How did your partnership with Pirjo Honkasalo and Bufo Film come about?
I had worked with Pirjo Honkasalo before: Magic Hour Films co-produced her documentary "The 3 Rooms of Melancholia" in 2004, and we worked really well together. The Danish editor Niels Pagh Andersen cut the film and Pirjo was so happy with his work that he was her first choice to edit "Concrete Night". There was nothing co-production-strategic about it.
I knew Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff, the producers from Bufo Film of Finland, through EAVE (European Producers Workshop, ed.), where I teach. Plus, Bufo Film shares a space with Mouka Film, which I had worked with on films like "Into Eternity" and "The Visit". So we are part of the same creative scene.
What was it about "Concrete Night" that got you into that specific project?
Pirjo Honkasalo is a unique picture-maker. For years now, cinema has been focusing on storytelling and dramaturgy and less on telling a story in images. Pirjo does that better than almost anyone, and I think it's important to uphold picture-making as a part of cinema. I think Pirjo is extremely skilled and I want to help realise her film. Also, it's personally satisfying and helps me grow professionally to take part in producing the kind of films that insist on going against the stream.
It does not have the makings of a blockbuster?
Hardly. "The 3 Rooms of Melancholia" wasn't a blockbuster, either, because it's a difficult film. But it's also a film that an amazing amount of people refer to. It has impacted its audience and made a mark.
It's important that a wide array of films is produced that can influence each other and keep cinema moving. For that to happen, we need these very special films that have something to say artistically and are very insistent about it. That insistence is more important than a film becoming a hit.
Magic Hour Films has co-produced quite a bit with Finland …
Yes that's true, and we are very pleased with it. The Finnish approach to the projects, artistically, creatively and work-wise, dovetails with ours.
Finland is a very interesting film nation and has produced a lot of exciting directors. It is especially remarkable in the field of documentaries. The national broadcaster YLE has insisted on challenging its viewers in a way that has been unique in Europe. By insisting on showing and producing documentaries that normally would not be aired on primetime TV, they have managed to hold on to their audience.
"Concrete Night" is selected for the Toronto International Film Festival.
Trailer
