from 27 February) 29 – Helsinki, The House of Culture19 – Bergen, NO, USF Verftet*OCTOBER 202220 – Stavenger, Folken*22 – Gothenburg, Trädgår’n*24 – Aarhus, Voxhall*26 – Utrecht, (Ronda) (tickets valid from 15 March) 27 – Leipzig, Werk 2*28 – Nuremberg, Z-Bau Saal*30 – Prague, Lucerna Music Bar*31 – Vienna, Arena Wien*NOVEMBER1 – Budapest, Akvarium Klub*3 – Rome, Orion Live Club*4 – Milan, Fabrique5 – Winterthur, Salzhaus*7 – Paris, L’Olympia8 – Dortmund, FZW*10 – Leeds, O2 Academy*11 – Cardiff, Cardiff

A man has been accused of breaking Covid regulations after returning to Manchester Airport from Finland.

now archived on his account under a Highlight titled “PSA” — the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star wrote, “I’ve been made aware that there are fake accounts pretending to be me or people working with me.“I do not have any private or side accounts on any platforms. These are the only pages run by me and my team where we share updates and communicate,” he added, listing his official accounts across several platforms. “I ask that you remain cautious as it seems these fake accounts can be relentless.

Amber Heard went shopping with her sister at a TJ Maxx discount retail store in the Hamptons on Thursday, amid a looming $8.3 million judgment following her loss in court earlier this month against ex-husband Johnny Depp in their multi-million dollar defamation trial.  The 36-year-old actress wore blue jeans and a long-sleeved, white button-down shirt while indulging in retail therapy with her younger sister, Whitney Henriquez, at the Bridgehampton location of the national chain retailer, per TMZ. According to the outlet, it's unclear what the two purchased — if anything — from the store.  While Heard perused the aisles on the East Coast wearing black loafers with her blonde hair tied back in a bun, Depp has "moved on" from the trial, and took to the stage to perform with Jeff Beck at the Helsinki Blues Festival on Sunday in Finland.

Johnny Depp is living his best life!

Marta Balaga Despite teasing his retirement in 2017, “Le Havre” director Aki Kaurismäki will follow his Berlin Silver Bear winner “The Other Side of Hope” with a new feature film under the working title of “Dead Leaves” (“Kuolleet lehdet” in Finnish).The new project was announced on Friday by Helsinki-based company B-Plan Distribution.The film will star Alma Pöysti, who recently starred in Zaida Bergroth biopic “Tove,” about Moomins creator Tove Jansson — a film that won her a Jussi award for best actress in 2021. Jussi Vatanen, known for the drama “Forest Giant” and smash hit trilogy “Lapland Odyssey” has also joined the cast.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHappy, hungry man Phil Rosenthal is back to travel all across the sea and the land for the fifth season of “Somebody Feed Phil.” Bringing fans to five new scrumptious locations — including Oaxaca, Maine, Helsinki, Portland and Madrid — the Wednesday release on Netflix will mark the first season to not include the “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator’s father Max Rosenthal, who died in June 2021.For the first four seasons of “Somebody Feed Phil,” Max appeared over video chat to talk with his son wherever he was in the world and to tell viewers at home a joke. Rosenthal’s mother, Helen Rosenthal, was there alongside her husband Max for the bits in Seasons 1 and 2.

Christopher Vourlias Riding the high of a production-servicing boom, Estonia’s domestic industry has likewise shown no signs of slowing down. Here’s a roundup of top local productions in the pipeline, from producers who are searching for international partners in Cannes:The Invisible Fight Director: Rainer Sarnet Producers: Katrin Kissa, Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Alise Gelze, White Picture (Latvia), Amanda Livanou, Neda Film (Greece), Helen Vinogradov, Helsinki-filmi (Finland) Sarnet, whose fantasy-drama “November” played at Tribeca in 2017, returns with a ‘70s-set kung-fu comedy about a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he’s capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.

trailer traces the origins of the Joint Economic Area, a fictionalized mint located where present-day North and South Korea are divided. While the aim of reunification is to benefit all citizens and establish a common currency, “in reality, only the rich got richer,” the trailer’s narrator says. “Welcome to capitalism,” Tokyo (Jeon Jong-seo) grimly adds.Like the original, a group of ragtag individuals assemble under the Professor’s (Yoo Ji-tae) tutelage, where they learn the inner machinations of a history-making heist.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Somebody Feed Phil” has been renewed for Season 6 at Netflix ahead of its fifth season premiere, Variety has learned exclusively.The five-episode “Somebody Feed Phil” Season 5, which debuts May 25, was filmed back to back with Season 6, which also consists of five episodes.“We filmed 10 episodes in the sweet spot between Delta and Omicron. Remember that? So from August to January, we pretty much filmed everything,” Rosenthal told Variety.

Viagra Boys have shared another new single from their forthcoming album, ‘Cave World’ – listen to ‘Troglodyte’ below.The track follows previous single ‘Ain’t No Thief’. According to a press release, the song is an “exploration into the chaos and confusion of current events through the comparison of modern man with troglodytes (I.E.

garden. There's no time to build an outdoor pool like some of the A-list, but many of them do opt for hot tubs or paddling pools.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNetflix has unveiled the young cast of its first Finnish series, “Dance Brothers,” which is currently filming in Helsinki with Samuel Kujala (“Lakeside Murders”) and Roderick Kabanga (“Gravedigger and the Random People”) playing the lead roles.The young adult drama series is a co-production between Netflix and Yle, and is created and produced by Max Malka at Banijay’s Endemol Shine Finland. The Finnish language series will launch globally on Netflix in 2023 and will later also be available on Yle.

Thania Garcia Celine Dion delivered an emotional statement via Instagram today (April 29) announcing that the U.K. and European leg of her “Courage” tour — which was originally slated for September 2020, then rescheduled for April 2021 — will be pushed back for a third time due to the singer’s health issues.Dion was set to embark on the European stretch of her tour on May 25 but unfortunately, the shows have now been pushed back to start in late February of next year.“Well here we go again,” starts Dion in her announcement video, “I’m so sorry we have to change our tour plans for Europe one more time; first we had to move the shows because of the pandemic, now it’s my health issues causing us to postpone some shows and unfortunately we have to cancel some too.”   A post shared by Céline Dion (@celinedion)The Canadian singer mentioned she was doing “a little bit better” but the process is slow and “frustrating.” In January of last year, Dion announced her tour would come to an early end in the United States and Canada because she needed the time to recover from “severe and persistent muscle spasms” inhibiting her ability to perform.“I’m still experiencing some spasms,” she shares in her video statement.

Celine Dion has rescheduled the UK and European leg of her ‘Courage’ world tour, citing ongoing health issues.The dates have already been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and are now set to go ahead in two stints.The first is scheduled to begin in Prague on February 24 and will run until a pair of London shows on April 10 and 11. Later in 2023, Dion will start the next batch of shows in Amsterdam in August, touring the continent until she closes out the tour with two shows in Helsinki on October 3 and 4.“Hi everyone – well, here we are again and I’m so sorry that we have to change our tour plans for Europe one more time,” the star told fans in an emotional video posted to Instagram. “First we had to move the shows because of the pandemic, now this is my health issues that is causing us to postpone some shows.A post shared by Céline Dion (@celinedion) “Unfortunately, we have to cancel some too.

NEW YORK -- Carnegie Hall plans a return to a relatively full schedule next season for the first time since 2018-19, presenting about 150 events that include Kirill Petrenko’s first New York appearances as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic.Carnegie announced a 2022-23 schedule Tuesday that includes about 50 events in 2,800-seat Stern Auditorium. Petrenko, who succeeded Simon Rattle as Berlin's chief conductor for the 2019-20 season, leads three performances from Nov.

Lordi have joined forces with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to support the organisation’s ongoing campaign against animal testing.The Finnish heavy metal band – who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 with ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ – posed for a new poster declaring that “animal testing is horrifying”, using their garish, horror-themed costumes and imagery to bolster the message. Pictured below the band is a rabbit that appears to have an unidentified device screwed into its scalp. Have a look at the poster below:A post shared by PETA UK (@petauk)In addition, Lordi have encouraged fans to show support for the European Citizens’ Initiative, launched by PETA in tandem with more than 100 animal protection groups, as well as brands like Dove and The Body Shop, to call on the European Union “to uphold and strengthen the animal testing ban for cosmetics”. In a press release issued by PETA, the org explained that “despite setting a global precedent, the ban is being undermined by new and unnecessary animal testing requirements for cosmetics ingredients that have been safely used for years”.It continued: “The ECI also calls for the transformation of EU chemicals regulations without the addition of new animal tests and for the establishment of a plan to end all animal experiments.”In a statement of their own, Lordi said: “The EU ban prohibiting cosmetics testing on animals is under threat because the Helsinki-based European Chemicals Agency is demanding that thousands of animals be subjected to cruel tests.

Hanson have shared a brand new track called ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ featuring Zac Myers of Shinedown.The trio, who got their breakthrough back in 1997 with their hit song ‘MMMBop’, have dropped off the latest preview of their upcoming album ‘Red Green Blue’, which is due to arrive on May 20 via 3CG Records.“‘Don’t Let Me Down’ is a song all about seizing your moment. It’s about living up to your potential,’ explained Zac Hanson.

As Netflix begins to invest more in the gaming industry it can now be revealed that the streaming giant has bought yet another videogame developer.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix, in its second games-related acquisition, plans to buy Next Games, mobile games developer based in Finland, for $72 million.Founded in 2013, Next Games has created games based on popular entertainment franchises, including story-driven puzzle game “Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales” and two based on hit zombie series “The Walking Dead.”Helsinki-based Next Games had about 120 employees at the end of 2021 and reported sales of approximately €27.2 million ($30 million) in 2020 with 95% of revenues generated from in-game purchases.The deal comes less than six months after Netflix’s acquisition of Night School Studio, a game developer best known for its supernatural mystery adventure title “Oxenfree.” Netflix has launched a selection of games, starting with handful of mobile titles, as an extension to its core video-entertainment for no extra charge. “Next Games has a seasoned management team, strong track record with mobile games based on entertainment franchises, and solid operational capabilities,” said Michael Verdu, VP of games for Netflix, in a statement.

EXCLUSIVE:  Finnish filmmaker Hanna Bergholm, whose latest body-horror coming of age movie, Hatching, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, has inked with CAA.